Getting married in Chaing Mai

[whynoname]

I went to the British Consulate in Chiang Mai yesterday with my decree absolute ready to sort out the affirmation of marriage but because the court in the UK has stamped my decree absolute in black instead of the usual red they will not accept it. The court in the UK is now a family court so are not permitted to stamp in red. The consulate here believe I have either got a fake or a photocopy so will not accept and are just telling me to order a new one which of course is pointless as it will be exactly the same.

Has anybody else had a similar experience?

Shall I go to the embassy in Bangkok instead? (bit of a long way but if there is no other choice...)

Any thought appreciated...

[daveAustin]

I feel your pain but as you state any thought is appreciated, consider it a plus that you are not able to marry.

As an aside, the British consulates/embassy here are a slight one-up from useless today. They can't be relied upon for anything. having said that, it may be worthwhile calling them up and querying it.

[narkeddiver]

If you have time I would recommend contacting your local court and asking them for an official letter stating why the stamp is in black rather than red - sometimes the home office and the foreign office don't talk to each other

When my wife and I got married in the UK we had to apply for a marriage visa for my wife and one of the of the requirements for the visa was a letter from the registry office stating that we had booked a registrar

When I talked to my local registrar he said they no longer issued such letters because we could easily cancel the appointment afterwards and that the foreign office had been told this was the case - when I tried explaining this to the embassy in Bangkok they still requested the letter

In the end after several phone calls to the UK working my way up the chain of command at the home office I was given the name and phone number of the Home Secretary's secretary and told to give this to the embassy if they still insisted on the letter

I wrote the embassy a very polite note explaining the situation and why there wasn't a letter from the registrar and asked them to contact the contact at the home office if they had an issue

There was no further contact from the embassy and my wife's visa was approved

[whatawonderfulday]

Afraid can not help but suspect you should go to BKK. The moral of the story here is that you should get divorced in Thailand, it makes it so much easier to get married here again, and again and again

[cheeryble]

If you get officially married you are giving away power over the assets you worked for.

It also means if either partner does anything official both parties must sign.....a pain at best, a very big and costly problem at worst. Businesslike Thais therefore avoid it like the plague.

There is no Thai cultural requirement for more than the village ceremony.

If the wife requiresa show of security show her she's in a will.

One possible reason you might want to register is if a pension might pass over to wife after yr death....but this is not so common and dependent on many conditions.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

Photoshop the bit they want in red.

or

fill in the form again claiming you have never been married.

[ilgitano]

Just went through the whole song-and-dance myself. I am a dual UK/NZ national, and was married /divorced in NZ, so I got the "Free to marry" documents done via NZ embassy and NZ passport. Unofrtunately I entered Thailand this time on my UK passport so had to copy both passports to the Amphur, since my visa was in the UK passport, and "freedom to marry" was on my NZ passport. Foolish, but I got away with that. If I'd had my wits about me, I would have entered on my NZ passport.

Still had a problem though, my wifes ID card is an 8-series ID number, and the Amphur wanted a whole slew of documents to back it up. Those documents were retained by Mae Tang when her ID card was issued, and we are informed that they have probably been destroyed. She's had her ID card for about 3 years now, and it was a major accomplishment for her. We ended up finishing the paperwork in Mae Tang, where her ID card was issued, with no problem at all.

We're about to start the visa process for her to go to the UK with me, and I'm worried the same thing will happen again. She has a Thai passport, and in hindsight I think there may have been no problem if she presented her Thai passport at the same time she presented her ID card, at Amphur Chiang Mai.

So my question is, is there something I can do to certify her ID card, to forestall this kind of hassle? Could presenting her passport with her ID in this kind of situation help?

[Bill97]

At the provincial government offices on the road to Mae Rim there is an off ice that certifies copies of documents. First floor next to the PP office.

[ilgitano]

At the provincial government offices on the road to Mae Rim there is an off ice that certifies copies of documents. First floor next to the PP office.

Thats where I went to get my 'Freedom to marry' translation legalised. So they will 'certify' a Thai ID is genuine as well? I THINK I read that on their wall poster detailing services on offer, but can't remember the exact wording.

[Bill97]

Yes thai ID too

[elektrified]

If you get officially married you are giving away power over the assets you worked for.

It also means if either partner does anything official both parties must sign.....a pain at best, a very big and costly problem at worst. Businesslike Thais therefore avoid it like the plague.

There is no Thai cultural requirement for more than the village ceremony.

If the wife requiresa show of security show her she's in a will.

One possible reason you might want to register is if a pension might pass over to wife after yr death....but this is not so common and dependent on many conditions.

Good advice. I agree 100%. Legal marriage - never.

[Dante99]

If you get officially married you are giving away power over the assets you worked for.

It also means if either partner does anything official both parties must sign.....a pain at best, a very big and costly problem at worst. Businesslike Thais therefore avoid it like the plague.

There is no Thai cultural requirement for more than the village ceremony.

If the wife requiresa show of security show her she's in a will.

One possible reason you might want to register is if a pension might pass over to wife after yr death....but this is not so common and dependent on many conditions.

Good advice. I agree 100%. Legal marriage - never.

Agree, registered marriage here is a disadvantage. If there are compelling reasons you can legally marry in another country without having the issues here because it would not be registered here.