Getting married in a tropical paradise such as Thailand must be one of the most memorable experiences one could have. Registering the marriage however could place a damper on it. If you intend to get married in Thailand and spend 2 days registering your marriage then the honeymoon might not be as entertaining as first imagined. There are certain procedures which need to be followed with regards to marriage.
Firstly you need to obtain an affirmation to get married from your Embassy. This is basically a letter stating that you are single and able to get married in Thailand. Now if you have been married before and divorced, You would need to provide your Embassy with a copy of your divorce decree. If you are widowed, then a copy of the death certificate would be needed. You also need to confirm to the Embassy that you are employed and provide them with 2 parties at home who are not related to you with a home address and telephone numbers. This is to avoid fraud I have been told however this is just the first phase of the marriage registration. The letter usually is an overnight process so if you are in Pattaya or Hua Hin you would need to overnight in Bangkok to await your letter.
Once you have the letter in hand you need to have the letter translated into Thai. This needs to be certified and the letter and its certified translation needs to be taken to the Thai Foreign Affairs Department for verification. This process usually takes a few hours but considering their times it is best to say that you will spend a day at the department. While sitting their for a few hours might not sound like what you planned on – always avoid using the touts which are hanging around trying to offer the service of waiting on your behalf and getting the certified and verified letter back to you.
All the department needs to do is basically to confirm that the Thai translation is correct and that the letter from the Embassy is authentic. Now if you are expecting to get back another letter – tough. All you get is a stamp on the rear of the documents stating — verified by the Thai Department of Foreign Affairs. Now that you have your documents and if it is not to late in the day you need to hurry off to the Amphurs office. This is where you hand in the documents and they issue you a Thai marriage certificate in Thai and in English. All in all it takes on average 2-3 days to get it done. Most people use an attorney to do all the running around as it does become confusing and it is very time consuming and some wish to apply for a marriage visa when done. Speak to us about registering your marriage in Thailand today!