Must I Use My Local Amphur Office To Register My Marriage?

[Mario2008]

Just a warning. This is an old thread, so answering it is not going to help the OP.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

But it may serve to help others who find themselves ask the same question in the future, and looking for answers.

[drb]

Well the first thing to do is to say CONGRATS on your wedding ....be happy together and have a long and happy marriage

your CORRECT answer is NO .... You can use ANY Amphur Muang in Thailand anywhere thats a fact

ALSO to all fellow readers make a note in case spomeone asks.......................

You no longer have to go to Consular and deposit your marriage certificate !!!!!!! this was a service enabling you to easily obtain marriage certificate copy papers in UK . THIS WAS STOPPED ON FRIDAY 3RD JANUARY 2014 this service is no longer operating and copies of marriage certificates can now be easily obtained in the UK

I landed here on 25th Dec we married on 29th and interested to know if I have set a new record..............

We went to UK Embassey at 07.30 all papers looked at sat outside had a coffee and sandwich and was first to enter at 08.00

I had an issue with the freedom to marry doc as I had not put down my passport as a IPS the staff offered me there computer in waiting room to retype and email to the staff direct t print off ... I was flabergasted tpo say the least and then ........... the e mail did not work and ... the staff re typed it for me well how about that then happy days or what

we went and had the final doc translated where I asked for the fast service here had a result only one ticket lefty at a cost of 800 bhat 2 hours later bobs your uncle all translated

Off we went to local Ampur (ok my wife is good friends with the boss so I guess that helped) but 1 hour later there you go having photo taken with marruage certificate

off to Nana to translate into English ......

ALL COMPLETED BY 4pm

Come tell me IS THAT A RECORD OR WHAT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OH Yes .. bit late but HAPPY NEW YEAR to all

[shaurene]

I got married at our local office, rather than trying to register your Aussie marriage get married again at the local, you get your marriage certificate right away.

[PoorSucker]

I got married at our local office, rather than trying to register your Aussie marriage get married again at the local, you get your marriage certificate right away.

For getting married in Thailand you will need an affirmation to get married from your embassy that you can not get get because you are already married.

[bifftastic]

Just had a phone call from a mate.....his wife said that because my wife's blue house book is registered at our local office and it is used as part of the process, then I am restricted to use that office only.

Looks like back to the rabbits and wait for them to confirm that my paperwork is real.

Cheers.

Your mate's wife is mistaken. I know people who have registered marriages in Amphur offices in different provinces to where they are registered as living. Admittedly, these were Thai marriage registrations, but there's no reason that that would change anything.

You probably got the rabbit looks because you presented them with a foreign marriage certificate and asked for a Thai Kor Ror 2, or if you did ask for a Kor Ror 22, they hadn't heard of one of those, didn't know what to do, and fobbed you off with some nonsense about waiting for confirmation from Bangkok hoping you'd just go away, which you did.

I would suggest that you get your wife to call one of the supposedly 'farang friendly' Amphur offices in Bangkok (Bang Rak has been suggested) and ask them what documents are needed to register your marriage.

[ubonjoe]

I got married at our local office, rather than trying to register your Aussie marriage get married again at the local, you get your marriage certificate right away.

I can't see that trying to register foreign marriage would be any more difficult than registering marriage (if you could do it)

Step one is to certify the marriage certificate. (same time and cost as for affirmation to marry)

Step two have marriage certificate and certification translated to Thai.

Step three have translations certified at MFA (can be done by translation service for small fee).

Step four make a trip to Amphoe to register the marriage and get a Kor Ror 22.

[Mario2008]

I got married at our local office, rather than trying to register your Aussie marriage get married again at the local, you get your marriage certificate right away.

You only got married once, your Aussie marriage is legal in Thailand and fully recognised. If asked about when you got married, your Aussie marriage date is the correct one, not the date of your 'marriage' in Thailand.

[Sceptict11]

I got married at our local office, rather than trying to register your Aussie marriage get married again at the local, you get your marriage certificate right away.

You only got married once, your Aussie marriage is legal in Thailand and fully recognised. If asked about when you got married, your Aussie marriage date is the correct one, not the date of your 'marriage' in Thailand.

Not to mention the "distortions" of truth which must have been indulged if the necessary paperwork was obtained for a "legal" Thai marriage.

[Leung Falang]

Just had a phone call from a mate.....his wife said that because my wife's blue house book is registered at our local office and it is used as part of the process, then I am restricted to use that office only.

Looks like back to the rabbits and wait for them to confirm that my paperwork is real.

Cheers.

We needed a form from Ampur that my wife had not ever been married. Official said sure. I asked how long and he said about a week o I asked if there was a way to do it faster as I really needed to travel pretty soon. He said sure so I asked how much $ to expedite and he

said a fifth of whiskey and as I pulled out money he said "American whiskey" so I added some baht to what was already in my hand. Got the form later that day. Maybe you need to "expedite".

[Travel Dude]

You should have smiled. Ask for the boss and say you have no time.... keep smiling. Leave "an envelop" without the envelop and ask to please help you. Time to adapt my friend...

[Hugh Jarse]

I persist as I think it is not true. Maybe you mistook the amphur for the foreign office or you did not complete the registration.

Let sleeping dogs lie.

[cassde]

I am from the UK and my wife is Thai. My wife and I reside in Bangna, but when we married we did it at Phra Khanong Amphur office with no hassles whatsoever. I was told we could marry and register at any amphur office.

[Daniel Boon]

any tips in Surin (for Amphur office) ?

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I am from the UK and my wife is Thai. My wife and I reside in Bangna, but when we married we did it at Phra Khanong Amphur office with no hassles whatsoever. I was told we could marry and register at any amphur office.

I guess that depends on how long ago you did your marriage at Phra Kanong, and how you define "no hassles."

My fiance went there last Monday to inquire ahead of time about their procedures and requirements, and spoke first in Thai with the woman who handles the paperwork, and later her supervisor, a guy. Neither of them spoke any English.

In terms of "no hassles," the supervisor guy insisted to my fiance that we would need to bring along an official translator when we wanted to register a marriage -- even though my fiance is fluent in English. No explanation of why.

At least as my fiance understood him in Thai, he also seemed to be insisting on some kind of official translation of my U.S. passport, which if correct, is not the same thing as the normal requirement of having one's consulate affidavit(s) certified by the MFA.

I was previously married and divorced in the U.S. And when we mentioned that issue to the supervisor, my fiance says he specifically talked about me needing to bring translated copies of the "court papers" from my divorce, as opposed to just the normal divorce affidavit from the U.S. consulate.

I would have liked to have spent more time there, just to try to discuss it more with the supervisor. But even though the office wasn't busy and there was only one other person waiting there at the time, he basically dismissed my fiance and me after about a 3 minute conversation with her. I didn't say a word, and had to wait until afterward for my fiance to explain what the guy had said.

I did have my fiance ask the supervisor if he had any kind of a document or list specifying their requirements, and he said they did not.

All in all, we won't be going back to Phra Kanong, which, in case anyone is interested, is located on the main Sukhumvit Road at the corner of Soi 54, just a short walk outbound from the On Nut BTS Station.

Edited January 16, 2014 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[cassde]

We were married in October 2013 and the supervisor was a lady who spoke English as did the lady who handled the documents. Your experience was clearly the opposite to ours with a new team in situ.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Later that same day, we went onward to the Bangrak district office to make the same inquiries. Apparently among Thais who are in relationships with non-Thais, Bangrak has a reputation as an easier place to deal with. The office is located about a 40 baht, maybe 10 minute taxi ride from the Saphan Taksin BTS station.

Unlike Phra Kanong, the staff at Bangrak said nothing about having to bring along an official translator, even though we asked on that point. And, Bangrak did have a printed list of their document requirements for a marriage certificate, in English nonetheless.

The documents listed on the Bangrak sheet are pretty much the standard items. They told us to be sure to bring two copies of all documents.

Like Phra Kanong, Bangrak requires two witnesses, but assured us that other couples waiting on the day of our registration could be witnesses for us, just as we could do for them.

There was no requirement to bring divorce court papers from the U.S. Just the Consulate divorce affidavit is fine.

But Bangrak did have a couple quirks that I hadn't heard or read about anywhere else before, as follows:

--The staff there insisted that when I filled out my Consulate marriage affidavit, I had to list a home address in my home country, in my case the U.S. Even though I've lived in Thailand exclusively for years, they insisted that, if I used my Thai residence address, they'd reject my paperwork. I went back over that point with the staff a couple of times since their notion seems crazy, but they were steadfast in saying that was their requirement.

--Likewise, the two personal references I need to list on my "free to marry" affidavit also needed to be from and have contact info from my home country -- and not from Thailand.

--And lastly, in addition to copies of my passport facepage, they also wanted us to bring two copies of my current visa or extension of stay stamp.

In contrast to Phra Kanong, the reception woman at the front counter that we spoke with first, and then the marriage registrations lady we spoke with later, were both noticably more friendly and took the time to explain things with us, and answer my questions, although they too only spoke Thai -- no English.

Edited January 16, 2014 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

We were married in October 2013 and the supervisor was a lady who spoke English as did the lady who handled the documents. Your experience was clearly the opposite to ours with a new team in situ.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

Yep... apparently so. Too bad they seem to have taken a turn for the worse, at least with the staff that was there on the day of our visit.

Thanks for the update.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Meanwhile, the fiance and I spent the morning checking around with a trio of the marriage affidavit translation services located in the Ploenchit area, many of them in Mahatun Plaza, not far from both the U.S. and UK Consulates.

All of the three we spoke with would do just the translations, if requested. Or, for an extra fee, also handle taking the translated affidavits out to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs office at Chaeng Wattana Road for certification (at least when the MFA office there re-opens at some future point).

Here's the contact info for the three translation shops we spoke with, all of them being listed on the U.S. Consulate's referral sheet -- although the referral sheet itself is several years old and very out-of-date in terms of the contact details. Here's the current details we received:

Among the three:

--Interlanguage Translation Center wanted 500b per page for translation, 400b per page for MFA's certification fee, and a flat 500 baht for handling the delivery and service at MFA. So the total price for two affidavit pages would have been 2300b. (Interlanguage has a branch in Mahatun Plaza as well as the one we visited, on Suk Soi 1 just around the corner from the Domino's Pizza shop at the corner.

--Bangkok Translation wanted 500b per page for translation, 400b per page for MFA's certification fee, and a flat 700 baht for handling the delivery and service at MFA. Total price for two affidavit pages would have been 2500b.

--Siam Translation quoted us a total price of 2800b for handling two affidavit page translations, the certifications at MFA and their fee for taking and returning the documents.

[rawhod]

Later that same day, we went onward to the Bangrak district office to make the same inquiries. Apparently among Thais who are in relationships with non-Thais, Bangrak has a reputation as an easier place to deal with. The office is located about a 40 baht, maybe 10 minute taxi ride from the Saphan Taksin BTS station.

Bangrak Dist Ofc 1.jpg Bangrak Dist Ofc 2.jpg

Unlike Phra Kanong, the staff at Bangrak said nothing about having to bring along an official translator, even though we asked on that point. And, Bangrak did have a printed list of their document requirements for a marriage certificate, in English nonetheless.

Bangrak Marriage Info Sheet.jpg

The documents listed on the Bangrak sheet are pretty much the standard items. They told us to be sure to bring two copies of all documents.

Like Phra Kanong, Bangrak requires two witnesses, but assured us that other couples waiting on the day of our registration could be witnesses for us, just as we could do for them.

There was no requirement to bring divorce court papers from the U.S. Just the Consulate divorce affidavit is fine.

But Bangrak did have a couple quirks that I hadn't heard or read about anywhere else before, as follows:

--The staff there insisted that when I filled out my Consulate marriage affidavit, I had to list a home address in my home country, in my case the U.S. Even though I've lived in Thailand exclusively for years, they insisted that, if I used my Thai residence address, they'd reject my paperwork. I went back over that point with the staff a couple of times since their notion seems crazy, but they were steadfast in saying that was their requirement.

--Likewise, the two personal references I need to list on my "free to marry" affidavit also needed to be from and have contact info from my home country -- and not from Thailand.

--And lastly, in addition to copies of my passport facepage, they also wanted us to bring two copies of my current visa or extension of stay stamp.

In contrast to Phra Kanong, the reception woman at the front counter that we spoke with first, and then the marriage registrations lady we spoke with later, were both noticably more friendly and took the time to explain things with us, and answer my questions, although they too only spoke Thai -- no English.

These were the exact same requirements for our marriage at Chiang Mai Muang Amphur.

In order to obtain the Affidavit of Freedom to Marry from the British Consulate in CM, I had to provide all the information you have detailed (name of mother and father, address in UK, two references in the UK) together with original divorce decree nisi or absolute.

(There is a sample Affidavit of Freedom to Marry on the British Embassy website.)

This document needs to be officially translated into Thai and authenticated by the MoFA for submission to the Amphur. The Amphur enters these details into the register at the office. This also gives an official translation of your name in Thai which is shown on the marriage certficate

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

These were the exact same requirements for our marriage at Chiang Mai Muang Amphur.

In order to obtain the Affidavit of Freedom to Marry from the British Consulate in CM, I had to provide all the information you have detailed (name of mother and father, address in UK, two references in the UK) together with original divorce decree nisi or absolute.

Are you saying the British Consulate in Chiang Mai required you to provide your UK divorce court judgment papers in order for them to issue the "freedom to marry affidavit"?

The U.S. Consulate has a secondary affidavit, beyond the freedom to marry one, that essentially is a divorce affadavit in which a divorced person lists the essential details. That only comes into play if the person seeking the "freedom to marry" affidavit has previously been divorced.

Does the UK Consulate also have such a secondary document "divorce" affidavit?

And did the amphur in CM want to see your UK divorce papers, or they were satisfied with the UK Consulate affidavit alone?