Registering a UK marriage in Thailand - Idiot's guide needed

[timkeen08]

You might have missed in that post that his wife had died whereas yours is very much alive [emoji2] 
 
I'll send you a PM shortly...

Clarification: my 2nd wife who is Thai is still very much alive, we were married in Thailand, and we were married 1st in the US.

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[FritsSikkink]

2 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Why?

The rule applies per employee not the owner.

Up to a certain number of employees each one requires 2 million baht of registered capital if married to a Thai it is 1 million. Four Thai employees verses 2 at some

offices.

Yes, you are right. don't know about the amount though:

 

http://www.siam-legal.com/Business-in-Thailand/thailand-work-permit.php:

Thai Business Entities who want to apply their foreign employee for work permits must have at least two million baht fully paid-up registered capitalization. However, where the foreign employee has a Thai spouse, the registered capitalization may only be one million baht.

Foreign Business Entities who had operated their business in Thailand can apply their employees for work permit if they bring at least three million baht per employee into the country.

 

Very informative PDF here about doing business:

http://www.thaiembassy.org/cairo/contents/files/business-20140108-044028-170042.pdf

 

[ubonjoe]

11 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

Yes, you are right. don't know about the amount though:

I have fixed a typo. The 4 million should of been 2.

Not sure about that the 3 million baht number.

I have found the info that can be found on the BOI website more reliable than the sources you mentioned.

[hansnl]

3 hours ago, Crossy said:

 

Cheers Joe.

 

So this means I have to send the stuff to the UK to get it legalised? Bummer

 

Could explain why nothing was forthcoming from my employer.

 

 

Saw this happen to two friends.

Both married to a Thai woman for nearly 20 years

Marriage certificate translated n Thailand.

Legalised in your own Embassy.

Legalised in MFA Chaeng Wattana

Legalised paperwork, copies of passports of both partners, copies of Tambien Baan.

 

In the Amphur you wife needs a Thai witness and a farang witness, both bearing ID's and handing over copies of said ID's, while her marriage to a farang is registered.

Yes, you read it right!

You will be just a little surplus to requirements.

But that is what really goes on.

Edited May 30, 2017 by hansnl

[Arkady]

Last time I checked with the Labour Ministry which was a few years ago now, being married to a Thai reduced the paid-up capital required from 2 to 1 million but did nothing for the number of Thai employees which is officially 4 for every work permit, unless the company can get an exemption by writing a letter explaining why it is not yet ready to employ the 4 Thais.  I was told by the Bangkok HQ this might be granted for a new company in its first year of operation but was unlikely after the first year.  Upcountry Labour offices may be more relaxed about this.

 

Prior to 2011 the Labour Ministry didn't require any Thai employees to issue a work permit to a permanent resident and I took advantage of this for a few years by being the only employee of my own company.  Luckily I moved to a large company before I could be inconvenienced by the ending of this benefit for PRs.  Apparently it was Immigration that pushed the Labour Ministry to come into line with their regulations for NON-IMM B visas.  

 

When I was thinking of leaving the larger company after 2011 and going back to being a sole employee I went down to the Labour Ministry to enquire about this in person and was told there was no longer any way for a company in Bangkok to avoid having 4 employees for a WP, regardless of whether the employee was married to a Thai or a PR, unless they got a special exemption in the first year of operations.  Things might have changed but normally they just get tougher.    

 

 

[brewsterbudgen]

 
Cheers Joe.
 
So this means I have to send the stuff to the UK to get it legalised? Bummer
 
Could explain why nothing was forthcoming from my employer.
 
 

I got my UK marriage legalised. You send the certificate, form and fee (£30) to the Legalisation Office in Milton Keynes. You can enclose a prepaid envelope for the Thai Embassy in London, enclosing their application form and fee (£10 postal order), and the Legalisation Office will forward the legalised certificate on to the Embassy for you. Make sure you enclose another prepaid envelope for the Thai Embassy to return the legalised/certified document back to you.

Mine took about 3 weeks.

[Tofer]

7 hours ago, Crossy said:

 

Cheers Joe.

 

So this means I have to send the stuff to the UK to get it legalised? Bummer

 

Could explain why nothing was forthcoming from my employer.

 

 

Yes, just been through this exercise. As Ubonjoe said, plus once you've got the legalisation certificate (which gets stuck to back of your marriage certificate) then you have to get that verification verified by a foreign Thai embassy. I did mine in KL, not easy though as they were insisting on the British Embassy or a notary verifying the legalisation certificate verification, before they would verify it. I think it might be easier if you know someone in UK that can go to the UK Thai Embassy for you, before the legalisation certificate gets sent back here.

 

At least that's what our translator / agent in Bangkok told us we needed and they showed us pictures of said stamp from Thai Embassy.

 

Our amphur also required 2 local witnesses who know you, not sure if that is the same everywhere.

[brewsterbudgen]

Yes, just been through this exercise. As Ubonjoe said, plus once you've got the legalisation certificate (which gets stuck to back of your marriage certificate) then you have to get that verification verified by a foreign Thai embassy. I did mine in KL, not easy though as they were insisting on the British Embassy or a notary verifying the legalisation certificate verification, before they would verify it. I think it might be easier if you know someone in UK that can go to the UK Thai Embassy for you, before the legalisation certificate gets sent back here.
 
At least that's what our translator / agent in Bangkok told us we needed and they showed us pictures of said stamp from Thai Embassy.
 
Our amphur also required 2 local witnesses who know you, not sure if that is the same everywhere.

The UK Legalisation office will forward the legalised certificate to the Thai Embassy in London, if you provide a PPE.

[smotherb]

7 hours ago, ThaidDown said:

No such regulation at all.  But he would need an "Affirmation to Marry' form from the Brit embassy. He could not get that , legally, as he is already married.

 

Could he get divorced; then remarry her in Thailand?

[White Tiger]

When I went through this same process a year back there was an additional step involved. Once the Thai Embassy in London had put their stamp on the apostille copy documents and sent them back to me (via a UK address as pointed out in Cliveshep's post) I also had to get a stamp put on them by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok.  I think it was just an extra administrative burden/step imposed by my local Ampur office.  Just something to be aware of; might not be needed by your local office of course, but don't be shocked if they do decide to ask for that extra Thai stamp on your documents.  Also, in my case they kept the apostille copies as well for their records, so if you think you might need to use them again in future I suggest you take photocopies for yourself. 

 

That was enough to (eventually) secure me the Kor Ror 22.

 

And with sworn testimonies from the poo yai bahn and his assistant that I lived in the village at my address and that my wife and I really are married they also gave me a yellow book and a pink foreigner Thai ID card.  (I did the little photo ceremony and handshake thing with the head of the ampur as well - pictures for their staff magazine I think).

 

Edited May 30, 2017 by White Tiger

[Arkady]

8 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Yes, you are right. don't know about the amount though:

 

http://www.siam-legal.com/Business-in-Thailand/thailand-work-permit.php:

Thai Business Entities who want to apply their foreign employee for work permits must have at least two million baht fully paid-up registered capitalization. However, where the foreign employee has a Thai spouse, the registered capitalization may only be one million baht.

Foreign Business Entities who had operated their business in Thailand can apply their employees for work permit if they bring at least three million baht per employee into the country.

 

Very informative PDF here about doing business:

http://www.thaiembassy.org/cairo/contents/files/business-20140108-044028-170042.pdf

 

The 3 million paid-up capital for a work permit applies only to majority foreign owned companies, .e.g. BOI promoted companies, American treaty companies, export only companies & etc.  Any company that is less than 50% foreign owned is a Thai company. 

[billmichael]

I just have a very quick question if someone can give a very quick answer, off hand.  

I am a gay male, if I marry a Thai boyfriend in the United States or in Taiwan, will it be recognized in Thailand?

 

Edited May 30, 2017 by billmichael

[ubonjoe]

3 hours ago, billmichael said:

I just have a very quick question if someone can give a very quick answer, off hand.  

I am a gay male, if I marry a Thai boyfriend in the United States or in Taiwan, will it be recognized in Thailand?

 

A legal marriage would be recognized under international treaties Thailand has signed. 

But since your boyfriend is Thai they would apply Thai law for most things. They would not allow him to register his foreign marriage at an Amphoe. Immigration, embassies and consulates would not accept it for visa and extension purposes.

[FritsSikkink]

12 hours ago, Arkady said:

The 3 million paid-up capital for a work permit applies only to majority foreign owned companies, .e.g. BOI promoted companies, American treaty companies, export only companies & etc.  Any company that is less than 50% foreign owned is a Thai company. 

yes, that is what I wrote

[billmichael]

On 5/30/2017 at 8:04 PM, ubonjoe said:

A legal marriage would be recognized under international treaties Thailand has signed. 

But since your boyfriend is Thai they would apply Thai law for most things. They would not allow him to register his foreign marriage at an Amphoe. Immigration, embassies and consulates would not accept it for visa and extension purposes.

Dear ubonjoe,

 

     Thank you so much for your kind and courteous answer.

 

Best always,

 

Bill Michael

[BobbyL]

Have you managed to get this sorted OP?

 

We are getting married in England next month after both living here for the last few years (I'm British, she is Thai) before we move back to Bangkok in August. 

 

We will need to do this hassle of a process once we get back I imagine. 

[brewsterbudgen]

Have you managed to get this sorted OP?
 
We are getting married in England next month after both living here for the last few years (I'm British, she is Thai) before we move back to Bangkok in August. 
 
We will need to do this hassle of a process once we get back I imagine. 

It's far easier to get your UK marriage certificate legalised while you're in the UK. You can just post it to the Legalisation office in Milton Keynes and they will forward it to the Thai Embassy in London who will send it back to you in the UK. This is what I did. It avoids having to send anything internationally. The only issue is that the process takes about 2-3 weeks.

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[BobbyL]

Back again.

 

We got married in Sheffield in July before we moved back here in August. My wife went back to England for her university graduation in November and sent all our documents mentioned to the FCO and Thai Embassy in London when she was there. We have now had them posted back here from my parents house.  

 

So we have our UK marriage certificate with an apostille on the back of it from the Thai Embassy in London. 

 

Judging  by previous comments we now need to get both sides of the marriage certificate translated and stamped by the MoFA in Bangkok. Is that correct? I have a few more days off work this week so would like to get that sorted if I can. 

[ubonjoe]

7 minutes ago, BobbyL said:

Judging  by previous comments we now need to get both sides of the marriage certificate translated and stamped by the MoFA in Bangkok. Is that correct? I have a few more days off work this week so would like to get that sorted if I can. 

Correct

The translation is certified by the Department of Consular Affairs of the MFA within the government complex on Chaeng Wattana road.

If living outside of Bangkok you can save some time by having the certification sent to you by EMS.

The translation service can also get the certification done for you and send it to you by EMS.

Then you can go to a Amphoe to register your foreign marriage registered.

[BobbyL]

3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Correct

The translation is certified by the Department of Consular Affairs of the MFA within the government complex on Chaeng Wattana road.

If living outside of Bangkok you can save some time by having the certification sent to you by EMS.

The translation service can also get the certification done for you and send it to you by EMS.

Then you can go to a Amphoe to register your foreign marriage registered.

Thanks for the quick reply mate. 

[cliveshep]

When I wanted my Yellow book and I.D card and extension based on Marriage I had to get the following docs BUT I stress they were needed for the whole package so not all might have been required for the marriage extension although they do take copies and inspect originals of all at Chang Wattana every year.

 

Certified copy of British passport (from the Embassy in Lumpini), translated and legalised. (You have to attend in person for this). Big Fat Fee of course - "Rip-off" Britain!

Apostille copy of Marriage Certificate, translated and legalised

Apostille copy of British Citizen's Birth Certificate, translated and legalised.

 

For Apostille copies of the Marriage and your Birth Certificate google the appropriate UK Government portal and order and pay on line. You'll need a UK address to send them to. Do NOT use an agency, they double the price and do the same thing. It's quite painless if you do it all step by step.

 

Photocopies of all of the above as well as originals for inspection are needed, the legalised documents are attached to the Apostille documents at Chang Wattana BUT I urge you to scan and copy them at your earliest as you will submit the copies to support your marriage extension BUT they will want to see the originals.

 

As a bonus the same docs are used for your Yellow House book and Thai I.D card if you want one.

 

Go google for Apostille Marriage and Birth Certificates BUT you will need a UK address to have them sent to BECAUSE the next step is to have them sent to the Royal Thai Embassy in Queen's Gate, London for THEM to stamp and post back. A stamped addressed REGISTERED post or pre-paid registered post envelope is required. There is a fee for stamping these and they ONLY accept cash or Postal Order (see the Embassy Website.

 

If you omit this step Chang Wattana will NOT legalise the docs because the London Embassy stamp is missing. (Ask me how I know!). The reason for this is that Thailand accepts the Apostille standards BUT are NOT signatories to the Hague Convention on Documentation so require stamping by the Embassy in the Country of issue.

 

(What is it you people always say? TITS? That sums it all up. That's the way for whatever twisted logic they use to do things. Very frustrating at times for Westerners! They are "Anal" about paper!)

 

Then your UK friend can re-package and post the whole lot securely back to you for you to translate and get legalised.

 

As you have to go in person to the Embassy in Bangkok to get a certified copy of your passport you might as well take all your Apostille docs with you because as you come out of the Embassy gate, if you turn right, walk a short way to the4 traffic lights, turn left, then cross the road under the BTS there are numerous good translation services you can use whose efforts for a reasonable fee include translation, sending to Chang Wattana, legalising, and posting securely to you or calling you to collect them. That is the option we used.

 

One benefit of all of this is you can use the same legalised docs for all official things, Annual Extensions, Yellow book or address changes, I.D card (the pink one) etc.

Edited January 4, 2018 by cliveshep