Immediate divorce - Procedure confirmations

[elliottm]

Dear forum,

I've read some of the threads and would like to consolidate requirements in one place.

Context: 3 years marriage, no major assets (household items only). A car loan (2.5 years paid on 4 year loan) is in sister-in-law's name) and rented town house is in wife's name. Willing to write off assets (car deposit, furnishings, 2 years pre-paid rent, shop stock etc) and will be mutually agreed settlement at amphur:

Amphur - marriage cert was at Bangkok but now at hometown, can I expect any delays when using another amphur.

Divorce agreement - do I need this and my Thai marriage certificate to be translated into English and certified at Ministry of Foreign Affairs - I have not left Thailand since marrying with no other registration at my home country, will I need to provide/declare certificates to legally marry again in another country (will I need to sign future correspondence as Divorced in my home country to avoid fraud?).

Visa - does my 1 year visa extension end immediately or do I get 24 hours to leave the country, is the extension stamp voided the amphur.

Bank - funds were pre-marital and have proof of transfers into Thailand and between banks but will need to arrange to send home.

Apart from belongings, what else I should expect/plan for, whether immediately in Thailand or in future anywhere else. Many thanks.

[onpermanentvacation]

Every amphur office seems to follow different rules, but for me it was very easy and quick to get (consensually) divorced in Ko Phangan, even though we originally married in Bangkok. It took 10 minutes to get it done.

As far as I know, there is no international record of your marriage, so no need to translate or certify any documents. If you decide to get married in another country, it will be as if you had never married before. I am not an expert, but this is to the best of my knowledge, based on my experience.

Make an agreement which clearly specifies all details of your divorce (we did it in both English and Thai in one document), print it in three copies.

You will need two Thai witnesses.

Three Thais will need to bring their ID cards and copies of them. You will need one copy of your passport. Some people report they had to provide a certified copy of their passport, but it doesn't seem to be required in all amphurs.

Both marriage certificates will be required (the flowery ones).

For better response in the future, try to formulate your posts with your main questions clear and precise. I had to read your message a few times to understand what exactly you want.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

First move your stuff elsewhere.

No agreement on anything needed.

Car belongs to SIL

Rented house belongs to wife (and landlord)

Turn up at Amphur office with your passport, 2 marriage certificates,her ID card, her house book, a friend for you that speaks thai, a friend for her.

If neither you, your friend, and the Amphur boss have a common language, you may be turned away.

(wife and her friend not acceptable as your translator)

That's all you need and a few baht for photocopies.

(GMB is wrong on several points)

Edited December 15, 2014 by AnotherOneAmerican

[onpermanentvacation]

What was I wrong about?

Custom agreement is, indeed, not necessary but it is accepted and they will reference it in the official record in their database. At least for me it was like this.

We had our custom agreement that specified details of monthly support and child issues as well as car ownership transfer, etc. They said it's fine to have this and they can either type it all into the computer or they can reference it from the official record and keep a copy of our custom agreement in their archive. We didn't want to wait so we chose the second option. They stitched our custom agreement to all the other documents and stated in the divorce form that terms of our divorce are to be as specified in that agreement.

Edited December 15, 2014 by GoldmundBKK

[AnotherOneAmerican]

What was I wrong about?

5 errors

2 Thai witness not required, 1 person for man, 1 person for woman, any nationality acceptable (with passport or Thai ID + hose book).

Agreement in Thai/English, not required as OP stated no mutual assets.

Three Thais with ID, no idea what you are talking about, not required (4 people with IDs covers the entire group, husband, wife, friend husband, friend wife).

No mention of translation, Amphur boss has duty of care to ensure foreigner understands spoken and written documents.

(translator can be husband, friend, or Amphur boss, not wife, not wife friend)

Rules are enforced uniformly across the country, only wiggle room is translators level of skill.

Edited December 15, 2014 by AnotherOneAmerican

[onpermanentvacation]

I did it just this morning so I know how it was. I cannot speak for any other amphur nor for official rules.

If your wife is Thai and two witnesses are Thai, that makes for 3 Thai people, doesn't it?

No one told me anything about witnesses not being appropriate. We just found two people who were willing to go with us. No one mentioned anything about translation.

OP didn't really say they have nothing to agree on.

If you just want to be right, there, you can have it.

[maxtingtong]

And what happens to the visa? I'm actually with Non-O 1 year multiple entry

[paz]

And what happens to the visa? I'm actually with Non-O 1 year multiple entry

If you have a visa, it remains valid, that should be your case.

If you have an extension of stay, it becomes invalid the day of divorce, although Immigration is not notified. Supposedly, that same day either you leave country, or obtain a 7-days extension at immigration, Bt 1,900. Overstay is fined Bt 500 a day up to 20K maximum.

Edited March 1, 2015 by paz