ABC guide on how to marry Myanmar citizen

[Chillout101]

I promised in a different thread a few weeks ago that I would make a post on how to get married with a Myanmar/Burmese citizen.
I will concentrate on the Burmese side since every country have a little different rules about marriage in Thailand, but for most it is rather uncomplicated.

No matter where in Burma your partner is from you should do the process in Yangon. They should be in possession of a permanent passport, not the workpassport they get for Thailand. The first thing is to find a reliable agent, this can be a daunting task, but be patient and don't take the first and best one you find. The agents are based around Maha Bandoola Garden Street and the prices they toss out might be very different.
It is a must that the agent tells you that your partner needs to go to Yangon western district court and then the next day to Ministry of foreign affairs (MOFA) in Yangon, if they say ANYTHING else then avoid them.

Once you have found an agent there will be some things to do for your partner and you may tag along but have to wait outside.
First she/he will have to go to the court with a helper of the agent and swear before a judge that she/he has been under the parents guardianship until now. This is more or less a way to break out of guardianship and become single as they see it in Burma. The word guardianship might seem strange if your partner is 30 but just go along with it
The next day you meet up with agent and helper again and go to MOFA, once again she/he needs to answer a lot of questions inside, so be prepared to have them remember number of nationcard and so on.
All papers are in Burmese but the agent will fix all translations the day before so once they have been to MOFA you are actually finished with agent. From there you need to go to Thai embassy in Yangon and get papers stamped, it will then be accepted by MOFA in Thailand, we forgot this but I actually got them stamped at Burma embassy in Bangkok without any problems.
Do not under any circumstances get married in Yangon, then they can not get the single paper and you would be smart to marry in Thailand instead. A marriage in Burma will raise questions in any other country so get it done in Thailand.

Back in Thailand you need to do the same as with your own papers, translate to thai and get stamp at MOFA. Then you can marry at amphur or khet, we took Lak Si just beyond MOFA. Get marriage registration and certificate translated from Thai to English and then get new stamps at MOFA.

Price of agent we used was 200.000 Kyat or approx. 7000 THB and that included all, even taxis and coffee etc.
Hope this helps you on the way, but remember that you WILL get frustrated, annoyed, fed up, happy and what not along the way but in the end it is worth it.
Should you have any questions then feel free to PM me

[SeaVisionBurma]

Thanks for posting this!

Best wishes to you and your wife.

We get queries on this from time to time so it is great to have a first hand report on the in's & out's of the procedures.

Good luck to you

[kuzmol]

Maybe you know, can my partener visit western district court and MOFA office by himself without me? Or we need to do all procedure together?

How long paper from MOFA office is valid? My partner told me that MOFA now in Naypyidaw. And he plans to visit it soon, but he is very busy know and we plan to do marriage in February. How long documents from MOFA are valid? Or he will need to get new one again in February?

And how much did you pay in Thailand to get your documents in MOFA and for registration of your marriage?

[Chillout101]

MOFA is in Yangon again, a building close to thai embassy. He has to do it alone, you can not attend anything.

I think I paid around 800 Thb for translations into thai from english version.

[kuzmol]

Thank you very much for information, I will tell him about MOFA location. He lives in Yangon and it take time to visit Nay Pyi Daw.

Did you visit Myanmar after your marriage with your Myanmar wife? What kind of visa did you do for it?

[Chillout101]

Since some seem to think that anyone saying they have married a burmese lady on this forum is more or less accused of lying I decided to post a few pics. Just because you have failed or not found the right way to do it does not mean everyone else is lying!

PS! Names have of course been cencored out.

[SeaVisionBurma]

Excellent post, well done.

[ggberardi]

Dear Chilliout101,
Many Thanks for your post.
My fiancee have just come back from Myanmar where she did everything you instructed to do. Your post was very Helpful!
Would you be able to provide advices on what you did back in Thailand as well?
Did you use an agent to process your marriage registration, if so which one? or did you do everything on your own? 
Also which court did you go to register your marriage?
I ask because I have contacted few agents and they all refused to take on the task because afraid of not succeeding in processing our marriage. They told me I should contact the courts myself to check which one will accepts our documents. 
Any direction would be much appreciated.

[rcoyote]

Hi Chillout and Thank you  for an amazing post,

I have a question about:

 

 "First she/he will have to go to the court with a helper of the agent and swear before a judge that she/he has been under the parents guardianship until now."  

 

In reality we have lived together in Thailand for 2 years - I am assuming your case was similar. But how would we say we met etc. if I have lived in Thailand for 3 years and haven't ever been to Myanmar? I was hoping this could  be reworded into a "she has her mother's consent"  

 

Did the agent advise this? and obviously it worked, so, I'm willing to try.. I was thinking that already being together for so long would be a plus. Your suggestion seems that they want to agree to an unblemished state for their records and likely appreciate that you made their jobs easier. .. I could understand that. 

 

Also, we would like to marry in the US or Thailand... most importantly that we could visit the US... Do you know of any advantages either way? Thanks immensily, Scott

[rcoyote]

I am not sure what guardianship legally means I guess. Thanks

 

[rcoyote]

On 10/17/2014 at 8:49 PM, Chillout101 said:

All papers are in Burmese but the agent will fix all translations the day before so once they have been to MOFA you are actually finished with agent. From there you need to go to Thai embassy in Yangon and get papers stamped, it will then be accepted by MOFA in Thailand, we forgot this but I actually got them stamped at Burma embassy in Bangkok without any problems.
Do not under any circumstances get married in Yangon, then they can not get the single paper and you would be smart to marry in Thailand instead. A marriage in Burma will raise questions in any other country so get it done in Thailand.

Hi Chillout,

Out of all the posts I've read yours has been the most specifically helpful. I am really curious, in my case, about not getting married in Myanmar. I understand your reasoning, however, I am wondering if I do get a job in Myanmar if it wouldn't be easier to get married there. I am worried about her crossing the border a few times in that she seems to always get hassled and may not be allowed back into Thailand on potentially the next visit. I have applied for a few jobs in Myanmar and am not at all clear what the best strategy would be.  If I am hearing your right - even though you were living in Thailand - it would still be a better idea to do as you said. and then travel back to Myanmar as a married couple. 

 

Sort of related and equally confusing is the idea of guardianship. If we did move to Myanmar unmarried we can't live together so I'm wondering how do we say we've met if she's been under her mothers guardianship. Specifically, my passport would show I just came into Myanmar and a week later was getting married. Seems like it wouldn't work unless I could say we've been ... dating for 2 years.. (really living together - but I understand that that is not a good idea to mention). Anyhow, I'd greatly appreciate your comments in my twisted up scenario.   Thanks - I do know it'll eventually work out. I'd just like it to go as easily as possible. Thanks.

[spidermike007]

Great post. Thanks. Some of my friends are wondering where to meet Burmese women outside of Burma? Is it possible? Many seem very kind hearted. How do they compare with Thai women?

[rcoyote]

In my opinion the best place would be in Myanmar. Your chance of meeting an educated Burmese woman are much greater. However, nothing against the working class. I'm married to one. She's brilliant and quickly becoming a business woman. Good luck. 

[melvinmelvin]

On 8/27/2018 at 7:07 AM, spidermike007 said:

Great post. Thanks. Some of my friends are wondering where to meet Burmese women outside of Burma? Is it possible? Many seem very kind hearted. How do they compare with Thai women?

of course, it is possible, there are lots in LoS

you will find a lot in Ranong, in fisheries and in service industry

 

there are many in the service industry along the Ranong - Phuket stretch

 

also plenty in BKK and surroundings

 

[Moses Htoo]

Hi.....me and my partner plan to marry in Thailand. I want to know what documents do I need to bring and how much it cost to get single status affidavit from MOFA in Yangon?