Affirmation freedom of marriage UK

[dogeatdog]

During a discussion last this question came up.

A guy periously married and divorced in UK applying at UK embassy bangkok for his affirmation of freedom of marriage.

They obviously require proof of previous disolved marriage in the form of decree absolute which we all agreed upon.

But now we have the normal pub type conversation with conflicting views as to what form the decree should be presented in.

Is it,

Only the original decree absolute will be acepted.

A copy obtained from UK court would be acepted.

A scanned and printed copy would be acepted as long as it was certified. (Not sure who would certify it in thailand)

A scanned and printed copy of the orginal no certify required would be accepted.

Quite clearly this led to a heated discussion and it would appear that all applied as per normal pub topics.

My only personal experience to add to the conversation was you need the original.

Found this on the gov website this morning.

"Only the original evidence or a certified copy will be accepted – photocopies will not be accepted under any circumstances"

So still no mention of the scanned copies.

Does anyone have expirence on this?

Appoligies if this has been covered before. I did do some searches here but can't find this covered anywhere.

Maybe its my cack handed seach techniques.

[Upnotover]

I'd say a scanned/printed copy is the same thing as a photocopy, that's what a photocopier does.

[Mario2008]

A certified copy is a copy that has been certified by a notary. They want to be sure it is real.

[dogeatdog]

My personal understanding of a certified copy in this case, was one in which is obtained from the court in uk as a replacement for lost/destroyed original??

I understand the basics of certifying orginal docs by a notary, but who could do this in thailand?

For example, if I was to get somebody in the UK to scan my original decree and I print it out here in Thailand then who would certify it?

I know this topic is hyperthetical but I find it interesting (guess I need to get out more) and it may yeld some useful infomation for others.

[Mario2008]

My personal understanding of a certified copy in this case, was one in which is obtained from the court in uk as a replacement for lost/destroyed original??

I understand the basics of certifying orginal docs by a notary, but who could do this in thailand?

For example, if I was to get somebody in the UK to scan my original decree and I print it out here in Thailand then who would certify it?

I know this topic is hyperthetical but I find it interesting (guess I need to get out more) and it may yeld some useful infomation for others.

No one would notarise it I would hope. Notariisation should only be done when you present both original and copy, so the notary can check if original is not a fake and the copy is indeed of the original.

Incase the decree being in the UK, it should be notarised in the UK and the notarised copy be sent to you in Thailand.

There is no notary law in Thailand, but the Law Council offers a course to lawyers, allowing them to notarize documents. As said, there is no law regulating this. So when using a Thai notary the document could be challenged in a foreign court.