Extention due to marriage - Acceptable Marriage Certificate

[Maybole]

I need clarification.

I am a Scot, at present resident in Scotland. My Chiangmai wife of 30 years and I were married in Scotland, and have always used our Scottish marriage certificate for any legal purposes. We have never needed a Thai certificate.

We intend to retire to Chiangmai next year. The Thai consulate in Glasgow will issue a non-imm O visa using our Scottish marriage certificate and I intend to apply to the appropriate Immigration Office for an extention based on marriage to a Thai citizen and renew that yearly, I can fulfill the financial requirement(s) easily. So far so good.

However, I am unsure whether my Scottish marriage certificate, with translation of course, will be accepted for the extension at an Immigration office in Thailand. Should it not be, can I obtain a certificate based in my existing marriage at my wife's home ampeu? Thank you.

[ubonjoe]

Have marriage certificate translated and it certified at Ministry of Forign Affairs. Then go to Amphoe and register your marriage. They will update wifes house book, ID card and give you a Kor Ror 22 which you will need at immigration.

[lopburi3]

As said immigration will require a KR22 form for a foreign marriage and the only way to obtain that is to record your foreign marriage at a District Office in Thailand. I believe you must have original document/translation into Thai signed off by your Embassy prior to Ministry of Foreign Affairs recording as legal however and then record at District Office.

[jamesthailand]

The maximally correct legal procedure is as follows (I used this for my English marriage certificate):

1. Get your Scottish marriage certificate "legalised" by sending it off to the FCO legalisation department in Milton Keynes: https://www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised (you can instead get a copy from the GRO and legalise that). The FCO will stick a little slip of paper (called an apostille) to the marriage certificate that certifies that the signature on your Scottish marriage certificate is genuine
2. Take or send the marriage certificate with the apostille to the Thai Embassy in London. They will stamp it certifying that the FCO's apostille is genuine. See http://www.thaiembassyuk.org.uk/?q=node/172
3. When you get to Thailand, get the certificate translated into Thai.
4. Get the translation certified by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs
5. Take the legalized marriage certificate with the attached translation to your wife's amphur and register your marriage. They will then issue you a KR22, which you can use in immigration.

I have heard that people short circuit 1 and 2, by asking the UK Embassy in Thailand to certify the UK marriage certificate. But their web site seems to say that they don't do that:

https://www.gov.uk/notarial-and-documentary-services-guide-for-thailand

[Cuban]

You might find it easier in the long run to get married in Thailand and have a Thai Marriage certificate. This will be easier for Thai immigration officers to deal with rather than subject yourselves to the potential vagaries of someone sometime deciding that the translated copy is no longer valid or needs some other extra level of approval resulting is a snap judgement on any pending visa extension you might be wishing to have processed.

Compared to the potential for aggravation a second marriage seems wise to me.

[lopburi3]

He is married - unless he obtains a divorce and paperwork for same he can not marry in Thailand.

[LeeThayer]

He is married - unless he obtains a divorce and paperwork for same he can not marry in Thailand.

Exactly, having the marriage certificate translated and registered at the Ministry of Foreign Afairs and at the local Amphur, will suffice, you will need to go to the Amphur each year to get a new printout for the extension, about 20 Baht.

[misterphil]

You might find it easier in the long run to get married in Thailand and have a Thai Marriage certificate. This will be easier for Thai immigration officers to deal with rather than subject yourselves to the potential vagaries of someone sometime deciding that the translated copy is no longer valid or needs some other extra level of approval resulting is a snap judgement on any pending visa extension you might be wishing to have processed.

Compared to the potential for aggravation a second marriage seems wise to me.

Good idea but not possible. If he was to marry again in Thailand he would have to sign an affirmation to marry and declare he was single. When he submits this to the British Embassy they would check and find he was married already.

[evadgib]

A statutory declaration ("Stat Dec") can be signed @ the Consulate in Chiang Mai. It will not need to be translated when presented to immigration.

HTH

Edited July 7, 2013 by evadgib

[Arkady]

If Scotland votes for independence, this might cause a lot of confusion for Thai Immigration and other government departments. The Thai government has already taken 300 years to catch up with the Union of the Crowns of England and Scotland. Only in 2006 was a proclamation to other ministries made by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs that UK citizens should henceforth no longer be referred to as 'angrit" but "britis" and that their country should be referred to as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland instead of England. Finally the Department of Provincial Administration eliminated the code for "angrit" in their computur system a couple of years ago, so that Brits are no longer all classified as English in the tabien baans. It will be interesting to see how long it will take them to introduce a code of "sakotis" or "sakot" - also how long it takes for Immigration to apply the same visa privileges to Scots as they do to Brits.

[Toscano]

My advice , if you are over 50yrs and have sufficient money , is to apply for a Retirement Visa , even though you are married . The Marriage Visa involves a lot of documentation every year , that irritates the immigration officers , whereas the Retirement Visa needs few documents , you just to show that you have either BT800,000 in the bank 3 months before the annual extension , pension or income exceeding BT65,000 monthly , or BT400,000 deposited in the Thai bank , plus an income that together equals BT800,000

[laislica]

My advice , if you are over 50yrs and have sufficient money , is to apply for a Retirement Visa , even though you are married . The Marriage Visa involves a lot of documentation every year , that irritates the immigration officers , whereas the Retirement Visa needs few documents , you just to show that you have either BT800,000 in the bank 3 months before the annual extension , pension or income exceeding BT65,000 monthly , or BT400,000 deposited in the Thai bank , plus an income that together equals BT800,000

Also note that any translation will only be accepted by the Thai Min of Foreign Affairs if it has been done by someone who has already been given the status as ab approved translator by the Min.

The amount in the bank is 400K for married´s but if the marriage has not been "Recognized", the amount will be 800K or proof of income at more than 65K/Mth or combinations thereof.

To get the proof of income in CM, visit the Brit Consulate with a current bank statement showing income. Highlight the income receipts to help the consulate staff. Pay the 2,750BHT (I think thats about 50 quid) and go back the next day to collect the letter.

Immigration will keep the original with your application to convert your Non-O visa into a yearly extension.

If you intend to leave Thailand for holidays, you can pay for a single re-entry - 1,900Bht or multiple re-entry- 3,800BHT, depending upon your needs.

You will need the proof letter every year at renewal time, but all in all, I agree that it sounds like the easiest plan.

I expect that you will get a Thai driving license and that can be used to get "Thai" prices at many of the attractions so that you should not need a yellow Tambian Baan (house book).

[lopburi3]

The amount for retirement extensions, regardless of marriage or not, is 800k in bank account or 65k per month income - but you can use a combination of bank and income to meet that 800k per year so if 400k in bank you would need an income of 400k each year or more.

The re-entry permit is 1,000 baht single.

[TTALENTINO]

I just went through this process and not even my immigration office knew what the correct procedure was. It was a bit of a headache but in the end it worked out. What we ended up having to do is this:

1. Take Marrige cert. to my consulate to verify authenticity and then draft a affidavit that I wrote in the office and the consular stamped and signed.

2. Translate both the certificate and the stamped affidavit into thai.

3. Send both the certificate and the affidavit as well as a photo copy of each to the Ministry of Foriegn Affairs. (Out of everyone we delt with regarding this, they were by far the most knowledgable on the issue)

4. Ministry sends back a stamped version of the affidavit and that is what proves the Marrige.

Good luck.

[nachiket]

The maximally correct legal procedure is as follows (I used this for my English marriage certificate):

1. Get your Scottish marriage certificate "legalised" by sending it off to the FCO legalisation department in Milton Keynes: https://www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised (you can instead get a copy from the GRO and legalise that). The FCO will stick a little slip of paper (called an apostille) to the marriage certificate that certifies that the signature on your Scottish marriage certificate is genuine
2. Take or send the marriage certificate with the apostille to the Thai Embassy in London. They will stamp it certifying that the FCO's apostille is genuine. See http://www.thaiembassyuk.org.uk/?q=node/172
3. When you get to Thailand, get the certificate translated into Thai.
4. Get the translation certified by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs
5. Take the legalized marriage certificate with the attached translation to your wife's amphur and register your marriage. They will then issue you a KR22, which you can use in immigration.

I have heard that people short circuit 1 and 2, by asking the UK Embassy in Thailand to certify the UK marriage certificate. But their web site seems to say that they don't do that:

https://www.gov.uk/notarial-and-documentary-services-guide-for-thailand

1] If you fail to proceed any legal process in your home country, you may head to your embassy in Thailand and get 'affirmation to freedom to marry' certificate. Or an affidavit that, you are unmarried, in case affirmation is no more issued by your embassy.

2] Download relevant application form from Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, Thailand. i.e. Legalization of affirmation/affidavit. Pay THB 400 with it. You may pay said amount in post office while posting relevant documents to MoFA.

3] Within a week or two you will get all docs back from MoFA with approved stamp or in case of error, a remark will be there to fulfill it.

4] Take all documents and your passport, wifes ID and Blue book, baby birth certificate (if any) with 1 or 2 photocopy of all documents (not sure how many, I forget), your photo, wifes photo etc.

5] Register your marriage in Amphoe office by signing some form and answering several simple questions. (mostly gossip type of questions... LOL)

If forget any step by mistake, kindly apologize and correct it with the help of an expert.

Thanks and have a good luck.

Kindly ignore any typo error and grammar, as I am non English speaker.

Edited July 7, 2013 by nachiket

[lopburi3]

The poster is married and has been for 30 years - there is no legal way for him to marry in Thailand short of first becoming divorced and presenting those documents. He needs to get his Scot marriage paperwork registered as outlined in reference post above or at embassy in Thailand. He does not get married again.

[Maybole]

Thanks to all who replied. I can see the way now.

Incidentally, the Thai Embassy in London would require me to present myself with wife and 2 witnesses in person at their office. London is 400+ miles away.

[wigantojapan]

Thanks to all who replied. I can see the way now.

Incidentally, the Thai Embassy in London would require me to present myself with wife and 2 witnesses in person at their office. London is 400+ miles away.

if you need WITNESS i might volunteer for the job as i would like to see for myself what is actually involved for future reference

there is a lot of hassle dealing with immigration in Thailand even though you are married / travelling will be involved along with long waites at the immigration office wether you use the marraige or retirement visa

If only Scotland had a little more sunshine

[ubonjoe]

Thanks to all who replied. I can see the way now.

Incidentally, the Thai Embassy in London would require me to present myself with wife and 2 witnesses in person at their office. London is 400+ miles away.

I didn't suggest getting the certification from the embassy because not all Amphoes require it because they consider the certification from the MFA is enough. You should check with Amphoe before paying the embassy for certification. If you have the original marriage certificate with a raised seal that may be all you need.