Where, exactly, is The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok?

[Evo Terra]

My wife is the breadwinner now that we're in Thailand, and I'm going in for the dependent O visa. We were told by her employer's "visa runner" that we need to:

a) take our marriage license (from the US almost 30 years ago) to the American Embassy to get it certified (easy enough and appointment made for tomorrow), and

then take that document to The Ministry of Foreign Affairs "near the immigration center", and then

c) go to the Immigration center proper (Chaeng Wattana) and apply for the visa (assuming I have at least 16 days remaining on my current stay, which I have.)


But my trouble is with the "near Immigration" part of said instructions. Because the mfa.go.th site shows their offices on Sri Ayudhya Road, not far from the Phyra Thai BTS stop. Yet everything else I read is "near immigration", almost 20 km north of there. Google Maps is often utter <deleted> when it comes to things like this, and there's a good chance this is a specialty splinter office set up just for this kind of service.

Has anyone been to the MFA recently to have them stamp/verify/accept a marriage certificate as part of the process for freeloaders like me? If so, I'd love an actual address, or at least a dropped pin on a map so I know where the hell I'm going.

E.

[ubonjoe]

You will be going to the consular affairs department not the main MFA offices. It is located within the government complex near Chaeng Wattana immigration.

Map is here. http://www.consular.go.th/main/contents/filemanager/images/map.jpg

You will be doing a self certification of the marriage certificate by doing an affidavit stating it is valid, true and correct. The embassy will not do the certification.

Unless you have a non-o visa already you will likely will not accomplish anything at immigration. If you have one already you will be apply for an extension of stay based upon being your wife's dependent.

Immigration does not normally do a conversion to a non immigrant visa entry for dependent extensions. They have it listed on their website for dependents of those on extensions based upon working but I don't recall a report of it actually being done.

[Crossy]

UJ, does he need to get his affidavit and certificate translated in to Thai??

[ubonjoe]

UJ, does he need to get his affidavit and certificate translated in to Thai??

Immigration should accept them if they are in English. Many people do the translation anyway and the get the MFA stamp on it which would satisfy immigration.

The only thing the consular affairs department would certify would be the signature of the consular officer that signed the affidavit.

Edit: As I wrote before I am not sure a conversion can be done at immigration, Most people go out for a non-o visa.

Here a copy and paste done as a PDF file of the long list of requirements from Bangkok immigration website that can only be opened with IE. visa at imm for dependent of a person working.pdf

[Evo Terra]

I look at the .pdf you included, UJ. (Thanks for that!) I think I/we have everything, except for where it gets into business stuff, which I'm not sure is applicable. To wit:

The application must be submit at least 15 days before visa expiration

Yes. Just got my 30-day extension to my KL-acquired 60 day single-entry visa yesterday, so I'm on a real visa that's good until April 28th.

1. 1.1 Form TM.86 for the foreigner, who has Tourist and Transit Visa and applies for Visa Status Alteration and applies for non-immigrant visa

I assume I fill that out at Immigration.

2. A copy of passport pages (for example, personal information page, last entries stamp, visa sticker and extension stamp (if any) and departure card (Form TM.6))

Easy enough to do again.

3. Either one 4x6 cm photograph or one 2 inch size photograph

I have three fresh ones from my visit yesterday.

4. Application fee of Baht 2,000.

More money, of course.

5. A copy of passport and a copy of work permit of the person who fulfills the duty or responsibility in Thailand

My wife's passport is right beside me. It shows "non-immigrant B" good until May 16. What I don't have is the actual copy of her work permit, as it's still in processing.

And here's where it goes off the rails, as I don't think items 6-8 are needed, unless that's part of the work permit process?

6. The Company’s registration certificate, with the details of the company’s

business objectives (certified by the Registrar not more than 6 months)

7. Value Added Tax (VAT) Registration Certificate (Form Paw.Por.20)

8. List of the Shareholders (Form Bor.Or.Jor.5) (certified by the Registrar not

more than 6 months)

9. 9.1 A copy of evidence proving that the applicant is father, mother or children

or certificate of marriage or birth certificate;

I have the original marriage license. Not a copy. It's got a fancy gold embosses stamp and the real-ink signature of the county clerk. And I'm going to get it further validated/verified at the US Embassy tomorrow.

* (Documents under 9.1 and 9.2 must be translated into Thai or English and

certified by local or overseas Embassy or Consulate of the foreigner and by

the Legalization Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand) (For

more information, please call 0-2575-1056-9)

It's in English already, and I assume that the trip to the Thai Consulate further certifies that.

And here we jump off into the weeds again for 10... and maybe even 11 as I haven't done taxes for 2015 yet.

10. A copy of the list of withholding income tax of Thai employees (Form Paw

Ngor Dor.1) (for the past 3 months, together with the attached list of all Thai

employees, showing the first to the last names, and the receipt)

11. A copy of the list of withholding income tax of the foreigner (Form Paw Ngor

Dor. 91) for the latest year (If you cannot present it, please submit an

explanatory letter.) (Attention: Immigration Commissioner)

So with the notable exceptions listed above, I think I have or will have everything for a smooth-ish sailing. Unless the kicker will be not having the actual copy of the work permit, which sounds like a deal-breaker to me.

[ubonjoe]

The work permit would be your wife's. All the other document you mentioned are from her employer They are almost the same documents required for her to get an extension of stay at immigration.

If you already had a non-o visa the list would be much shorter.

[phinick]

I just went through this exact thing 2 weeks ago. Don't make the same mistakes that I did. DO NOT GO TO THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. For what you want, go to:

Department of Consular Affairs

123 Chaengwattana Road

Laksi, Bangkok

Building "B" 3rd floor.

The American Embassy would not certify my marriage certificate, but had me fill out a form and write who I was married to, and when we were married, and they certified and stamped that I wrote that, and it was accepted by the Consular Affairs office.

All papers in English needed to be translated, and their translation service was backed up for 4 days, so we had one of the touts running around there do it for us. It cost 300 baht per page. We then paid the consular office to mail the papers back to us since we were not from BKK, and had to go back to Issan.

When they mailed them, they said they could not accept all of it because it was not all translated properly. I then had to send everything to a good translation service in BKK so they could make it all right. (and of course, pay more money).

I did this in order to get a yellow book for the house my wife and I have.

I know I made this kind of long, but hoping to save you some of the aggravation I went through.

[HerbalEd]

There's this great thing called Google. I just used it to search for "bangkok" AND "ministry of foreign affairs" and within one second, at the very top of the search results was the ministry's English-language website, and one click away was the address, phono number, fax number, etc.

[Balance]

The "legalization" office is next door to the Thai passport office in the main Provincial government services building complex that bridges 121 and 107 in Mai Rim. If you Google "Thai ministry of foreign affairs chiang mai" you will get the information you need. As you enter the complex you will see a round-a-about. The city hall is a large 4 story building with Thai style dormers at the top. The office is on the ground floor next to the passport office.

[Evo Terra]

There's this great thing called Google. I just used it to search for "bangkok" AND "ministry of foreign affairs" and within one second, at the very top of the search results was the ministry's English-language website, and one click away was the address, phono number, fax number, etc.

Of course, as I had intimated, that's not the address for the particular office I was looking for. But thanks for showing us you can at least type.

[OJAS]

There's this great thing called Google. I just used it to search for "bangkok" AND "ministry of foreign affairs" and within one second, at the very top of the search results was the ministry's English-language website, and one click away was the address, phono number, fax number, etc.

Of course, as I had intimated, that's not the address for the particular office I was looking for. But thanks for showing us you can at least type.

Not to mention, of course, that this thing called Google ain't anywhere near as great as he would like us to believe according to others who have responded on this thread!

[ubonjoe]

The "legalization" office is next door to the Thai passport office in the main Provincial government services building complex that bridges 121 and 107 in Mai Rim. If you Google "Thai ministry of foreign affairs chiang mai" you will get the information you need. As you enter the complex you will see a round-a-about. The city hall is a large 4 story building with Thai style dormers at the top. The office is on the ground floor next to the passport office.

It seems the OP is in Bangkok not Chiang Mai.

[Evo Terra]

Not to mention, of course, that this thing called Google ain't anywhere near as great as he would like us to believe according to others who have responded on this thread!

Spot on, OJAS. Always a good idea to get confirmation from those on the ground. Google maps has a 50/50 chance of accurately dropping a pin in Thailand. Though they are eerily accurate when it comes to driving/walking directions when points are correct.

[KMartinHandyman]

Not to mention, of course, that this thing called Google ain't anywhere near as great as he would like us to believe according to others who have responded on this thread!

Spot on, OJAS. Always a good idea to get confirmation from those on the ground. Google maps has a 50/50 chance of accurately dropping a pin in Thailand. Though they are eerily accurate when it comes to driving/walking directions when points are correct.

Regarding directions I find the waze app quite accurate and streams the most efficient route. There appears to be a good number of users in Thailand contributing data.

[Suradit69]

I look at the .pdf you included, UJ. (Thanks for that!) I think I/we have everything, except for where it gets into business stuff, which I'm not sure is applicable. To wit:

The application must be submit at least 15 days before visa expiration

Yes. Just got my 30-day extension to my KL-acquired 60 day single-entry visa yesterday, so I'm on a real visa that's good until April 28th.

"Yes. Just got my 30-day extension to my KL-acquired 60 day single-entry visa yesterday, so I'm on a real visa that's good until April 28th."

Sounds like you have a Tourist Visa, not a non-imm O

You will be going to the consular affairs department not the main MFA offices. It is located within the government complex near Chaeng Wattana immigration.

Map is here. http://www.consular.go.th/main/contents/filemanager/images/map.jpg

You will be doing a self certification of the marriage certificate by doing an affidavit stating it is valid, true and correct. The embassy will not do the certification.

Unless you have a non-o visa already you will likely will not accomplish anything at immigration. If you have one already you will be apply for an extension of stay based upon being your wife's dependent.

Immigration does not normally do a conversion to a non immigrant visa entry for dependent extensions. They have it listed on their website for dependents of those on extensions based upon working but I don't recall a report of it actually being done.

Edited March 29, 2016 by Suradit69

[Balance]

The "legalization" office is next door to the Thai passport office in the main Provincial government services building complex that bridges 121 and 107 in Mai Rim. If you Google "Thai ministry of foreign affairs chiang mai" you will get the information you need. As you enter the complex you will see a round-a-about. The city hall is a large 4 story building with Thai style dormers at the top. The office is on the ground floor next to the passport office.

It seems the OP is in Bangkok not Chiang Mai.

Google Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bangkok. It can also show up as the Office of Consular Affairs, or Passport office. It is on 304 (right on the road) in Lak Si about 1.7 km East of the Tollway and Don Muang and next door to the Ministry of Justice. You have to have original translations. I always take the everything. The immigration office is on the other side of the government complex

Good luck