Marriage in Thailand

[Confuscious]

Sorry for the question, but I am a little bit confused.

Yesterday, while talking with a friend who was recently married to a Thai woman, he said that he married with his lady in Thailand and in his home country.
A double wedding.
How can this be possible?
Is wedding in Thailand not accepted by some countries and do require these countries to do marriage again in the home country?

I also read that in Thaivisa that people who married in Thailand needed to translate and bring additional documents to have the marriage legalised in their home country.
Is a marriage in Thailand not accepted by their home countries without presenting all the documents at the Embassy?

TIA

[AlexRich]

Q. Marriage in Thailand?

 

A. Don't 

[Bluetongue]

OK. You can participate in a Buddhist or village marriage ceremony in Thailand. It has no legal effect in Thailand or your home country. 

 

What some people then do is make it official by going to the District Government Office (Amphur) and providing them with the documents required for a legal Thai marriage. This is recognized by most countries but that does not stop people from having a second ceremony in their home country. In most cases the reverse order would apply equally.

 

The official Thai marriage is accepted but where the Embassy enters the picture is before the official Thai marriage ie to provide the certified document that you are free to marry not a bigamist although no one checks.

 

[Confuscious]

54 minutes ago, Bluetongue said:

OK. You can participate in a Buddhist or village marriage ceremony in Thailand. It has no legal effect in Thailand or your home country. 

 

What some people then do is make it official by going to the District Government Office (Amphur) and providing them with the documents required for a legal Thai marriage. This is recognized by most countries but that does not stop people from having a second ceremony in their home country. In most cases the reverse order would apply equally.

 

The official Thai marriage is accepted but where the Embassy enters the picture is before the official Thai marriage ie to provide the certified document that you are free to marry not a bigamist although no one checks.

 

Thanks for the reply.

What baffles me is how can anybody have a (legal) marriage in Thailand and have a (legal) marriage in their home country.

 

If person "A" chose to marry person "B" in Thailand and completes the marriage.
How can person "A" and "B" marry again in another country?
Are they not required to show the proof that they are celibate?
That would make them "bigamists" by law.

 

[Ahab]

As long as it is to the same person there is no issue. If person "A" married person "B" in one country and then person "A" marries person "X" in another country is where problems may arise. Also as stated above, many "marriages" in Thai villages may not be formally registered with the village authorities.

[champers]

Marriages in a Thai village are basically just a big party for extended family and close and not so close "friends" to eat and drink in copious quantities, normally at the groom's expense. A sinsod / dowry is paid by the groom to the bride's parents. 100,000 Baht is the going rate, I think. Also, expect to have to dress up like a 1980's gigolo. Sometimes the dowry is just symbolic and the actual cash gets handed back to the groom. This seems to be the exception rather than the rule. This is not a legal ceremony; even if monks are in attendance (at a price) to give their blessing. Good luck.

[malt25]

8 hours ago, Confuscious said:

Thanks for the reply.

What baffles me is how can anybody have a (legal) marriage in Thailand and have a (legal) marriage in their home country.

 

If person "A" chose to marry person "B" in Thailand and completes the marriage.
How can person "A" and "B" marry again in another country?
Are they not required to show the proof that they are celibate?
That would make them "bigamists" by law.

 

What baffles me, is why you are baffled.

A relatively common occurrence. A couple will marry in a remote & romantic location. Their dream wedding. Maybe on the beach of a south sea island, then return home for a second wedding with family & friends. No legal issues.

[Confuscious]

39 minutes ago, malt25 said:

What baffles me, is why you are baffled.

A relatively common occurrence. A couple will marry in a remote & romantic location. Their dream wedding. Maybe on the beach of a south sea island, then return home for a second wedding with family & friends. No legal issues.

If the first marriage (in a remote & romantic location) is performed as is required by the law (proof of cellibate), then the second wedding is not valid as the couple is already married and can not provide a proof of cellibate.

Furthermore, in my country, it is required by law that both partners did not have a partner during 297 (?) days before the wedding (= conceived a child).

I am not talking here about the Buddhist wedding but about the LEGAL  wedding.

[malt25]

It might help if you nominate what country you are referring to.

In my country, ex country, there is no requirement about the "other partner" situation.

I'm guessing you are from a middle eastern country, but I could be wrong.

[Confuscious]

9 hours ago, Ahab said:

As long as it is to the same person there is no issue. If person "A" married person "B" in one country and then person "A" marries person "X" in another country is where problems may arise. Also as stated above, many "marriages" in Thai villages may not be formally registered with the village authorities.

This happened to me with my first wedding in Thailand.
The legal wedding was fulfilled in a remote village in Issaan by the village headman at the "makeshift" Amphur.
We got both handed over the legal documents and declared "man and wife".

A few weeks later, I needed to return to my home country and I was planning to take my wife with me.
But at the Embassy I was told that the marriage was never transferred to the Embassy or any official instance and thus was non-existing.
Luckely for me, the Embassy took care of registrering the marriage legally in both countries.

 

[Confuscious]

4 minutes ago, malt25 said:

It might help if you nominate what country you are referring to.

In my country, ex country, there is no requirement about the "other partner" situation.

I'm guessing you are from a middle eastern country, but I could be wrong.

No, I am from an European country.

 

[Confuscious]

1 hour ago, malt25 said:

What baffles me, is why you are baffled.

A relatively common occurrence. A couple will marry in a remote & romantic location. Their dream wedding. Maybe on the beach of a south sea island, then return home for a second wedding with family & friends. No legal issues.

Clarification:
I am talking about legally marrying with the same partner in 2 countries.
Not about marrying in 1 country and registrering the marriage in another (your home) country.

[malt25]

Does this help ? The article doesn't mention any particular country, maybe it's an internationally recognized situation ?

 

Question.  "Can you marry the same person twice without a divorce?"

 

Answer.    '"If a couple wants to remarry without first getting a divorce, they can hold a ceremony and go through all of the motions of a wedding. For many couples, this is referred to as renewing the vows. To marry a person again legally, they would have to go through the process of divorcing for the second marriage to hold up in court. Renewing the vows is an excellent way for two people to reaffirm their love and commitment for each other. This second wedding can even be done in a church with a pastor, family and friends in place."

[Confuscious]

56 minutes ago, malt25 said:

Does this help ? The article doesn't mention any particular country, maybe it's an internationally recognized situation ?

 

Question.  "Can you marry the same person twice without a divorce?"

 

Answer.    '"If a couple wants to remarry without first getting a divorce, they can hold a ceremony and go through all of the motions of a wedding. For many couples, this is referred to as renewing the vows. To marry a person again legally, they would have to go through the process of divorcing for the second marriage to hold up in court. Renewing the vows is an excellent way for two people to reaffirm their love and commitment for each other. This second wedding can even be done in a church with a pastor, family and friends in place."

 

How to Get Married Legally in Thailand:

STEP 1: FULFILL ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
Requirements:

• Either of them should not be less than 17 years of age or should be in marriageable age in accordance to the law enforced from your home country. The Court may, in case of having appropriate reason, allow them to marry before attaining such age.
• Either of them should not be an insane person or adjudged incompetent.
• Both of them should not be in blood relations in the direct ascendant or descendant line, or brother or sister of full or half blood i.e. should no be with in the prohibited degrees of relationship.
• Both of them should not have the same adoptive parents.
• Either of them should not have a spouse at the time of marriage. If woman whose husband died or whose marriage has become terminated, the marriage can only take place after expiry of 310 days from such death or termination of marriage, but before such period if:
  1. A child has been born during such period;
  2. The divorced couple remarry;
  3. There is a certificate issued by a qualified doctor who is a lawful physical practitioner in medicine showing that the woman is not pregnant;
  4. There is an order of the Court allowing the woman to marry.
     
      

[Thongkorn]

I know of a few guys who know about marrying  in a Thai wedding and not an Amper , They use this poly so they are not legally accountable when they dump the Girl after a few years, There are  a few at the moment around where i live, personal any guy who brings back a Thai girl to the UK  and treats them with disrespect or abandons them should be banned from ever bringing another girl/lady back even if only for a holiday.

[7by7]

Under UK law any marriage which is legal in the country where it took place is usually also legal in the UK; certainly Thai marriages are. I say 'usually' because some, e.g. forced marriages, are not recognised by the UK.

 

A ceremonial marriage in Thailand is not a legal marriage in Thailand, so is not a legal marriage in the UK.

 

Registering the marriage at an ampur makes it a legal marriage in Thailand, so it is also a legal marriage in the UK. To prove the marriage in the UK all you need is the original marriage certificate plus a certified English translation.

 

In the UK you cannot legally register your marriage twice; so if it is already registered in Thailand, you cannot register it again in the UK; unless you divorce and then remarry in the UK! It used to be possible to deposit a foreign marriage certificate with the General Records Office in the UK via your local embassy; but doing so did not effect the legality of the marriage in the UK and served no legal purpose. This service was discontinued from 1/1/14; mainly because very few people bothered to use it. 

 

If you've legally married abroad, you can have a ceremony, religious if your faith allows, civil if you wish, in the UK in which you confirm your vows. This can be identical to an actual marriage, except you wont sign the register nor be issued with a UK marriage certificate.

 

As far as I am aware, the situation is very similar in most countries; but you should obviously check the situation for your own.

 

 

[7by7]

All foreign nationals who wish to legally marry in Thailand, whether to a Thai national or another foreigner, have to

• complete an affirmation of freedom to marry,
• sign it and have their signature witnessed by an official at their embassy or consul,
• have it translated it into Thai and
• have the translation certified as correct and legalised by the Thai MFA.

They then take the original and legalised translation with them when they go to the ampur to register their marriage.

 

An example of the completed AFM from the British embassy.

[Biker Boy]

I married in Thailand first and secondly in the USA. At the time I did not know I could use Thai documents in the USA. Actually, it probably easier to do it in you home country. In the USA,  just need a license and someone to marry you. Don't need to dick around in Thailand. Some one asked how can marriage in two countries be legal. All law is jurisdictional based. For jurisdiction to apply the marriage must be registered in the country you want legal jurisdiction. As noted above two ways are available to register.

 

Another reason to register in you home country, can be the benefits available to you children and possibly you wife. in the USA, if you are retired, you can get moneies for each child and the mother can get monies if she meets requirements. You can check the SSA site if any of this applies.

 

The next questions arise when you get divorced. Thailand is cheap and the USA is off the charts for divorces. Good news, by using  "comity", look it up, one can simply follow your home countries rules on how to register you thai divorce for dissolution in  you home country. Several groups of states follow the  same laws on this matter of comity dissolution is usually  granted if you follow the criteria which is straightforward. Research indicates  all states allow for comity, but you must determine the details. Contact the state attorney generals office in the state where the marriage was recorded.