An itinerary for getting married in Thailand

[billybatson]

After reading lots of threads on here and doing research on other sites including government sites, embassies, etc, I've got an itinerary for my upcoming trip to Bangkok where I plan to get married to my lovely Thai GF. :-)

How does this all look?

Day 1

8am - Arrive at British Embassy Consular Services, armed with my printed Affirmation of Marital Status form, passport and copy of passport

Sign affirmation form and have it counter-signed by official. Pay fee. (Cost - 3080 THB)

Finished by 10am (realistic or not? )

Leave Embassy, ignore touts and take taxi directly to Ministry of Foreign Affairs (or BTS then taxi to MFA, whichever is quickest) (cost around 150 THB)

10.45 or 11am - Arrive at MFA (Laksi) and look for translation service onsite to avoid mistakes/avoid re-translation etc.

Someone mentioned an official desk. I hear there is a translation office on the second floor. I also heard about a bookshop. Are these the same ? Maybe someone can confirm.

Pay for translation of Affirmation into Thai, takes 1 hour max? (Cost around 400 THB)

Sometime after 12 noon, take translated Affirmation to Legalization Division for certification.

But since its already afternoon, there is no same-day service available, so we'll have to collect it next day.

(Cost - 400 or 800 THB)

Day 2

7.30 am - arrive back at MFA to collect certified Affirmation, hopefully all done before noon.

Around lunchtime - go to marriage office amphur at Bangrak (take direct taxi or BTS and taxi - cost around 150 THB)

Photocopy all documents there, get in queue, then complete signatures etc (witnesses provided by marriage office)

Pay for copies of wedding certificate and wedding register (cost around 50 THB?)

Could be all finished by 2-3pm

Note : I know we might get lucky and get to the MFA certification stage before noon on Day 1, in which case, we'd pay for same-day service and pick it up around 3pm. But that still wouldn't leave enough time to get married at Bangrak Office (shuts at 3.30pm ?), so it would still be a 2 day process anyway.

After getting our marriage certificates, I want to have them translated into English (for a spouse visa application, and subsequent red tape when wife lives in UK).

From what I read, its much easier to do this while still in Thailand, so I want to do this at the same, if possible.

A sworn translation is what I want, so I can get this from a reputable translation agency or from the MFA translation service I used previously. In fact, the MFA is a better idea since they will also have to certify the translation as correct (for Schengen visa purposes later). So that could be another long wait in the MFA ?

So we're probably looking at a third day for all that :-(

Comments, corrections and useful advice welcome.

[AlexRRR]

WOW sounds sooooooo romantic...........................................

[billybatson]

romance costs big bucks, buddy

the wedding can wait.

[adv008]

Your itinerary sounds good. I am getting married in two weeks time and have made a list just about the same as yours. Good Luck.

[colinneil]

OP why do you want to take your new wife to the UK?

You are only thinking of yourself, not thinking of what is good for her, and your future together.

More than 90% of English/Thai marrages where bride moves to England ends in disaster.

New bride is lonely, bored, homesick.Husband comes home wife nag nag nag,all the time, then your future together goes tits up.

Believe me i know, i am talking through experience.

[billybatson]

Colin, I'm planning on moving to Thailand in maybe 5 years. Can't do it before then because I've got a young teenage son here in the UK. Once he's left school, hopefully started Uni and becomes more independant, then I can hopefully move to LOS.

My GF is fine with coming here for a few years, she's been over twice already, met my family and friends and likes it here. In fact its my idea to move to Thailand permanently after a while, not hers. She tells me its not important where we live and would happily live in UK, Thailand or anywhere else, as long as we are together.

I think she'll be fine here. My only worry is the cold weather, she hasn't experienced that yet !

[vulcan903]

Colin, I'm planning on moving to Thailand in maybe 5 years. Can't do it before then because I've got a young teenage son here in the UK. Once he's left school, hopefully started Uni and becomes more independant, then I can hopefully move to LOS.

My GF is fine with coming here for a few years, she's been over twice already, met my family and friends and likes it here. In fact its my idea to move to Thailand permanently after a while, not hers. She tells me its not important where we live and would happily live in UK, Thailand or anywhere else, as long as we are together.

I think she'll be fine here. My only worry is the cold weather, she hasn't experienced that yet !

Yep - same sort of plan as me. My children will be off to do whatever they want to, I will have got 20 years service in my work so looking for redundancy. Head back to TH for a tropical lifestyle.

Just got to start reading up on the whole marriage process as she wants to come over for a few years to be with me and get a job and wants to visit Europe and the Americas before heading back.

She also wants to see snow, so I guess a trip to Norway for sure and the weather here is so hit and miss with getting a dump of snow.

[billphillips]

Good luck with your plans and I sincerely wish you well. Just a word of caution though ... being married will not enhance the chances of your wife obtaining a visa for the UK. If any reason or doubt exists for a refusal, being married will not overcome it. The Schengen visa is a very uncomplicated process for a Thai wife, not so for the UK. Perhaps a fiancé visa may be more appropriate?

[The Arrow]

OP why do you want to take your new wife to the UK?

You are only thinking of yourself, not thinking of what is good for her, and your future together.

More than 90% of English/Thai marrages where bride moves to England ends in disaster.

New bride is lonely, bored, homesick.Husband comes home wife nag nag nag,all the time, then your future together goes tits up.

Believe me i know, i am talking through experience.

[roger101]

Well Billy how did it go?

[TommyUK1960]

Any one recommend where I can park the car while Doing all this stuff? Have to be at Embassy for 08:15 appointment.

[williewolf]

Any one recommend where I can park the car while Doing all this stuff? Have to be at Embassy for 08:15 appointment.

Just past the embassy on the same side there is a hotel, swiss or something, I parked in there. They give you a ticket on the way in and if you use the hotel they stamp it free. I was there for about two hours cost 130 baht

[EyesWideOpen]

Your schedule will not work. You must be at the MFA by 8 in the morning .

They only process so many people per day. So if you show up late they

will not do anything. The translate office I used was top of the stairs on the second

floor. There was a name spelling error, so it was only a quick trip down from

the third floor to fix it. With all the other paperwork, be sure to have copies

of your passport. I forgot, and had to wait in line at the copy business...

[giddyup]

Does the Amphur office charge a fee for 2 witnesses? I've done everything else but the marriage at the Amphur.

[williewolf]

Does the Amphur office charge a fee for 2 witnesses? I've done everything else but the marriage at the Amphur.

We phoned before and asked about witnesses (Bang Rak Amphur) and was told not needed. on the day of getting married "who are your witnesses?" grrr. The clerk then asked another couple and they also had no witnesses so we just witnessed each others paperwork, no problem.

[giddyup]

Does the Amphur office charge a fee for 2 witnesses? I've done everything else but the marriage at the Amphur.

We phoned before and asked about witnesses (Bang Rak Amphur) and was told not needed. on the day of getting married "who are your witnesses?" grrr. The clerk then asked another couple and they also had no witnesses so we just witnessed each others paperwork, no problem.

OK thanks. I remember when I lodged my will at the Amphur that they wanted a "fee" for witnessing the document. Pretty sure they charged me for a passport "translation" as well.

[roger101]

How (or where) do you download an Affirmatiom Form without getting the word SPECIMEN written across it.

[AZBill]

Didn't do any of this stuff. Just had a huge wedding for her family in Thailand then the legal one in the U.S.

[billybatson]

Sorry I forgot to get back here to update you on what happened. It was so long ago now (Feb) I've forgotten a lot of the details but to sum up, it was hell on earth !

The 1 day target was blown away at the first hurdle (the embassy). EyesWideOpen was spot on, you need to be at the MFA first thing or you've no chance.

The Embassy took what seemed ages (queuing and re-queuing) so we didn't get out there till about 10.30. Then the taxi we took from there to the MFA got lost - driver hadn't a clue where the Ministry was, depsite giving him a map and address in Thai.

The MFA experience was equally painful, after getting a translator to do the documents we waited about an hour and a half to get the documents back (he promised 45 mins). You then have to go through another round of queues upstairs and another long wait. The upshot was that we were too late to get the documents returned the same day. They finish at 3pm so we would have to come the next day.

So Day 2 back we go to the MFA again (took the car this time since the taxi drivers haven't a clue how to find it). After queuing again, we finally get to the window to get the verified documents returned, only to be told sorry there were mistakes in the translation, so you'll need to start over again !

Turns out the translator has mis-spelled some surnames and made another stupid typo somewhere. "No problem, I do again for you" he says after I'd hunted him down.

Too right you will, and you want be getting any more baht for the corrections !

So did it again, back upstairs, queued some more then handed in the documents. I forget what time it was but it was too late to get them back same day we were told. So that meant a third day in this hellhole of red tape.

Day 3 - got there first thing in morning, and straight upstairs and waited. Finally got the documents returned - all finished, verified and authenticated.

Now we had a mad dash to get to Bangrak to get the marriage certificate before it closed as well. After battling through BKK lunch hour traffic and getting lost again (seems nothing is easy to find in BKK) we finally got to the Ampur Office around 2. Ckecked in there, and went round to the little photocopying shop nearby to get a load of documents (and passports and IDs) copied, before going back to the marriage office. More waiting and moved from desk to desk talking to different people, handling different parts of the process. This is Thailand !!

It wasn't romantic at all and we were both just really tired at this stage and wanted it to finish. We were all done inside an hour so it wasn't too bad but it felt like longer.

So we were officially married finally, and just before Valentines Day. So we headed South to Hua Hin for a few days to recover and we did have a nice time there. Had a cracking meal at the Hilton (rooftop restaurant - I recommend it, spectacular views and excellent food).

But you know what, there was still one thing I hadn't done yet - get the marriage certfiicate translated into English. Well there was no way I was going back to that hellhole again this trip, and anyway I'd run out of time and had to back to the UK.

So we did that 4 months later when I went back. I now have all the marriage documentation I need.

Next thing in the pipeline is the wedding Watch this space !

[KMartinHandyman]

We paid an expediter across from U.S. Embassy.

Walked all documents for us,drove us to the Amphurs office and back.

Finished in one day with all translations in hand.

I highly recommend this approach.

[KMartinHandyman]

How (or where) do you download an Affirmatiom Form without getting the word SPECIMEN written across it.

Don't bother downloading the form as I remember the US Embassy in BKK said it was outdated and gave me a new one to fill out.

[bwpage3]

Translation service depends on how many people and how much work they have ahead of yours

[NCFC]

There is an excellent translation service in ploenchit homepro building, 2nd floor, witthayu road. He asks you to verify his spellings before u leave. He also advised me about documentation requirements. A good guy.