Legalistion Of Marriage Uk

[UKJASE]

Hey Guys.... the wife has an appoitment with VFS next week, so that she can proceed with her visitor visa application for the UK

all is good, except for one slight worry...... we got married in May, and i have yet to go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in bangkok to legalise the marriage

i am assuming i need to do this before the application is made for the wife's visa (?)

so far, i know this much.....

i need to attend here :-

Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (www.mfa.go.th)

123 Chaeng Wattana Road,

Laksi District,

Bangkok

11120

Tel. 0– 2575 1056–59, 0–2981 7171

i have read - "the legalisation section (certification of translations) is on the 3rd floor and it opens at 8:00am"

i have also read - "you will need a copy of the photo and ID page of your passport... For a single page document (a marriage affidavit in this case) there's simple form to fill in, with your name and address and signature."

but i have become a little concerned, as our appoitment is next week at VFS....

two things i need help with please

1 - do i need to get the single page marriage certificate translated into english?

2 - once this is done, how long will it take? and how much does it cost for what i presume is the express service, to have the marriage legalised, and all documents returned?

we are thinking of going to bangkok early on monday morning, getting the document translated outside the office building (this was easy enough last time for Affirmation To Marry document), and then getting the marriage legalised.....

is it possible to get this done on monday, and then get a hotel and early night for our tuesday lunchtime appointment at VFS, or are we not leaving enough time / room for error?

thanks in advance.....

[ripstanley]

Before you get married you have to go to MFA. There are many threads on this forum about marriage

http://www.thaiembassy.com/marriage/marriage.php

MARRIAGE PROCEDURES FOR FOREIGNERS:

Foreigners who are wishing to marry shall appear in person with their respective passports and arrival card at their Embassy in Thailand to complete declarations attesting that he/ she is single and free to marry in accordance with Thai Law and the registration shall be effected by a Thai Diplomatic or Consular Officer.

• 1. Take the completed declaration to a reputable translation office to have the contents of the declaration translated into Thai.
  
• 2. The documents together with translation and copies of passports have to be taken to the Legalization Division of Consular Affairs Department, where the Consular Official's signature will be authenticated. This normally takes 2 days. The documents and translation are then ready for submission to the District Registrar who will register the marriage and issue the marriage certificate in Thai in accordance with and following the procedure led down in Thai Law.
  

[soi41]

Try to read the OP! He is married already

Edited July 31, 2012 by 7by7
Unnecessary full quote of preceding post removed.

[beano2274]

Did you get married at the Amphur?

You do not need to go to the MFA if you got married in Thailand at an Amphur. However, if you only had the ceremony and not the official marriage then you are not legally married, and you would need to get an Affirmation done, it translated and then certified by the MFA, only then could you get legally married.

On reading again, you have the marriage certificate, so you married at the Amphur - you do not need to get this translated for a visitors visa for your wife, however, if you go for settlement later in life then you should get it translated.

[7by7]

I agree with Beano in one respect; you cannot get your marriage legalised at the MFA. The only way a marriage is legal in Thailand is if it is registered at an ampur.

If you have done this, and you must have done to get a marriage certificate, then you are legally married under Thai law. This also means that your marriage is legally recognised by most (all?) other countries. It is certainly legally recognised by the UK under the Foreign Marriages Act 1899.

Where I disagree with Beano is that as your wife will presumably be applying for a family visit she will need her marriage certificate.

According to the official guidance this needs to be accompanied by a certified English translation ; the UK does not require this translation be certified by the MFA; just the translation bureau.

However, anecdotal evidence, backed up by both VisaPlus and ThaiVisaExpress, says that at present the British embassy do not currently require translations of official documents such as marriage certificates in any visa application; visit or settlement.

If you do at some later stage decide to settle in the UK, then a certified translation may be required once there for various purposes, and it's cheaper to have this done in Thailand than in the UK.

For all UK purposes, including a visa application, a certificate placed on the translation by the translator is sufficient. This certificate should include the name, address and contact details of the translation bureau and wording, in English, to the effect "I (full name) certify that this is a true translation of (document)" and be signed by the translator and dated. Most professional translation bureaux, certainly in Bangkok, will know what is required.

Other countries, though, do require the translation be certified as correct by the MFA, the Schengen states for example, so it would be worthwhile doing this. But as you are short of time then you could leave it until you have returned from the UK.

[beano2274]

I have done 2 family visitors visas for my wife in the past year and a half, marriage certificate required, not translated.

Also the German embassy for Schengen do not require a translation or certification for an application, I have an email stating this from the German Embassy.

[7by7]

Apols, I misread your post and thought that you were saying the certificate itself was not required. Having read it again I now see you were saying a translation is not required. In which case we are in agreement on that.

I have seen many posts on here from people who have had difficulties doing so because they haven't had a translation of their marriage certificate certified by the MFA.

I do believe, though, that most of these were from people applying from outside Thailand where, obviously, the embassy concerned wont have Thai staff on hand to confirm the contents of any Thai documents.

[UKJASE]

Thanks a lot for all your helpful replies guys.... much appreciated

i am sure all your replies are spot on, but i am a little concerned as what to do

the reason for this is because i phoned the UK embassy a couple of weeks back, and the guy i spoke to told me that i DO have to go to the MFA and get the marriage legalised (but maybe we were mis-understanding each other)

so i know this was only one guy on the phone, so i called back today to reconfirm, but i only got put through to an answer machine, and they have not called me back today

i will call back again 2moro, as i am a little concerned on the conflicting information

maybe as 7x7 says i may need a translation of the certificate at a later date, then i should get it done now, but the lagalisation part means 800B for the fee, plus a night in a hotel in bangkok, so if i can avoid doing it at the moment, that would be the option i would choose

what do you think guys, are we 100% sure that my marriage does not need to be legalised any more than what we have done so far at the amphur?

i recently had a mate to stay, and he married a Nigerian 6 years ago in Nigeria...... he asked me if i had been to the embassy to inform them about my marriage, and when i said i hadn't, he said i needed to...... but he was married 6 years ago, so maybe the rules have changed.......

[beano2274]

Tomorrow is a holiday in Thailand so maybe the Embassy will be closed.

I did the amphur wedding and nothing else, and since then my wife has received two UK visitors visas and 1 Schengen Visa.

[LucidLucifer]

The British embassy is closed tomorrow, I rang them yesterday for some information and they advised me of that.

[7by7]

UKJASE, I can only assume, and it is an assumption, that the person you spoke to at the embassy was confusing your question and thought you were asking about getting married. As you know, foreigners marrying in Thailand have to sign an affirmation of freedom to marry at their embassy, have it translated and have this translation certified at the MFA. This is a requirement of Thai law and applies to all foreigners marrying in the kingdom.

There is no requirement to 'legalise' your marriage at the MFA; if you registered at an ampur, it's legal.

There is also no requirement as far as the UK is concerned to have any translation of your marriage certificate, or any other document, certified at the MFA. As explained earlier, a certificate from the translator will suffice. From Guidance for British nationals wishing to marry in Thailand

The Thai marriage certificate will be in Thai language only. You may wish to commission a “sworn translation” of the marriage certificate from license translators, so that you can use the document for legal purposes in the U.K. Please note the certificate is a legal document and should not be modified e.g. by laminating.

No mention of the MFA at all.

We did not have the translation of our marriage certificate certified by the MFA and have never had a problem, not when we applied for my wife's settlement visa nor whenever we've needed it in the UK; ILR and citizenship applications for example.

Although, again as said earlier, other countries do require translations to be certified by the MFA.

There is no requirement to notify the British embassy of your marriage at all. You can, however, deposit a copy of your marriage certificate with the general register office in the UK via the embassy if you wish. The only advantage of doing so is that if you are in the UK and require a copy of the certificate you can obtain on from the GRO. I don't know of anyone who has bothered with this, but if you wish to do so see Depositing marriage documents in the UK.

This is the usual procedure worldwide, and has been for some time. Whether Nigerian law required your friend to notify the British High Commission of his marriage, I cannot say.

But as said earlier, as far as a visa application in Bangkok is concerned, there is currently no need to have the marriage certificate translated at all. See this postfrom VisaPlus.

[beano2274]

Actually both of my marriage certificates are laminated......

[7by7]

Ever had a problem with them in the Thailand or UK?

[beano2274]

Ever had a problem with them in the Thailand or UK?

Never used in the UK as live here in Thailand, but never had a problem when applying for a UK Visitors visa or even a Schengen Visa from the Swiss Embassy

[UKJASE]

7by7 you are a true gentleman, and a scholar....... thanks so much for taking the time to give me such a complete and thorough answer

i can now rest easy this evening and not have to worry about another thing re legalisation of marriage

thanks ever so much mate