Short story we are trying to get our recently born daughter's Thai birth certificate. Mom is Thai and I am a US citizen. Daughter born in US. We already have authentication certificate from our State, now we have to go to step 2 and get it from the US Department of State however I am a bit confused as to how to full out DS-4194.

In box 4 do I put country from where the birth certificate is from or where it will be used? Also do I list the number of documents as 1 or 2 (birth certificate and my state's authentication)?

Please, if you have done this help me out. The instructions are so damn vague.

Digitalman Post #1:

“In box 4 do I put country from where the birth certificate is from or where it will be used? Also do I list the number

of documents as 1 or 2 (birth certificate and my state's authentication)?”

The Thai Embassy in Los Angeles only required us to send our state "Apostille or Certificate of Authentication." The state SoS then sent us an official certification, affirming that the signature on our child's birth certificate was genuine; in other words, the state Apostille is more-or-less a notary certificate. We did not have to get a federal certification similar to that required by Thailand's MoFA.

That said, perhaps the embassy in Texas operates under different rules; afterall, how many Thailand agencies (e.g., Immigration) follow a standard set of rules? However, there's no logical reason that the embassy would want the federal form, since they are merely trying to make sure that you didn't make up your own form & sign it yourself, & the state certification does that.

Still, I looked up the DS-4194 for you. On the instructions page, https://eforms.state.gov/editdocument.aspx?documentid=1&from=2&categoryid=1&form_format=3&Width=1126, it basically says that all information in sections 1-3 are based on you & your address here in the U.S. You should put "Thailand" in section 4.

Number of documents? Here's my take. If there's no difference price-wise, I'd count the birth certificate & state Apostille as 2 documents; otherwise I'd write 1 document & ensure that this refers to the actual birth certificate.

Advice

1. Verify the requirements with the Thai embassy you're dealing with. If you're patient, they will be able to help you.

2. As you're aware of, you have to send the embassy a pre-paid postal envelope that costs nearly $20. Request multiple certified copies of the birth certificate (we went with 5, but I'd go with 10 if you can afford it) at the same time (you'll need at least one of these when you apply for your daughter's Thai passport), & the embassy will send them in the same envelope; otherwise, you'll have to fork up another $20 next time. No, you don't have to submit a new Apostille for each one. Another reason for doing it this way is that you won't have to send the original Thai birth certificate along with your request form (think "lost in the mail").

Digitalman, read Post #5 of the following for possibly more information:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/664914-thailkand-house-registration-is-it-necessary-for-thai-child-born-in-usa