Vital: marriage permit questions my wife must answer to get legally married in Thailand

[Hopeful Thomas]

Hello

 

I have registered with an anonymous name because the person I am asking on behalf of does not want this information getting out.

 

This man has married a woman in Thailand, religious ceremony only. He is going to Bangkok soon to attend an appointment with his wife at the British Embassy in order to get the marriage solemnised, in order to then apply for a spouse visa so that she can come to the UK.

 

Unfortunately, his wife has to return answers to long list of probing questions, one of which is highlighted in yellow.

 

The man has a caution for a drug possession offence (psilocybin mushrooms, cannabis and ketamine) from September 2015 when a random police check stop-and-search found them in his car.

 

He was not charged or convicted, but had to go to the police station a few days later to be cautioned, fingerprinted and photographed.

 

He was told that he did not have to tell his employers about it, but must answer truthfully if asked if he was applying to work with children or vulnerable adults.

 

Now, what he really needs to know, and soon, is whether the British Embassy in Bangkok will do a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS, was CRB) check on him and this caution will flag up.

 

I'm pretty sure that the British Embassy will reject a visa application on the slightest grounds, and because this is a drugs offence and knowing the strictness of the laws in Thailand, this would definitely be a deal breaker.

 

Does anyone know chapter and verse on this? He is in contact with an experienced visa agent in Bangkok and can probably ask him, but that person is not in the office again until Monday, and he's desperately worried right now and doesn't want his hopes to be dashed, and his wife's, and his wife's children's lives to be ruined by this.

 

Many thanks for any pointers that could help!

 

Kind regards and yours 'hopefully' :-)

 

"Thomas"

[Hopeful Thomas]

Just in case that image doesn't get uploaded, the question is "has your fiancé ever been arrested?".

 

Is an appointment to attend the police station voluntarily a few days later an 'arrest', and if not would his wife be lying to say 'no'?

 

Pretty sure they'd do the search anyway..

 

Thanks again.

 

"Thomas"

[Swiss1960]

 ....
This man has married a woman in Thailand, religious ceremony only. He is going to Bangkok soon to attend an appointment with his wife at the British Embassy in order to get the marriage solemnised, in order to then apply for a spouse visa so that she can come to the UK.
 ....

According to above, he is NOT (legally) married (no Amphoe papers), so she is not his (legal) wife, so how can she apply for a spouse Visa?


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[BritTim]

Are you sure that question is referring to the British subject (the husband) and not the foreign spouse (his wife)?

Where did the drug possession stop occur?

[ubonjoe]

8 minutes ago, Hopeful Thomas said:

This man has married a woman in Thailand, religious ceremony only. He is going to Bangkok soon to attend an appointment with his wife at the British Embassy in order to get the marriage solemnised, in order to then apply for a spouse visa so that she can come to the UK.

 

There are two thing you are asking about. One is the affirmation of permit to marry. Info for getting that done is here: https://www.gov.uk/marriage-abroad/y/thailand/opposite_sex

What you posted appears to be for an application to get a fiance visa at the embassy to get married in the UK,

[whatawonderfulday]

Not legally married as Swiss1960 stated, nor does the BE solemnise marriage.  Something is very fishy about this post .

[Swiss1960]

Strange and stranger.. Look at question 92: "Have you visited your fiancé(e) in the U.S."

Brit's asking about visits to the US? ... ?

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[dentonian]

Not sure if your confused or your mate.

 

Firstly the British Embassy do not solemnise a marriage.

The procedure to be legally married is to first draft an affidavit of freedom to marry.

The British Embassy will legalise this document.

It must then be translated into Thai by an approved translator.

That is the legalised by the Thailand Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After that the marriage ceremony can take place at a marriage registry office.

I suggest you get the marriage certificate translated into English.

 

Secondly, applications for Spouse Visas are submitted to the VFS Bangkok.

The only question regarding criminal record relates to his wife, not him.

She is the applicant, he is the sponsor.

 

I have never seen any such form as you published in relation to any Visa application for the UK.

Where did you obtain this from.

[mngmn]

"Caution" is not the same as "arrest".  If he was arrested the arresting officer must clearly state he is being arrested and for what crime.  Why not check his own police record  to get clear if he was arrested or not?

Edited April 1, 2017 by mngmn

[electric]

Hopeful Thomas .... your friend is badly confused.

 

A "religious ceremony" marriage carries absolutely zero weight legally. It's only a showpiece ceremony for her family. He's still a single man. Legally, he has no wife yet.

 

There is a very formal paperwork procedure involved to get legally married in Thailand. Starting with Embassy, then to MFA, then finally registering the marriage at his local Amphur.

 

From what you've told us, he's still a single man, so applying for a spouse visa may be somewhat premature.

 

Get his marriage status sorted first, then the rest of your questions can be discussed ..... IMHO

 

Cheers.

 

 

[MartinL]

28 minutes ago, mngmn said:

"Caution" is not the same as "arrest".  If he was arrested the arresting officer must clearly state he is being arrested and for what crime.  Why not check his own police record  to get clear if he was arrested or not?

 

In UK, in simple terms, if a person receives a 'caution' from the police, it indicates that they committed the offence concerned and admit their guilt but that the police decide not to proceed with a prosecution. AFAIK, it can then appear on a criminal record statement. Therefore, to be cautioned you must first be arrested. 

[Hopeful Thomas]

6 hours ago, whatawonderfulday said:

Not legally married as Swiss1960 stated, nor does the BE solemnise marriage.  Something is very fishy about this post .

Hi, let me clarify. He married his wife in her mother's front room in a village in Isaan.

 

It was a religious ceremony only, and does not count as 'legally married' in Thailand.

 

The appointment at the Embassy is at the "oaths affirmations and affidavits" section, so I guess his wife got the questions from there, however I will ask him to clarify where she got the questions from.

[Hopeful Thomas]

4 hours ago, MartinL said:

 

In UK, in simple terms, if a person receives a 'caution' from the police, it indicates that they committed the offence concerned and admit their guilt but that the police decide not to proceed with a prosecution. AFAIK, it can then appear on a criminal record statement. Therefore, to be cautioned you must first be arrested. 

Yes that was exactly the case, he admitted the offence to avoid prosecution. 

[Hopeful Thomas]

4 hours ago, electric said:

Hopeful Thomas .... your friend is badly confused.

 

A "religious ceremony" marriage carries absolutely zero weight legally. It's only a showpiece ceremony for her family. He's still a single man. Legally, he has no wife yet.

 

There is a very formal paperwork procedure involved to get legally married in Thailand. Starting with Embassy, then to MFA, then finally registering the marriage at his local Amphur.

 

From what you've told us, he's still a single man, so applying for a spouse visa may be somewhat premature.

 

Get his marriage status sorted first, then the rest of your questions can be discussed ..... IMHO

 

Cheers.

 

 

Thank you. As I said in the original post, he is not legally married yet so it's only a marriage as far as her family are concerned. His fear is that those questions are from the British Embassy oaths and affidavits section and must be completed by his wife. He himself has received no list of such questions.

[Hopeful Thomas]

Just now, Hopeful Thomas said:

Thank you. As I said in the original post, he is not legally married yet so it's only a marriage as far as her family are concerned. His fear is that those questions are from the British Embassy oaths and affidavits section and must be completed by his wife. He himself has received no list of such questions.

...

[Hopeful Thomas]

5 hours ago, mngmn said:

"Caution" is not the same as "arrest".  If he was arrested the arresting officer must clearly state he is being arrested and for what crime.  Why not check his own police record  to get clear if he was arrested or not?

He was not taken to the police station at the time of the incident, but the police turned up at the hospital where he'd been taken. The officers then issued him with an appointment to attend.

[Hopeful Thomas]

5 hours ago, dentonian said:

Not sure if your confused or your mate.

 

Firstly the British Embassy do not solemnise a marriage.

The procedure to be legally married is to first draft an affidavit of freedom to marry.

The British Embassy will legalise this document.

It must then be translated into Thai by an approved translator.

That is the legalised by the Thailand Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After that the marriage ceremony can take place at a marriage registry office.

I suggest you get the marriage certificate translated into English.

 

Secondly, applications for Spouse Visas are submitted to the VFS Bangkok.

The only question regarding criminal record relates to his wife, not him.

She is the applicant, he is the sponsor.

 

I have never seen any such form as you published in relation to any Visa application for the UK.

Where did you obtain this from.

The appointment is for an affidavit of freedom to marry. I'll check with him where she got the list of questions.

[Hopeful Thomas]

7 hours ago, Swiss1960 said:

According to above, he is NOT (legally) married (no Amphoe papers), so she is not his (legal) wife, so how can she apply for a spouse Visa?


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The spouse visa application will follow the official oath ceremony at the Embassy.

[Upnotover]

Just now, Hopeful Thomas said:

The spouse visa application will follow the official oath ceremony at the Embassy.

There is no such thing.

[Hopeful Thomas]

7 hours ago, BritTim said:

Are you sure that question is referring to the British subject (the husband) and not the foreign spouse (his wife)?

Where did the drug possession stop occur?

I will check on the first one, for the second, he was stopped in an English city.

[Hopeful Thomas]

Just now, Upnotover said:

There is no such thing.

So what takes place at the Oaths and Affirmations section? Maybe ceremony is the wrong word, but it's certainly taking a legal oath.

[Hopeful Thomas]

5 hours ago, dentonian said:

Not sure if your confused or your mate.

 

Firstly the British Embassy do not solemnise a marriage.

The procedure to be legally married is to first draft an affidavit of freedom to marry.

The British Embassy will legalise this document.

It must then be translated into Thai by an approved translator.

That is the legalised by the Thailand Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

After that the marriage ceremony can take place at a marriage registry office.

I suggest you get the marriage certificate translated into English.

 

Secondly, applications for Spouse Visas are submitted to the VFS Bangkok.

The only question regarding criminal record relates to his wife, not him.

She is the applicant, he is the sponsor.

 

I have never seen any such form as you published in relation to any Visa application for the UK.

Where did you obtain this from.

Thanks for this. It's very encouraging that you have not seen those questions for a visa application, and I will ask him to find out more.

[Hopeful Thomas]

7 hours ago, Swiss1960 said:

Strange and stranger.. Look at question 92: "Have you visited your fiancé(e) in the U.S."

Brit's asking about visits to the US? ... ?

Sent from my HTC 10 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

Once again, encouraging stuff. It's possible a friend of hers gave her the questions by mistake. Will follow up.

[Upnotover]

3 minutes ago, Hopeful Thomas said:

So what takes place at the Oaths and Affirmations section? Maybe ceremony is the wrong word, but it's certainly taking a legal oath.

Don't know where you are getting you information from but it all seem completely wrong.  April 1st jokes are supposed to stop at midday.

[Hopeful Thomas]

5 minutes ago, Hopeful Thomas said:

Once again, encouraging stuff. It's possible a friend of hers gave her the questions by mistake. Will follow up.

Ok, seems he may be panicking about nothing. The list of questions was given to her by her English teacher. The "US" question was a dead giveaway :-)

 

So, as far as anyone is aware, the UK government do not ask this question of aspiring UK visa applicants, or conduct a legal records search?

[Hopeful Thomas]

11 minutes ago, Upnotover said:

Don't know where you are getting you information from but it all seem completely wrong.  April 1st jokes are supposed to stop at midday.

They have an appointment at the Oaths and Affirmations section. What, pray, takes place there? We are not experts at this as you obviously are. I hate the internet sometimes... :-(

[Upnotover]

6 minutes ago, Hopeful Thomas said:

They have an appointment at the Oaths and Affirmations section. What, pray, takes place there? We are not experts at this as you obviously are. I hate the internet sometimes... :-(

A complete mystery I would say.  There is no need whatsoever for the potential bride to attend the embassy for anything,  Her opponent only has to get an affirmation of freedom to marry, that is the entire extent of the embassy's involvement in the whole sorry tale.

[ubonjoe]

18 minutes ago, Hopeful Thomas said:

They have an appointment at the Oaths and Affirmations section. What, pray, takes place there? We are not experts at this as you obviously are. I hate the internet sometimes... :-(

Click the link I posted earlier. His wife to be does not even have to be present when he signs the affirmation in front of a consular officer.

7 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

There are two thing you are asking about. One is the affirmation of permit to marry. Info for getting that done is here: https://www.gov.uk/marriage-abroad/y/thailand/opposite_sex

 

 

[Hopeful Thomas]

8 minutes ago, Upnotover said:

A complete mystery I would say.  There is no need whatsoever for the potential bride to attend the embassy for anything,  Her opponent only has to get an affirmation of freedom to marry, that is the entire extent of the embassy's involvement in the whole sorry tale.

Thank you so much. So the upshot is, as long as he's not applying to live on Thailand, there are no questions regarding legal record.

 

Phew! Result. I guess he owes me a pint or two now...

[TerryLH]

"Phew! Result. I guess he owes me a pint or two now..."

 

Which you should probably pass on to the members who helped you.