Marry thai girl while on holiday to Australia

[DUNROAMIN]

Hi, any Ozzies out there that have married a Thai girl in Australia and returned to Thailand to live? I have checked with Births, deaths and marriages web site which gives me some requirements I need to get married while in Oz, however, many of the documents they ask for aren't relevant in Oz. Has any one had experience with this and what documents did you provide. I just want to get married through the Births, deaths and Marriages offices with a celebrant. I am not seeking to live in Oz with her at this stage. Any help with this matter would be appreciated.

Happy Easter and Songkran to all.

[cheechee]

dont do it.  So many benefits of getting married in Thailand,  the wedding  parties that go on forever with people you dont know spending your money!

Edited April 14, 2017 by cheechee

[Peterw42]

9 minutes ago, DUNROAMIN said:

I have checked with Births, deaths and marriages web site which gives me some requirements I need to get married while in Oz, however, many of the documents they ask for aren't relevant in Oz.

That statement doesn't make sense, surely the list of required documents is relevant.

[Kwasaki]

Sorry only know Thai wives who don't want to come back to Thailand,  maybe when older but depends if kids & grand-kids are involved. 

[binjalin]

1 hour ago, cheechee said:

dont do it.  So many benefits of getting married in Thailand,  the wedding  parties that go on forever with people you dont know spending your money!

first three words apply

[starky]

If you must why not just do a registry marriage in BKK it will be registered in Australia through our Embassy.

[reenatinnakor]

The bigger question is not how you can do it... But why would you ever want to?!

Sent from my LG-H990 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[davidst01]

If you have any assets in oz then you would be deemed a fool to marry in the nanny state and be subjected to the tough family law. If you're a man of limited means then I don't suppose it matters too much. Good luck

[DUNROAMIN]

23 minutes ago, starky said:

If you must why not just do a registry marriage in BKK it will be registered in Australia through our Embassy.

Hi, are you actually speaking of your own experience or something you have read? I know you can be married here in Thailand by a registry in Bangkok. Not sure of how the Australian Embassy gets involved.

Cheers

[lopburi3]

10 minutes ago, DUNROAMIN said:

Hi, are you actually speaking of your own experience or something you have read? I know you can be married here in Thailand by a registry in Bangkok. Not sure of how the Australian Embassy gets involved.

Cheers

You can not register a Thai marriage (get married here) without a letter from your Embassy - but do not believe that was what he was posting about - perhaps Oz offers a registration process to get the marriage on Oz domestic records so an official translation might not be required to prove marriage there later.  

Edited April 14, 2017 by lopburi3

[starky]

19 minutes ago, DUNROAMIN said:

Hi, are you actually speaking of your own experience or something you have read? I know you can be married here in Thailand by a registry in Bangkok. Not sure of how the Australian Embassy gets involved.

Cheers

Yes mate 100%. I went through an agent in BKK (sorry mate it was 6 years ago cant remember the price) you dont have to but they make sure it is done same day. They do all the lining up and lodging paperwork for you but they sling so they always go to the front of the cue. You get the Thai marriage certificate agent will take it away get everything translated . So basically its Aussie embassy in the morning...jump through some hoops ( I reeeeaally recommend an agent or it could take days from what ive heard) back to the embassy following day and lodge your paperwork. Thats it your now legally married in Oz. As I said it was a few years ago so some of the details may be arse about but the basics are right and I was only in Bangers one night. If your in Thailand champ just ring the Aussie embassy they will fill in the blanks. Cheers

Edited April 14, 2017 by starky

[starky]

5 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

You can not register a Thai marriage (get married here) without a letter from your Embassy - but do not believe that was what he was posting about - perhaps Oz offers a registration process to get the marriage on Oz domestic records so an official translation might not be required to prove marriage there later.  

Yes but im just letting him know that a registry marriage here after jumping through a couple hoops is recognised by the Australian government. I should know I have done it.

[lopburi3]

But is has nothing to do with the Embassy once the letter is issued - you can have marriage registered at any District Office in Thailand and such a marriage is legal anywhere.  

[sipi]

I married my missus in Australia on a tourist visa so yes it can certainly be done.

However..

It was decades ago and no doubt changed since then.

We had to fill out a form with the celebrant more than 30 days before marriage to lodge our intention to marry.

Her tourist visa wasn't marked "no further stay" which is rare and I believe was relevant to getting married on a tourist visa. 

 

My advice is to speak directly with a celebrant. They know who they can legally marry and who they can't. 

 

Edit..

http://www.marriagecelebrants.org.au/overseas-visitors

Looks like nothing has changed.

Edited April 14, 2017 by sipi
insert link

[BEVUP]

6 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

But is has nothing to do with the Embassy once the letter is issued - you can have marriage registered at any District Office in Thailand and such a marriage is legal anywhere.  

Yes as i got married maybe 8 yrs ago the only thing ( through an agent ) i had to do was go to Embassy to get a clearance letter to assure that i was not married & then go to the Amphor as i latter realized was being questioned as to whether it was all ligate 

Never had to go back to Embassy 

[BEVUP]

6 hours ago, starky said:

Yes but im just letting him know that a registry marriage here after jumping through a couple hoops is recognised by the Australian government. I should know I have done it.

Yes we may all think we are free from those one sided buarocrats  but actually through international law it is recognized 

But even if you did get that clearance from the Auss embassy do they know it actually all happened 

& if worse come to worse is the Thai side able to handle all the processes involved trying to do it from this side even though the laws regarding ownership prior to marriage vary quite wildly against Australias thoughts

[starky]

8 hours ago, BEVUP said:

Yes as i got married maybe 8 yrs ago the only thing ( through an agent ) i had to do was go to Embassy to get a clearance letter to assure that i was not married & then go to the Amphor as i latter realized was being questioned as to whether it was all ligate 

Never had to go back to Embassy 

Absolutely correct for as far as I am aware since 1995 any overseas marriage that would be considered legal is recognised in Australia. How the Aussie govt. knows or finds out is anybodys guess. I went back again to provide copies of all relevant documents to my embassy to hopefully help facilitate that process. Whether or not it went any further honestly I dont know but as I have no real intent to return to live in Australia it doesnt really matter. Much the like the OP if he plans to live in Thailand not sure why it matters to him, I only attempted to address his inquiry to the best of my ability. Cheers.

[DUNROAMIN]

Thanks to everyone for their input. It looks like it may be better to get married in Thailand legally than in Oz. Maybe less hassles. The main reason for the marriage is my military pension, if I die while living in Thailand part of my pension can go to my wife, if we are married. The part pension will keep her comfortable for many years. If I do not have a spouse or children (under 21 yrs ) my pension is cancelled. I figure that I can at least help somebody once I'm gone.

Cheers

[Kwasaki]

5 minutes ago, DUNROAMIN said:

Thanks to everyone for their input. It looks like it may be better to get married in Thailand legally than in Oz. Maybe less hassles. The main reason for the marriage is my military pension, if I die while living in Thailand part of my pension can go to my wife, if we are married. The part pension will keep her comfortable for many years. If I do not have a spouse or children (under 21 yrs ) my pension is cancelled. I figure that I can at least help somebody once I'm gone.

Cheers

Goodluck to you.

Just make sure and confirm with the pension supplier that your Thai wife will get the military part pension wherever she resides be it in Oz or Thailand to save disappointment.

 

My Thai wife is getting zilts from the UK as of now maybe not the same as Oz military one but worth the ask.    

 

[DUNROAMIN]

32 minutes ago, Kwasaki said:

Goodluck to you.

Just make sure and confirm with the pension supplier that your Thai wife will get the military part pension wherever she resides be it in Oz or Thailand to save disappointment.

 

My Thai wife is getting zilts from the UK as of now maybe not the same as Oz military one but worth the ask.    

 

Thanks for that, will check with my pension fund.

Cheers

[sipi]

Getting married in Australia is a piece of cake, but if you choose Thailand all the best either way.

[Peterw42]

Op, If you are retire age,  have you considered that once the Australian Gov know you are married, that reduces your age pension. If you get married in and live in Thailand, they dont know and you keep your full pension.

Edited April 15, 2017 by Peterw42

[lopburi3]

1 hour ago, Peterw42 said:

Op, If you are retire age,  have you considered that once the Australian Gov know you are married, that reduces your age pension. If you get married in and live in Thailand, they dont know and you keep your full pension.

Suspect that would nullify what he wants to do in regards to survivor benefits.  

[mfd101]

As far as I can understand his query, it's about getting married in Oz, not about getting married in Thailand. So what's all this stuff about the Embassy?

 

I married my Thai b/f in Canberra in 2013 (Certificate of Civil Partnership). You don't need a celebrant or any ceremony if you don't want one. You just sign a document or 2 at the Births, Deaths & Marriages office then wait 3 or 4 days to collect the Certificate. To do that, you have to show birth certificates of both partners +, in my case, divorce certificate from a previous marriage decades before, and that was about it.

 

[For those who are insatiably curious & will want to comment endlessly, being a gay partnership in our case, it's not called a 'marriage' by the Federal government but is recognized as such by the Federal & State/Territory governments for ALL purposes other than the name (such is politics & generalized irrationality!) - tax, pension, health, welfare, inheritance ... ]

[lopburi3]

7 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

As far as I can understand his query, it's about getting married in Oz, not about getting married in Thailand. So what's all this stuff about the Embassy?

 

The poster was not aware of the possibility of getting married in Thailand and that it was a legal marriage and is now exploring the possibility of doing in Thailand since that the procedure has been explained.  And that procedure starts with an embassy letter.

[mfd101]

Well, he says he's on an Oz military pension. If I were him, I would want to do the job in Oz to ensure my wife inherited her bit without any problems after my death. But it may well work just as well with a marriage in Thailand ...

 

(In my case, because of the gay bit, there wasn't much choice but to do it in Oz. My partner will get 67% of my CSS pension for the rest of his life, and he's 40 years younger than me ... )

[lopburi3]

9 minutes ago, mfd101 said:

Well, he says he's on an Oz military pension. If I were him, I would want to do the job in Oz to ensure my wife inherited her bit without any problems after my death. But it may well work just as well with a marriage in Thailand ...

 

(In my case, because of the gay bit, there wasn't much choice but to do it in Oz. My partner will get 67% of my CSS pension for the rest of his life, and he's 40 years younger than me ... )

Don't believe place of marriage will be a factor with opposite sex marriage but he does need to check on any citizenship or location requirements as mentioned in another post.  Oz seems to actually restrict payment to citizens living outside there borders for some things.

[DUNROAMIN]

22 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

Op, If you are retire age,  have you considered that once the Australian Gov know you are married, that reduces your age pension. If you get married in and live in Thailand, they dont know and you keep your full pension.

Thanks, I am checking into that at the moment, my military pension is not connected with my DVA pension, I believe that with my military pension there is no distinction between married or not married the pension is fixed at a set rate until death. More investigation required before I make the decision.

Cheers