Can two non-Thais get married at Amphur office?

[bapak]

Can two non-Thais get married at Amphur office?

[Don Mega]

considering an amphur wedding has no legal standing  easier/cheaper to buy Bazza at the local bar a beer or 2 to pronounce you man and wife.

[Shot]

 

You are now married.

 

Please send 200 Baht to Schott Family Moo 27 Kimchee St. Clay 98052

 

 

[bapak]

1 hour ago, Don Mega said:

considering an amphur wedding has no legal standing  easier/cheaper to buy Bazza at the local bar a beer or 2 to pronounce you man and wife.

Sorry but that is incorrect.

I know for a fact that marriage between a Thai and a foreigner at a Amphur is legally binding and accepted as such by at least the Australian, USA, U.K., Canadian and South African Embassies.

 

[Slip]

3 minutes ago, bapak said:

Sorry but that is incorrect.

I know for a fact that marriage between a Thai and a foreigner at a Amphur is legally binding and accepted as such by at least the Australian, USA, U.K., Canadian and South African Embassies.

 

Indeed.  A wedding registered at an amphur office is legally binding even for non-Thais.

[Sunak]

They can.

And don't think it's easy with the paperwork.

The "freedom to marry" documents and all that other stuff will cost you a lot of travel and translation expense.

 

A simple Google:

http://www.thethailandlife.com/married-thailand-diy-day

 

Don't hold me responsible for completeness/accuracy.

 

I can not swear on it, but aren't there even commercial agencies organizing that "marriage on the beach" ceremonies?

Edited December 15, 2016 by Sunak

[KhunBENQ]

More "fun posts" will be deleted without further notice.

[Don Mega]

10 minutes ago, bapak said:

Sorry but that is incorrect.

I know for a fact that marriage between a Thai and a foreigner at a Amphur is legally binding and accepted as such by at least the Australian, USA, U.K., Canadian and South African Embassies.

 

 

 

The OP implies simply rocking up to the local amphur to tie the knot but with out the correct paperwork and legal formalities needed  first the marriage will have no legal binding.

Edited December 15, 2016 by Don Mega

[Sunak]

3 minutes ago, Don Mega said:

 

 

The OP implies simply rocking up to the local amphur to tie the knot but with out the correct paperwork and legal formalities needed  first the marriage will have no legal binding.

There will be no marriage at the district office without the paperwork.

As simple as that.

Let's assume the OP is aware of that.

 

"Can two foreigners be legally married in Thailand?" -> "Yes".

 

[KhunBENQ]

The thread is terribly misplaced BTW.

 

Moving to "Marriage and divorce".

 

[blackcab]

Q: Can two non-Thais get married at Amphur office?

 

A: Yes. It's not so difficult if you have time and you use a good translation agency. The problems arise when people need it done in 1 or 2 days.

 

 

[Slip]

Don Mega, sorry but the OP didn't imply anything of the sort.  He simply asked:

Quote

Can two non-Thais get married at Amphur office?

As you suggest though the couple needs to have their paperwork in order.  If they don't the amphur office will not even entertain the idea never mind provide some sort of unofficial one.  An 'amphur office' wedding is not the same as a 'village wedding', which as you suggest has no legal standing.Are you perhaps confusing the OP's terminology?

 

Also from anecdotal evidence- some Amphurs will simply refuse to marry foreign couples for no good reason at all. 

[blackcab]

3 hours ago, Don Mega said:

considering an amphur wedding has no legal standing  easier/cheaper to buy Bazza at the local bar a beer or 2 to pronounce you man and wife.

 

I have to politely disagree with you Don. My Amphur wedding is recognised in the UK. If my wife wants to apply for a visa/leave to remain/citizenship in the UK she is absolutely recognised as being married to me.

[laislica]

There are expensive agencies who can take care of everything once you have your affidavit(s) approved by your Embassy.

(I assume that you have the original of any divorce certs to hand if applicable)

My Thai wife and I went that route 4 years ago and it was all done in about three hours from getting the freedom to marry affidavit approved.

We visited the agent who translated the affidavit and couriered it over to the MoFA for approval stamps whilst we had lunch.

Then we were taxied to an Amphur in BKK and it looked like we had an appointment (or jumped the queue).

The agent acted as my interpreter and it all went quickly and we walked away with marriage certs, 1 each of the pretty cert plus the accompanying written form that mentions property, how long you had been together etc, etc, etc. I guess if you do it yourselves it could take longer if you don't know the ropes....

Note that for this formal Thai wedding, you will each get the opportunity to register any property that you have that will remain personal and not part of the shared property.

However, by Thai law everything purchased after the wedding is shared 50/50.

 

[blackcab]

2 hours ago, laislica said:

However, by Thai law everything purchased after the wedding is shared 50/50.

 

That's not quite true. Section 1472 of the Civil and Commercial Code explains that if you exchange an asset you had before marriage, the item you received from the exchange is your personal property and not joint property.

 

An example would be if you had money in a bank account in your name before marriage. Later, you got married and you used the money from that bank account to buy a condo.

 

If you can prove all of this indisputably, then that condo is solely yours. No portion of it belongs to your wife.

 

Of course the problem people have is that they use joint accounts, they co-mingle money and they do not keep indisputable records for the time they are divorced, often many years later.

[laislica]

6 hours ago, blackcab said:

9 hours ago, laislica said:

However, by Thai law everything purchased after the wedding is shared 50/50.

 

That's not quite true. Section 1472 of the Civil and Commercial Code explains that if you exchange an asset you had before marriage, the item you received from the exchange is your personal property and not joint property.

 

An example would be if you had money in a bank account in your name before marriage. Later, you got married and you used the money from that bank account to buy a condo.

 

If you can prove all of this indisputably, then that condo is solely yours. No portion of it belongs to your wife.

 

Of course the problem people have is that they use joint accounts, they co-mingle money and they do not keep indisputable records for the time they are divorced, often many years later.

 

Thanks for that amplification.

Since the OP's question was so fundamental, I thought I would add a bit more info about the property issue.

During our marriage, I was taken by surprise when the question was leveled at me LOL
 

As they are both non Thai I suppose they want a romantic wedding?

If that's the case, they could easily arrange to have a Thai Buddhist ceremony, which is extremely romantic but not legal.

I mention this only because of the time and cost involved in getting the affidavits et cetera.
Then of course once they have formal Thai marriage certificates, they will then need to be translated, by an approved translation service and verified by the Ministry of foreign affairs. This of course takes time and money but may well be very necessary in order for them to register this formal marriage in their home country.

As an example, it was necessary for us to have two translations, one in English for pension purposes and the other in Spanish because that's where we live for about six months every year. If any translations need to be done I would imagine that it would be best to have it done in Thailand because I've no idea how I would go about getting an approved translation to Spanish from Thai once we had arrived in Spain.
None of my business of course, just thinking out loud.

 

 

 

[sumrit]

8 hours ago, blackcab said:

 

That's not quite true. Section 1472 of the Civil and Commercial Code explains that if you exchange an asset you had before marriage, the item you received from the exchange is your personal property and not joint property.

 

An example would be if you had money in a bank account in your name before marriage. Later, you got married and you used the money from that bank account to buy a condo.

 

If you can prove all of this indisputably, then that condo is solely yours. No portion of it belongs to your wife.

 

Of course the problem people have is that they use joint accounts, they co-mingle money and they do not keep indisputable records for the time they are divorced, often many years later.

 

Unlike the UK (and probably several other countries) if you get divorced in Thailand it also only applies to assets held in Thailand. 

[ThailandLOS]

On 2016-12-15 at 7:13 PM, bapak said:

Can two non-Thais get married at Amphur office?

 

Yes, they certainly can. Me and my wife did and it was recognized by our respective home countries as well.

 

To mitigate some of the hassle with substantial paperwork surrounding this process, I would ask the Amphur staff to help with the Thai side of things, such as translation and legalization. They will do it for a certain amount, usually less than 10k THB.

Edited December 19, 2016 by ThailandLOS

[Khon Kaen Dave]

Me and Mrs Kean had a Buddha ceremony,an to legalise. Then went to the Amphur

to legalise it.I was actually told by an officer at the Amphur that doing this would make our marriage legal in the Uk and was i aware of it.I suppose they see many,spur of the moment marriages.But ours is 5 years old now,and still going strong. Except when she yak yak's me for driving all the way to Lotus to buy Red Horse beer,still,you cant have  everything,or can you?

[greenchair]

On 15/12/2016 at 8:45 PM, Don Mega said:

 

 

The OP implies simply rocking up to the local amphur to tie the knot but with out the correct paperwork and legal formalities needed  first the marriage will have no legal binding.

The amphur would not allow the marriage to be registered without the correct paperwork, that would be highly illegal and he would lose his job. 

Is that what you mean by no legal binding.?

[laislica]

1 hour ago, Khon Kaen Dave said:

Me and Mrs Kean had a Buddha ceremony,an to legalise. Then went to the Amphur

to legalise it.I was actually told by an officer at the Amphur that doing this would make our marriage legal in the Uk and was i aware of it.I suppose they see many,spur of the moment marriages.But ours is 5 years old now,and still going strong. Except when she yak yak's me for driving all the way to Lotus to buy Red Horse beer,still,you cant have  everything,or can you?

He he.

Oh yes you can, and it looks like you did too!

 

Enjoy your life.

 

[sandemara]

What's wrong with jumping over a candle together? Good enough for you ancestors, traditional romanticism shouldn't die!