Going To The Mfa Alone......

[Para]

Guys

A friend of mine is getting married and wants to sort out all the paperwork himself rather than have his girlfriend come alone or bring their baby to BKK.

Can he go to the MFA with an Embassy certified 'freedom to marry' then take the translation to the MFA at CW?

Does he need her or copies of any of her ID?

Sorry if this has been asked before......

Para

[Mario2008]

He can do it alone, the Thai MFA only certifies the translation by the translation agency and that the letter from the embassy is real. He can also have the tranlation agency do the MFA part and send it home to him.

translation is about 400 baht and certification by MFA 800 for express service. Anything more is the fee for the translation agency. Might be well worth doing.

[Para]

He can do it alone, the Thai MFA only certifies the translation by the translation agency and that the letter from the embassy is real. He can also have the tranlation agency do the MFA part and send it home to him.

translation is about 400 baht and certification by MFA 800 for express service. Anything more is the fee for the translation agency. Might be well worth doing.

Thanks for the quick reply and clarification Mario2008

His back is against the wall time wise he lands in on the 12th at 6am and was hoping to get both the British Embassy AND MFA done the same day do you think its possible?

[silentnine]

He can do it alone, the Thai MFA only certifies the translation by the translation agency and that the letter from the embassy is real. He can also have the tranlation agency do the MFA part and send it home to him.

translation is about 400 baht and certification by MFA 800 for express service. Anything more is the fee for the translation agency. Might be well worth doing.

Thanks for the quick reply and clarification Mario2008

His back is against the wall time wise he lands in on the 12th at 6am and was hoping to get both the British Embassy AND MFA done the same day do you think its possible?

if the British embassy in bkk does the affirmation immediately then you will be able to do same day with ease..

if they do not there is another way round it ,,

Jomtien consulate opens at 8am .. takes them 10 minutes to do ..

so worst scenario .. taxi from airport straight to jomtien (no ques, but check opening days)_ .. wait 10 minutes .. taxi straight to MFA . in traffic at that time of day it will take 2.5 hours to the MFA as once you hit bkk it sucks .. your still in time though as you have till midday for same day service.. 30 minutes for a translation then run upstairs and your nearly done .. // he will be all done by 2pm

of course if BKK embassy do same day thats better, but there will be bigger ques for sure .. i'd make soem phone calls if i was you or him and ask bkk about waiting times

[Para]

if the British embassy in bkk does the affirmation immediately then you will be able to do same day with ease..

if they do not there is another way round it ,,

Jomtien consulate opens at 8am .. takes them 10 minutes to do ..

so worst scenario .. taxi from airport straight to jomtien (no ques, but check opening days)_ .. wait 10 minutes .. taxi straight to MFA . in traffic at that time of day it will take 2.5 hours to the MFA as once you hit bkk it sucks .. your still in time though as you have till midday for same day service.. 30 minutes for a translation then run upstairs and your nearly done .. // he will be all done by 2pm

of course if BKK embassy do same day thats better, but there will be bigger ques for sure .. i'd make soem phone calls if i was you or him and ask bkk about waiting times

Interesting option silentnine.....

So the trade off is instant turn around in Jomtien but a 5 hour there and back taxi against the wait at BKK? I see the up side of Jomtien but the potential for traffic problems Airport to Jomtien to CW is immense.

Can he get the freedom to marry stamped in the UK?

[lopburi3]

It is unique to Thailand so only Consulates here can provide (they have to sign and there signature will be checked by MFA). But this does not have to be done in person - he could get from Embassy and go to translation service and leave with them and have them take care of the MFA registration and mail completed copies upcountry to him.

[Para]

It is unique to Thailand so only Consulates here can provide (they have to sign and there signature will be checked by MFA). But this does not have to be done in person - he could get from Embassy and go to translation service and leave with them and have them take care of the MFA registration and mail completed copies upcountry to him.

OK thanks lopburi3 I incorrectly assumed he could get the Embassy bit done in the UK.

No time for posting he lands 6am on the 12th and is getting married up country on the 14th!

[silentnine]

if the British embassy in bkk does the affirmation immediately then you will be able to do same day with ease..

if they do not there is another way round it ,,

Jomtien consulate opens at 8am .. takes them 10 minutes to do ..

so worst scenario .. taxi from airport straight to jomtien (no ques, but check opening days)_ .. wait 10 minutes .. taxi straight to MFA . in traffic at that time of day it will take 2.5 hours to the MFA as once you hit bkk it sucks .. your still in time though as you have till midday for same day service.. 30 minutes for a translation then run upstairs and your nearly done .. // he will be all done by 2pm

of course if BKK embassy do same day thats better, but there will be bigger ques for sure .. i'd make soem phone calls if i was you or him and ask bkk about waiting times

Interesting option silentnine.....

So the trade off is instant turn around in Jomtien but a 5 hour there and back taxi against the wait at BKK? I see the up side of Jomtien but the potential for traffic problems Airport to Jomtien to CW is immense.

Can he get the freedom to marry stamped in the UK?

the big thing you need to find out is if BKK embassy will do while you wait in the morning .. they have 100's of enquires for many things.

it takes not over 90 minutes even going slowly from airport to Jomtien , motorway all the way and unlikey to be any traffic . so all 3 hours drive there and back .. 20 minutes waiting ..then then allow and extra hour for internal BKK traffic . and your have plenty of time ..

if BKK can do in the morning your fine .. i suspect the best same day service you would get though would be come back at 2pm which makes it too late for the MFA

[Para]

the big thing you need to find out is if BKK embassy will do while you wait in the morning .. they have 100's of enquires for many things.

it takes not over 90 minutes even going slowly from airport to Jomtien , motorway all the way and unlikey to be any traffic . so all 3 hours drive there and back .. 20 minutes waiting ..then then allow and extra hour for internal BKK traffic . and your have plenty of time ..

if BKK can do in the morning your fine .. i suspect the best same day service you would get though would be come back at 2pm which makes it too late for the MFA

I have been in the morning queue myself at the Embassy and if you pick the wrong day its a LONG one!

I will get him to contact the Embassy see what they are estimating turnaround time to be and use that as the basis for the decision to wait in BKK or to run to Jomtien.

Thank you

[bangkokburning]

This comment appears lateish but I did mine alone as wife was working. I was only farang khon diow. Really quite easy and efficient.

[MunterHunter]

Could he post the Affirmation to the embassy in Bangkok, with a cheque for fees perhaps?

I'm about to go get my affirmation this week, so i might be able to make some inquiries for you if you like - just let me know what questions you want asked

[Para]

Could he post the Affirmation to the embassy in Bangkok, with a cheque for fees perhaps?

I'm about to go get my affirmation this week, so i might be able to make some inquiries for you if you like - just let me know what questions you want asked

No it needs to be signed in front of them and checked against your passport.

I all honesty getting the paperwork done was a walk in the park.

Arrived at the Embassy at 07:45 first in the line. The girl in the office quickly checked the paperwork then told us to wait till 8am. By 8am there was only 1 other person waiting walked in at and was seen and processed by 08:20.

Walked out and crossed the road and was approached by a lady offering translation for 300BT so followed her just across Sukhamvit and was don in 15 minutes.

Taxi to the MFA was hard work as the driver seemed to go the wrong way then we hit traffic.

Arrived at the MFA at around 10am was out of there by 10:25 told to come back at 1pm to get the papers.

Job done.

[MunterHunter]

I just got my affirmation done today - need to get the translation done then goto the MFA - i know there are translation services (touts) at the MFA - do you remember seeing them?

[bangkokburning]

I did mine with the guy in the magazine shop direct. It was B400, I am a haggler but this time I did not bother. Some times you just pay up and this nominal fee from a shop I felt justified although Thai's had other translations being done far more cheaply I saw.

It passed MFA scrutiny. He diligently worked on my app for about an hour. He had questions before and after and asked me to pronounce many family names and asked for clarification.

My gf cum wife also approves of the writing and sound of my last time written in Thai.

I was not approached by any touts. Surprised, I even waited around and pretended to be Captain Clueless, but no one approached me - maybe because I was alone and clueless guys always have tilac in tow.

Was quite pleased with the process. If the translation was not accepted, he would correct it. Any other situation you are SOL. +1 for him.

1 hour.

[MunterHunter]

Thanks Bangkokburning - can i just quickly confirm this was the guy at the shop at the MFA? i vaguely remember there being someone there (this is my second marriage, but the first was a long time ago and i was the clueless with tilac in tow, so just wandered around and paid the fees - lol)

[bangkokburning]

Unless its closed in last few weeks! Big sign in magazine shop TRANSLATION.

gopd luck with it and your marriage.

[MunterHunter]

Just did my legalization today. Got there around 9:15am. Got the translation done at the shop on the ground floor, they did it in approximately 30mins (300b). Then upto the 3rd floor to hand it over to the legalization dept. 400b plus 60b postage as I opted for the EMS service. In and out in about an hour. Little daunting to do it on my own but quite easy in the end

[Mario2008]

Yes, it is. And many people forget or don't know about the option of having the documents send back to you by EMS for 60 baht. You don't have to wait or go back, only when you need the document very quickly.

[MunterHunter]

If you do go on your own, the key thing to remember is - the legalization section is on the third floor - not the second floor - all the sign posts are in Thai only until you get to the third floor and there the Legalization part is in English and Thai.

I got a bit worried at one point cos i couldn't see any English anywhere, but i asked the guy in the translation shop where to go next and he directed me to the third floor - once there it was all easy... queue up at the counter, get a number (they also check your docs) - then wait for your number to be called and goto the correct window, and the ladies behind the windows seem to speak some basic English...