Divorcing A Thai Girl

[bloodmeal]

I am a UK citizen, I married a Thai girl in Thailand a couple of years ago, she came to the UK with me and things didnt work out...

Now shes with another man here in the UK and wants to divorce me to get on with her life.

I want to help her with the process, but I would prefer not to travel back to thailand to do it..

We are both now in the UK and both want the divorce to get on with our lives separately.

Does anyone know the most quick and affordable way to go about it ?

Thanks

[vulcan903]

A wealth of information and resources on the Wikdivorce web site and forum. Just stick to the facts, leave emotions etc out when you post. I found it quite handy but still cost me a fortune when I told mrs ex 903 I was off. She was English and all fired up by her friends and gave her loads of false info which amusing in some instances.

Good luck though.

Sent from my GT-P5110 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[deckyup]

Should be no problem if your both resident in the uk.

I got divorced in the uk and married in thailand.

You need to be living apart for 12-18 months if I remember correctly, or you can file for divorce on grounds of her infidelity which might be quicker. (Which I agreed too)

Be very carefull though if you.ve no kids she will be still probably entitled to half your estate.

Best to start concealing your assets me thinks!!! as any solicitor representing her will advise her to squeese your pips.

[Thanyaburi Mac]

Do a comparison of costs:

-- divorce in the UK, court fees, lawyers, potential sharing your estate, time frame, etc;

vs

-- divorce in Thailand, if mutually agreeable, at the local amphur, fill out the forms, done in an hour. Factor in your plane costs and a few nights hotel.

Might turn out that Thailand would be less costly, and probably a lot faster.

Mac

[Mario2008]

Per above, a divorce in Thailand will e quicker and cheaper than in the UK. But the choice is yours.

[Beetlejuice]

How long has your Thai wife lived with you in the UK and does your Thai wife have a permanent stay visa to remain in the UK on the grounds of marriage?

If she does not have a permanent stay visa to remain in the UK on the grounds of marriage, than you can declare her present temporary visa null and void, due to the fact the said marriage is now being dissolved, or in other words you do not let her extend her present visa for a permanent visa to remain in the UK.

If she does have a permanent stay visa and there is no property involved and do not have any children together, than the divorce procedure is quite simple, and a decree nisi can be obtained within six weeks and then all you need to do is apply for the absolute. This is easy to do yourself just by obtaining a form from the court and getting your wife to sign in agreement, then that’s it. Should cost no more than £50 if it`s a DIY and no money grabbing lawyers involved.

If there is property involved and/or you have a child or children together, or she does not agree or contests the divorce, than you will have big problems, which means involving lawyers and fighting to keep any assets you have from her grasping hands. Remember that your wife will be well advised by her lawyer, her Thai friends already in the UK who will know the system like the back of their hands and boyfriends she maybe associated with. If this is the case, her lawyer will advise her to claim for divorce for maybe one of two reasons: mental cruelty is the favourite or that she is a poor girl from a third world country been taken advantage of by a big, bad farang. This reason will especially be emphasised if you are a lot older than your Thai wife. (So be prepared).

There is no reasons why you would need to travel to Thailand to obtain a divorce and if your wife decides to return to Thailand for the long term (which I doubt, because it appears she is doing too well in the UK), then you may be able to obtain a quicky divorce after a period of 2 years from the divorce court on the grounds that you and your wife have been separated for over 2 years and can say that you have no idea where she is or whom she is with. I would not advise that you apply for a divorce in Thailand, where it is possible her ever caring, ever loving family will make demands for money from you, plus you will be vulnerable. Better to do the deed on your own turf if possible if your wife agrees to sign the form and go her own separate ways without any future demands or claims on you. Ensure that you get your wife to sign a separate statement to this fact when she signs the nisi.

Of course the above is only an advisory, as you know the situation better than me, and the rest has to be left up to your own discretion.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

In the UK she will be entitled to 50% of any pension entitlement you earned in the last 5 years (including NI)

More than likely at least 50% of any savings, property or vehicles you own too.

[Beetlejuice]

To elaborate further on my previous post.

My advice is:

Sit down on your computer for a day and use the elementaries of what I have given you to do some online research as to how you intend to approach this divorce and methods to use.

Check out all your wife’s online activities, including facebook, social networking sites, emails if possible. Type into Google any of her email addresses, her name, nick names she uses, mobile phone numbers and so on and then see what she is a member of or subscribed to online. Save anything important as evidence that maybe you are able to use as evidence against her in court if need be later on. Do not inform your wife of your online investigations or your intentions. Tell her nothing of your social activities, including seeing other women, going out with the lads, or your financial situation and do not publish anything that maybe used against you online. Don`t give her any ammunition she could use against you later on.

Do not believe or trust in anything your wife tells you regarding her intentions of an amicable divorce and going her separate ways with no further claims against you, until she signs on the dotted line. Do not threaten your wife or use anger, physical or verbal abuse against your wife in any shape or form, even if you are provoked. This is exactly what the lawyers want you to do in order to establish a case against you in a court of law.

Play it by bluff, stealth and try to get out of this as economically as you can.

PS: if you do decide to divorce in Thailand, she can still return to the UK and make claims on you later on in the UK via the UK legal system. So whichever way you decide to do this, make sure you get her to sign (preferably an agreement drawn up by a lawyer) that she has no intentions of having any claims on you for anything later on. Also make it clear that you will not be willing to pay any monies either to her or her family in Thailand in order to obtain her agreement for the divorce, unless you are willing and can afford to do so.

[pinfold]

40 baht divorce cost in Thailand

[Beetlejuice]

My advice here is to every husband or potential husbands who maybe in a similar situation as the OP.

Many (not all) but many, foreign women in general (not exclusive to Thai women, so no one can accuse me of Thai bashing) see the benefits of taking on a Western husband as an advantage of gaining a foothold in the West. This used to be especially prevalent regarding Eastern European women during the days prior to the EEC. One of my cousin’s was conned into marrying a beautiful Polish girl back in the early 1970s. Once in England the girl soon met another guy or already had another guy waiting in tow for her, and my cousin became non-viable to her requirements. She then went off to fulfill her destiny without him.

Some of these girls who appeared to be the cute, subservient, loyal and loving innocent naive little princesses whilst in their own countries, can suddenly transform into the all-knowing, as sharp as a <deleted> house rat femme fatales once imported into the home countries of the gullible husbands. In a way this practice could be described as an elaborate scam, although I am not assuming this scenario pertains in the OP`s case. Only he knows the actual facts of his state of affairs, if his story is true..

So consider carefully before you fall head over heals for a dream that could later turn into a nightmare and literally ruin you.

[Beetlejuice]

Thai wife caught out by lie detector:

[benalibina]

Thai wife caught out by lie detector:

Saving face, she tried to keep it going till the cows came home !

[bloodmeal]

Thank you for the helpful replies above.

I will take the advice, but to expand on my original post, when I said it didnt work out - I left her due to recurring arguements which I felt had doomed us, I felt that I wouldnt be able to have children and build a family with a wife who I argued with, coming from a family with arguing parents it really bothered me and I felt that staying with her longer was only going to make the inevitable separation even harder.

She didnt abandon me to go to another man as I can see now my original post implies, I left her, and 3 months or so later she met this other man (also not a UK citizen as far as I am aware) and they are together now and as far as I know they are happy and want their own family etc.

We are both the same age her and I, She is on a spouse visa due to expire very soon.

We both want the divorce for the sake of moving on, but she doesnt want to leave the UK and her job / boyfriend, and to be honest I don't want her to be kicked out either. If I can help her to stay within the UK and stay happy with this man I will do it.

I dont have any children with her, and the money I have saved is relatively insignificant.

I don't think "staying married" to her would help her visa since we have been living apart for so long, hence us both wanting to sort out a divorce before we might end up on different sides of the globe soon.

I think the concerns of "money grabbing" above are not really an issue, she never asks me for money, and if she ever needed it I would give it to her without arguement. I'm assuming the boyfriend she has found is of similar nature to her and also wouldn't influence her against me in that department.

The priority now is the divorce, we both want that. If there is also a way that she can stay in the UK (even at some financial cost) then that would be a huge bonus.

Thanks again for such helpful and lengthy replies above. I was really surprised to log-in tonight and see such a response to my post.

[Nowhereman60]

why would you call your wife a girl? My daughter would be a girl, my wife would be a woman or lady. How much older are you than this Thai girl? Could this be a good cause for a divorce?

[bloodmeal]

why would you call your wife a girl? My daughter would be a girl, my wife would be a woman or lady. How much older are you than this Thai girl? Could this be a good cause for a divorce?

I'm Scottish and we will often refer to any female below about 30 as a "girl" i suppose it's a form of flattery.. but generally used in speaking here.

She is a few months older than me but we're roughly the same age, both mid 20s.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

We both want the divorce for the sake of moving on, but she doesnt want to leave the UK and her job / boyfriend, and to be honest I don't want her to be kicked out either. If I can help her to stay within the UK and stay happy with this man I will do it.

So you are planning to defraud the UK immigration authorities.

It's people like you that make it so hard for legitimately married people to get spouse VISAs.

Now the marriage has failed she no longer has any right to stay in the UK.

[Beetlejuice]

We both want the divorce for the sake of moving on, but she doesnt want to leave the UK and her job / boyfriend, and to be honest I don't want her to be kicked out either. If I can help her to stay within the UK and stay happy with this man I will do it.

So you are planning to defraud the UK immigration authorities.

It's people like you that make it so hard for legitimately married people to get spouse VISAs.

Now the marriage has failed she no longer has any right to stay in the UK.

Agree.

The OP should be careful, otherwise he could be suspected of being involved with a sham marriage racket that for payments will marry in name only to aid foreigners stay illegally in Britain. Because this is exactly what this setup appears to be.

[steveb47]

The poster who suggested "spying" on the wife's social media activities is labouring under false impressions. The courts in England are not concerned with "fault" in the breakdown of a marriage. Better to agree on the divorce on the allowable legal grounds of divorce and agree a financial settlement known as a clean break order. Otherwise all a contested divorce will do is enrich the lawyers. BTW there is no legal aid anymore for divorce in England and Wales.

[Beetlejuice]

The poster who suggested "spying" on the wife's social media activities is labouring under false impressions. The courts in England are not concerned with "fault" in the breakdown of a marriage. Better to agree on the divorce on the allowable legal grounds of divorce and agree a financial settlement known as a clean break order. Otherwise all a contested divorce will do is enrich the lawyers. BTW there is no legal aid anymore for divorce in England and Wales.

It`s probably all irrelevant now anyway.

If the OP and his Thai wife are separated in under a year and she already has a new boyfriend and a planned life for herself in the UK, than I would assume this is a sham marriage scam.

The only way this Thai woman can progress onto a permanent stay visa to remain in the UK on the grounds of marriage to the OP, is if the OP tries to mis-lead the Immigration department at the home office with mis-information that he intends to remain married to the said Thai woman and they are residing together. Once this is done, my guess is that the Thai women and the OP will later go for a divorce, once they get the all clear from the Home Office and believe it`s safe to do so, then she will be able to apply for a British passport, within 5 years I believe? Plus having the benefits of also being a Thai citizen, and be able to fulfil whatever other plans she has, including perhaps being eligible to claim social security benefits, local authority housing and so on after the second year of stay in the United Kingdom at the tax payers expense. Then the OP will go his own way and they will all live happily ever after.

I know how this works, seen it done dozens of times with my wife’s Thai friends, both in the States and in the UK.

In fact as the couple are now separated, and according to the OP this woman is now living, not with him, but with some other guy, then under UK Immigration law she now staying in the UK illegally. So in other words, this whole state of affairs appears to be extremely suspect.

So, Mr OP; what’s the real deal here? Or as I guess, this is probably the last we will hear from him.

[steveb47]

OP has indeed gone very quiet Mr Beetlejuice. Oh ye great soothsayer

[Mario2008]

Post suggesting a criminal activity reported and removed also this quoted reply

That is total incorrect and dangerous advice.

They are married, whether it is registered in the UK or not, also according to UK law. That means responsibilities/liabilities would continue to exist as long as they are married.

A new marriage without a divorce would be a criminal offence.

[fredob43]

All this good and bad advice I don't expect the op knows which way to turn. It's going to cost whatever you do. But my advice would be pay for two cheap air fare's and do the job over here easy, then walk away and let her get on with her own life. She more than likely wont get back into England no married visa but that's her problem. Don't mention anything to her before you go. Put's you in the clear with the English peep's sorted as they say, Your free to then do as you want.

[NanLaew]

It looks like the OP and his wife want an amicable divorce. That's not totally unknown. His willingness to assist her in HER desires to stay in the UK is the sticking point. In reality and in law, there's no way she can remain if they get a divorce in the UK and as pointed out, her current rights to stay are already in breach by the fact that they are already separated, amicably or otherwise.

The OP needs to make this crystal clear to his wife, make sure she 100% understands and agrees that there is absolutely no legal way she can extend her UK residency by grandfathering it on her existing visa. She will have to face the fact that to be able to legally stay in the UK, she will need to re-apply for a new visit visa in Bangkok. The fact that her new partner is not a UK citizen/national means that she will probably have to self-sponsor the new visa. If he is an EE national, he may have to test his ardor and do some real work on how they can stay together legally in the UK. If he is non- EE, then there's a snowball's chance in hell that he can do anything much in support of her new visa application.

The quickest and cheapest divorce is probably in Thailand, but once she leaves the UK, she won't be able to return until she gets a new visa.

Getting a divorce in the UK lends more time for HER forward planning and does not require expensive legal assistance but it does need the thoroughness and additional agreements as mentioned earlier. Hence the importance of ensuring that the wife accepts completely what the divorce entails from the get go, i.e. TOTAL and IRREVOCABLE loss of current UK residence status. Any doubts or oversights or delays may raise suspicions that one or the other isn't being forthright or honest and then it could get really messy with the lawyers. In this regard, the OP has as much to lose as his current wife if you consider the possibility of legal action against him for Immigration fraud. She may get deported whereas he may just avoid a custodial sentence but will receive a substantial fine.

I don't think the OP was purposely planning to breach Immigration law by somehow allowing her to remain in the UK whilst legally separated. However, that is EXACTLY how it will appear to the authorities if it does become known. It appears he only wishes to assist his current wife and chose the path of least resistance in that endeavour. However, the legalities of their situation overwhelm any personal wishes in this regard. The fact that they are separated on mutually amicable terms carries absolutely no weight in these matters.

[wooloomooloo]

She is on a spouse visa due to expire very soon.

How soon?

...but she doesnt want to leave the UK and her job / boyfriend, and to be honest I don't want her to be kicked out either. If I can help her to stay within the UK and stay happy with this man I will do it.

There is no chance of ILR or FLR as her situation stands.

I don't think "staying married" to her would help her visa since we have been living apart for so long, hence us both wanting to sort out a divorce before we might end up on different sides of the globe soon.

You've contradicted yourself.

Not sure what you want from this particular set of circumstances as you're not certain yourself. Facts speak for themselves - your wife is welcome to return home of her own volition or she can stay and face possible forced removal from the UK.

You've also your own future to consider as a future sponsor. Up to you.

[bloodmeal]

Hmm, well as I mentioend to others on here, I don't plan on doing anything illeagal, i mean i want to help her, but not to the point of breaking the law, if i can somehow sponsor her in a way or help her to apply for a visa or find work etc, I will do that - im confused about the above advice though and have been since i got married, I got married in thai, and I never registered it here, never referred to her as my wife, still gf, since we had planned to do a "proper" ceremony in the UK first before we made it official to everyone.

but now it's a limbo, I dont even know whether to put married or single on my own documents ... i dont know if the uk consider me married or single to be honest, and people give me very conflicting advice !

I'm beginning to feel quite depressed about what a mess this has become. When i got married it seemed so right, and it made so much sense and i felt i had done the right thing for my life, but now It's just stress hanging over me...

[Dancealot]

Good thing is you havent registered the marriage in your country.

[benalibina]

Hmm, well as I mentioend to others on here, I don't plan on doing anything illeagal, i mean i want to help her, but not to the point of breaking the law, if i can somehow sponsor her in a way or help her to apply for a visa or find work etc, I will do that - im confused about the above advice though and have been since i got married, I got married in thai, and I never registered it here, never referred to her as my wife, still gf, since we had planned to do a "proper" ceremony in the UK first before we made it official to everyone.

but now it's a limbo, I dont even know whether to put married or single on my own documents ... i dont know if the uk consider me married or single to be honest, and people give me very conflicting advice !

I'm beginning to feel quite depressed about what a mess this has become. When i got married it seemed so right, and it made so much sense and i felt i had done the right thing for my life, but now It's just stress hanging over me...

Good guys can get stuffed. Do not let it get to you. Be happy that there are no kids involved. In this case selfinterest must be your priority.

[meatboy]

the op wants to help her all he can[he is not with sound mind]but he will give her all she wants,but she hasnt asked for anything[not yet]

best thing he can do is get on a plane back to thailand, get the divorce,then down to patts

find another nice lady that will help with his depression,then get married and live happily ever after,and after,and after.

[Mario2008]

Hmm, well as I mentioend to others on here, I don't plan on doing anything illeagal, i mean i want to help her, but not to the point of breaking the law, if i can somehow sponsor her in a way or help her to apply for a visa or find work etc, I will do that - im confused about the above advice though and have been since i got married, I got married in thai, and I never registered it here, never referred to her as my wife, still gf, since we had planned to do a "proper" ceremony in the UK first before we made it official to everyone.

but now it's a limbo, I dont even know whether to put married or single on my own documents ... i dont know if the uk consider me married or single to be honest, and people give me very conflicting advice !

I'm beginning to feel quite depressed about what a mess this has become. When i got married it seemed so right, and it made so much sense and i felt i had done the right thing for my life, but now It's just stress hanging over me...

If you went to the amphur/district office in Thailand you are now legally married. Period.

Also under UK law, the only thing is that the UK government doesn't now of yur marriage as it isn't registered with the UK-registrar. But that is not required for it to be a legal marriage. It only makes it more difficult to proof the marriage.

On forms you must now state "married".

Your marriage or civil partnership should be recognised in the UK if you follow the correct process according to local law.

https://www.gov.uk/marriage-abroad

As many mebers can assure you from their own experience, your marriage is recognised by the UK.

[dsfbrit]

I am sorry for asking this if you have already said above, but were you married in an amphur or just in a religious ceremony.here in Thailand?

If you were married in an amphur (as I was ) then you are very much married, just as if you got married in a registry office in the UK.

Curiously, if you were just married in a religious ceremony here in Thailand, then the UK considers you not to be married.

It is odd I know, as in the UK the religious church wedding means you are also legally married, whereas in Thailand, despite all the pomp and ceremony, the religious wedding has no legal basis at all.

I forget all the details now of the settlement visa we went through back in 2002, in fact we came back to Thailand after a year and did not bother staying the extra 2 years required. However, I am pretty certain than on all the forms it made it quite clear that if my relationship with my wife changed (as yours clearly has) we had to notify the authorities immediately.

So unless the UK immigration system has changed a lot in the last 10 years (I doubt it has changed that much in this particular area), then married or not, you need to tell UK immigration she is no longer living with you and then fill in the relevant forms to show the relationship has ended.

What happens to her then with relation to her remaining in the UK, will be decided by UK immigration.

Good luck, it is a bit of a mess at the moment, but you will come out of it OK in the end,