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Getting Married in Thailand – Do it Yourself in One Day!

Updated – May 2019:

The express 1-day service is not currently available to foreign nationals, only Thais.

This means that technically it is no longer possible to do this entire process in one day, because you won't be able to go to your embassy, get the translations done, and receive your documents back the same day. You will have to wait 2 working days to get all your paperwork back.

Please also bear in mind that some district offices (amphur) now have a marriage limit of 8 couples per day, and may require you to make an appointment in advance.

I strongly suggest reading through the latest comments from other readers to get their most recent experiences.

Okay, let's begin.

Whether you're a foreign national marrying a Thai national, or a foreign couple coming to Thailand to get married, you'll need to jump through three hoops before you can legally register your marriage.

The marriage will only be recognised under the law of your home country if it is valid under Thai law. In other words, simply having a ceremony in Thailand doesn't mean you are legally married.

getting married in thailand

It is still very possible to complete the process of getting the correct documentation together in one day, although without the express service at the MFA, you will have to wait to get your finalised documents back.

Realistically, you will need one day for your embassy appointment, translations and MFA submission. Then you will get a slip that tells you when you can pick your documents up (from the MFA), which is usually within 2 days. You'll then need another day for the marriage registration.

Remember, if you are both foreign nationals, you will need to consider this process for two persons.

Should I Hire an Agent?

This post focusses on completing the process yourself without an agent. Personally, I prefer to handle things myself, having complete control over efficiency and organisation.

Also consider that having an agent doesn't eliminate the first step of the process (the trip to the embassy), and costs considerably more.

Quotes range from 2,500-5000+ Baht for the agent's fee. Expect to pay around 4,500 for the actual process itself.

Step 1: Going to the Embassy for Affirmation

You must first go to your embassy to obtain an Affirmation of Freedom to Marry in Thailand.

Your embassy will most likely require you to make an appointment to get your affirmation done. Some do, dome don't.

British nationals DO need to make an appointment to get an affirmation. The consular accepts appointments 08:00 – 11:00 on Monday – Friday.

The cost depends on the embassy, but will be around the 3,500 Baht mark.  It costs 2,860 Thai Baht at the British embassy.

Yes, it's an expensive stamp.

Get the earliest appointment you can, closest to the opening time of the embassy, which should be 8am.

If your embassy has the affirmation form online, print it out from embassy website before you go, and fill in the relevant sections. For the British embassy, you will need to print the form.

You will need your passport, and if you've been married before, make sure you have documentation to prove that any previous marriages have been dissolved/terminated (an appropriate death certificate or divorce certificate).

Certificates issued in a third country outside UK and Thailand must be certified by its respective Embassy in Thailand.

This certificate, if not in English, must be accompanied by an English translation. Only the original evidence or an official certified copy will be accepted – photocopies will not be accepted under any circumstances.

NOTE: Also take a photocopy of your passport with you when you leave the house. You will need this for Step 3. 

Book an early appointment. If your embassy offers a walk-in service, get there at opening time. You certainly won't make the one day deadline we're on if you don't get there as close to opening time as you can and get it done quickly.

Step 2: Affirmation & Passport Translation: English to Thai

You now need that affirmation translated into Thai. This will cost between 300-600 Baht, depending on where you go.

Due to a new requirement, as of 2017/18, you also need your passport certified by the embassy and then translated into Thai.

That means the photo page and the page above or below it, (depending on which country you are from).

The officer at Chaeng Wattana (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) will stamp your passport translation. You will then show this at the Amphur (district office) at your appointment to marry.

For the translation, you have two choices.

The majority of embassies are in and around Wireless Road, including the UK and US embassies.

If you walk to the top of Wireless Road (back toward Pleon Chit BTS station) and up over the bridge onto the other side of the road, you'll be standing outside a language school called Language Express.

Go past the school and turn right. Along this side road you'll find a number of reputable translation services.

Don't dilly dally: choose a translation centre quickly and make it clear you are on a deadline. You need to be out of here by 10.30am.

They should be able to do the translations within 1 hour. If they say they can't do it so quickly, let them know you can pay a little extra.

Alternatively, get in a taxi and go straight to Chaeng Wattana to the Department of Consular Affairs.

This might be preferable because the traffic will be dying down just after rush hour. This journey will cost around 150 Baht. Do take the tollway (60 Baht) if the driver suggests it. This route is much quicker.

You can get a translation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, although it may cost more because the touts will be aware you have no choice but to pay to have your documents authenticated there. However, if option 1 doesn't work out, this option is a sure thing.

Immigration Office Address:

Tell the taxi you want to go to the “Chang Wattana pass-a-bort (or immigration) off-ice!”

Show him/her the address in Thai: สำนักงานหนังสือเดินทาง ถนนแจ้งวัฒนะ เขตหลักสี่

If you have a smartphone with a decent size screen, show him on this Google Map.

The  Legalisation Division
Department of Consular Affairs
123 Chaeng Wattana Road,
Laksi District, Bangkok 10210

Tel : +66 (0) 2 575 1056–59,  0 2981 7171
Fax : +66 (0) 2 575 1054
(08:30 – 15:30 hrs)

Note that you can also get this process done at the new office at Klong Toey MRT station. The new office is in the Metro Mall area of the station:

Klong Toey MRT Station
ถนน พระรามที่ 4 คลองเตย
Bangkok, 10110
(08:30 – 15:30 hrs)

Here's a link to a Google Map.

Step 3: Thai Consular Affairs Authentication

If possible, I  recommend doing your embassy visit – to get your freedom to marry affirmation and your passport verified (and your translations too) – and trip to the  Ministry of Foreign Affairs in one day.

If you can get an early appointment at your embassy, you should be able to make it to the MFA before lunchtime. Remember: the express 1-day service is only available if you get your documents in before 9.30am.

When you arrive at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, if you still need your documents translating, you can choose one of the services downstairs.

You will be approached as soon as you enter by touts for the translation services, so do a bit of bartering – starting at 300 Baht. Don't stress too much over 100 Baht or so, just get it done with the company offering the fastest service and move on.

Note: staff take lunch at 12pm. You'll have to wait an hour until they come back on duty.

Try to get a ticket and get in the queue before they go to lunch. If you make it through processing before lunch, then great. If not, no worries.

Once you have the translation, go to the 3rd floor: up the escalator, turn right and up the stairs.

Go to the desk straight ahead of you and give in your affirmation and its translation, passport translation and photocopy of your passport to the lady at the desk.

Now proceed through the white door over on the other side of the room; the lady will direct you.

Here you will get your documents checked by someone who looks very official. Once you get the okay, you will be asked to take a seat and wait to be called. Keep your eye on the queuing system, you don't want to miss your number.

Once called, you will be given a day to collect your authenticated documents and the option to have them posted to you. The standard pick-up/delivery time is 2 days.

When you get your documents back, you have completed the process. Keep everything safely together in an envelope. You will need all these documents to present to the Amphur office (government office) of your choice when you go to register your marriage after the ceremony.

Of course, you can register your marriage before the ceremony, it's up to you.

If you've finished early, you could go to a local district office and book an appointment to get married. You might be able to get an appointment for the next day.

What Marriage Documents to Take to the Registrar

When you go to register your marriage at the government office, you will need to take the following documents:

  1. Your passport – 2 copies
  2. Your visa – copy this too
  3. Your fiancee's ID card (for Thai nationals only) – 2 copies
  4. The Letter of Affirmation of Freedom to Marry (the original & the certified translation, plus copies of both)
  5. The MFA stamped translation of your passport
  6. Your fiancee's Tabien Baan (house log) (Thai nationals only) – 2  copies
  7. You will also need two witnesses. The Amphur can provide these but if you have two volunteers it's easier.

Native Translation

You may also wish to obtain a sworn translation of your marriage certificate into your native language so that it can be used as a legal document back home. You may also require this translation for visa purposes.

A note for British nationals: You no longer need to file your marriage certificate back in the UK. They did away with that requirement a few years ago.

Congratulations! I wish you a long, happy, marriage.

One Last Thing!

If you're planning on getting married in Thailand, then you'll want everything to go as smoothly as possible.

That means making sure you have travel insurance with adequate coverage, just in case the something doesn't quite go to plan. Maybe you lose your case, miss your flight, break a finger, lose your wallet.

Don't chance it.

Click here to read up on the two companies I recommend for solid insurance that covers a broad range of eventualities.

And if you want the best prices on hotels in Bangkok, Samui, Phuket, Pattaya, Chiang Mai and more, check out this page. 

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  1. Yoana says

    Hello!

    Does one need the freedom to marry certificate from the embassy in Thailand or can I use one obtained in my home country? It’s the same country lol but instead of an embassy I would get it back home. I am Dutch and I want to marry my British partner. Do we have to go to BKK or can we stay in Phuket?

    Kind regards

    Reply

  2. Dan says

    Hello there. So, myself and Indonesian girlfriend will be in Thailand over the Xmas / New Year Period. Hopefully we can fit in getting married (in order to avoid the nonsense in Indonesia about having to be of the same religion).

    Anyway, a few comments/queries…

    1. It’s obviously not the best time of year as offices will be shut (but as a teacher it’s my only significant time off work in the next 6 months so have to give it a try). A couple of translation companies would not offer to sort out the MFA side of things due to concern over when the MFA would be closed over Xmas/New Year, but would do the translations. One also suggested it can take up to 7 working days to get the certified affirmation docs back from the MFA… very tough if the office is shut for several days too. We’ll be around from Friday Dec 20 (evening) until Monday Jan 6 (lunchtime) so you would think that’s long enough, but…. any comments? Not worth the hassle over the holiday period? We’d like to squeeze in a trip to Chiang Rai for 2 or 3 days in the middle when nothing can done due to offices being shut but it’s unclear exactly when that is going to be. Hope to get embassy stuff done on Monday 23rd morning (earliest possible due to weekend). Then translated into Thai, then submitted at MFA before their holiday starts.

    2. Amphurs….. anyone know when they are closed over Xmas/New Year? Or how to make appointments via email/Whatsapp?

    3. MFA second time around required or best not bother? I read that you don’t need to return to the MFA for a certified translation of marriage document as long as you use a certified translator (much easier if we don’t have to fit around MFA opening/closing a second time around). We would then get the marriage document translated into both English and Indonesian and take it to the relevant office here in Jakarta once we are back home.

    Quite a hassle, but better than being forced to change religion.

    Any recent experiences, especially from Indonesian-British couples, greatly appreciated, as it appears rules are changing a fair bit this year and the office holiday closure dates are difficult to find too.

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      1. That should be enough time to get it done. But bear in mind you’ll need to find a district office to marry you and some are now sending papers back to the MFA for verification. This seems to be less common with foreign national marriages, but bear in mind you might have to try a couple. You also need to make an appointment, so as soon as you have submitted your documents at the MFA, make sure you go and do that.

      2. No idea. Officially it’s only the 31st Dec and 1st Jan at the moment.

      3. You don’t need to do this.

      Best of luck.

      Reply

  3. Chris says

    Hi Henry. I think this article needs updated. I’m pretty sure a visa on arrival is ok but I was at the Banglamung Ampur today and they said it may take 1 to 2 months to get your documents back once you have them all prepared and you submit them at the Ampur. I have been trying for several weeks to get them all organized trying to minimize fees. It seems the only way to get the process done quickly is to pay an agent.

    Reply

  4. Henry says

    Dear TLL,

    First, thanks very much for the Thai marriage advice.

    My Thai partner and almost have all required papers ready.

    One question please: can we marry when I am in Thailand on a visa on arrival? Tourist visa.

    The immigration officer at the Thai embassy in The Netherlands refused to issue an “O” visa to me for no good reason, as I had all required papers with me.

    I have been living in Vietnam for 24 years and quite familiar with Thailand.

    I hope you might know if the visa on arrival is sufficient to marry.

    Thanks again and kind regards,

    Henry and Patcharapa

    Reply

    • Chris says

      Hi Henry. I think this article needs updated. I’m pretty sure a visa on arrival is ok but I was at the Banglamung Ampur today and they said it may take 1 to 2 months to get your documents back once you have them all prepared and you submit them at the Ampur. I have been trying for several weeks to get them all organized trying to minimize fees. It seems the only way to get the process done quickly is to pay an agent.

      Reply

  6. Danny Ong says

    the 1st time i prepare the passport, Single letter and translated into Thai but rejected by the government of marriage. the reason given is i still need to prepare another letter which is (Statutory of Declaration) which is my job discription, salary and 2 witness.
    the 2nd times i go they give reason is my document might not complete.they said i can try my luck by submit all document and wait 1or 2 months for checking. if complete,will call us for register marriage. they strongly said there is no such thing (submit document today and marriage tomorrow)

    Reply

  8. Baz M says

    My Diary of my recent trip…

    Day one 7th June – Appointment booked at Embassy for 8.40am. Arrived 8.20am, everything in order so was out of there by 08.45. Very helpful, finger on signature and listened to oath to swear everything correct. Some brit in there totally unprepared. I helped him with his form.
    BTS to Mo Chit. Taxi from there to MFA 100 baht. But possible to catch Metro from Mo Chit to Lak Si and shorter taxi ride to MFA.
    At MFA, went up first escalator and used translation service literally right in front of you at a blue counter (left hand side). For some reason I was a bit wary of using one of the agents at the door. Some of them had no badges or anything so didn’t trust them. But that’s just me!! Paid 2000 baht total. This included Passport&Affirmation translation, MFA stamp and her service i.e 900 translations, 800 MFA stamp, 300 for her service. Peace of mind because if it was wrong she would change it then and there. My fiance liked her and exchanged line messages with her.

    Tuesday 11th June – Collected translations. Apparently she had made a mistake, but she rectified it herself. Probably a good reason to use her because of this fact.

    Wednesday 12th – Phoned Bang Rat to check about appointments, they said we could come in that afternoon as they had space, unfortunately we were half way to Chonburi.

    Friday 14th – Arrived at Bang Rat at 7.50am, told we were too late as fully booked. Apparently one couple arrived at 2am to queue up! I find this hard to believe, but it’s true!!. Took motorbike taxi to Siam station then BTS to Mo Chit then taxi to Lak Si District office. Looks nicer than Bang Rat by the way. Arrived there, no room, they said we could book an appt for Monday, but then the missus went to the translation desk (Main lobby, right hand side) and lady there said that if we paid her 3500 baht she would get us done today. Desperation kind of kicked in so I agreed the fee. We went with the translator in a taxi to Don Meuang. Ironically this is where I wanted to go as the next alternative, but missus said try Lak Si first.
    Spent around an hour or so there. Maybe the fee we paid the woman was for her to get us in the queue quick and a way to bypass the fact we had no translator or witnesses. The woman who registered our marriage spoke decent enough English so translated it for us, again maybe this was what the woman we paid knew. To be honest I didn’t have a clue what was going on in there, but just trusted the woman and my missus.
    Taxi back to Mo Chit, BTS to Phloen Chit and after a few stressful minutes deliberating what are next move was i.e do we need to take the translated marriage certificate back to the MFA for certification, shall we use the translator that did my Affirmation & Passport, shall we use Express Translation blah blah. Then I looked ar some of the posts on here (May 23rd 19), I read that Thailand Life says you don’t need an MFA certified Marriage certificate, just translated into English by a Certified Translator. So we have just paid 1000 baht to get it translated as Express Translation, Phloen Chit, collecting tomorrow at midday.
    I am now officially Married!!
    If somebody can just confirm whether or not I need the English Marriage Certificate that i collect tomorrow certified at the MFA that would give me some peace of mind.
    I hope this helps…
    The main blog is a God send. Stick to the documents they say to bring to the Amphur and you will be fine. Thanks again Thailand Life.
    Baz & Rose.

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Super. Thanks for the diary and congratulations!

      Your translated marriage certificate will be stamped as with the ‘official translator’ stamp which is the authentication. No need to go to the MFA. The British embassy/immigration will accept this official translation. Just get a couple of colour photo-copies done.

      Reply

      • Baz M says

        Thanks for the reply. Sorry quick question. We gave the Translation service our photocopied black and white copy that the Amphur gave us. We still have the originals on us. Will the Translation service change it to colour as they will have all the backgrounds etc in their computers?
        Cheers!!

        Reply

    • Paulo & Hazel says

      Hi, me and my fiancee are currently here in Bangkok and we want to get married here. We have the same situation as yours and we are in a fixed right now. We have read a lot of articles about marriages in Bangkok for foreigners and they seem to be easy but its not. Then we came to read about your post and we just also want to be married even if we pay extra, so if you are like kind enough to give us the contact info of that woman from Lak Si district office to help us too. Thanks in advance… Paulo & Hazel

      Reply

      • Baz M says

        Hey guys, Sorry for the late reply. Are you both foreigners? Is one of you Thai? The reason being she doesn’t speak a word of English!!
        If you head in the main entrance at Lak Si District Office, look slightly right in the main lobby and there is a small counter in the far right corner past the main office on your right hand side. The counter had Translation service on it. There was also a guy working at the desk. Not sure how good his English as the wife did all the talking!! But you can also try the office on the right hand side, go in the door and there is a desk immediately on your right, speak to him/her also. They can potentially book you in within a few days. If that fails, then Don Meuang should be your next visit as it is close to Lak Si. Maybe 10 mins tops by taxi….
        Good luck!! Baz

        Reply

        • Paulo & Hazel says

          Hi, yes we are both foreigners and we don’t know any Thai friend here who can speak English. So we don’t have any witnesses also for our marriage. The person in the translation service speak English? Ok we will check both district offices. Thanks….

          Reply

    • Chrisd says

      Hey. Thanks for the article and the recent reports. I have been trying to organize the translation thing for a few days but am a farung by myself (busy partner) and all the translation services seem to be trying it on. Could you break down what papers you needed. For the embassy I needed my passport and my divorce certificate and she is a widow so needed her I’D card and his death certificate. I understood I need translated the embassy letter(no impediment to marriage) and my passport photo page for Chang Wattana. It would be great to clear this up for me and others.

      Reply

    • steve robinson says

      Hi Baz
      Congratulations
      Im Traveling over next month to Marry my Thai girlfriend
      What papers do I need or where do I find this all out ,
      What are the steps I need to take
      I am completely lost after reading all the posts
      Regards
      Steve

      Reply

      • Baz M says

        Hey Steve,
        First thing to do is get your appointment booked at the British Embassy. Try to get that done now as close to the date you arrive in Bangkok. Dont panic if it appears fully booked, keep checking it daily as appointments appear earlier until you can get a date for the beginning of your trip.
        Ideally pay for your Affirmation to Marry and Passport Certification online and print off both receipts. Should cost you £75 total for both.
        Get 5 or 6 coloured photocopies of your passport and when you arrive get the same of your visa arrival stamp, but you can do that bit later at the photocopy shop.
        Follow the Gov.uk website for Thailand and download the Affirmation to Marry template. Replace all the bold headings with your information. I did two versions, one with the text I changed still in bold and the second with the same text format as the rest of the page. Its plain, doesn’t look very official, but its correct.
        After your appt at the Embassy head straight on the same day to the MFA at Chang Watthana and use the translation service at the top of the first small escalator you see in front of you.
        This should take around 2 to 3 days, but they WILL get it right and they will text your fiance when it is ready to collect.
        You will receive both your Affirmation to marry and Certified Passport translation stapled and Celotaped together. Leave it like this and then ask your fiance to find you a photocopy shop, they are like 7/11’s, they are everywhere. Get 4 coloured sets of both and staple each set together.
        Refer to the main article above and read the ‘ What documents to take to the Marriage Registrar’, I used this list and it is accurate and spot on. Have it all ready and put in a little cheap folder.
        The list of documents is correct, the first two Amphurs (District Offices) checked them and were happy, unfortunately they were fully booked so we know the list above is correct. Read my diary above about the names of the 3 main Amphurs we used.
        Use your fiance as best you can, shes Thai, she speaks the language and good luck. I hope this helps you..

        Reply

    • Ally says

      Thank you for your advises, it helped us a lot. But we were refused at Bang Rak, they said we will have to wait 2-3 month wish is not an option for us, so we went directly to Lak Si and got married there the same date))

      i advise to go to Lak Si directly to everybody, i think that’s much better and faster. They are very kind and supportive there! i am sure you can negotiate for the date (same or not), we were waiting the boss all day, but still better to do it in one then to wait more and more!

      All the best wished to everybody, happy marriages

      Ally

      Reply

  9. Karen says

    I am a Filipino working here in Thailand.
    My fiancé who is from Venezuela and I are planning to get married in October.
    Is it possible to get married here even though there is no Venezuelan embassy here?please advise thank you!

    Reply

  10. Steve says

    I really need the address and prices of the language center on klong toey to do the translations. After being royally ripped off by itc near the language school last time and them not even being sure they had translated it correctly, I’d rather use one near the ministry so I can easily sort it should there be another issue, as well as being charged a fair price.

    Reply

  11. Steve says

    I have to update that I was unable to get married. Despite following everything to the letter and everything being correct there was a new law introduced in Thailand half a year back where the amphoe needs the documents for a week to check for forgery before they can be used. The problem is by that time the affirmation would be invalid as I put May 2019 so it will expire before they can complete the checks as it would have expired. No information about this extra step on the internet and was not told this by Embassy or office in klong toey or anywhere else. I have wasted over 7000 baht in costs including hotels and transport for a useless pieces of paper. Saying it can be done in a day or even three is a joke. You now need at least a week and a half (I would allow two to be safe incase they decide to introduce more new rules but not tell you) because of this new amphoe rule. I will be phoning the British Embassy to complain and see if I can get a refund for giving me a document I could not use. I am upset, angry, annoyed and frustrated.

    Reply

    • Seb says

      This has been mentioned before if you look through comments section and here is a reply I gave : Seb says
      It is now becoming clear that nearly all Amphurs are having to implement the new ruling that any documents presented for a marriage ceremony HAVE to go back to Bangkok for verification. This is unfortunately due to the number of fake documents being used for sham marriages. Only Bang Rak, 8 marriages a day, and Don Muang are using the old system. So anyone planning to marry in Thailand must now factor this into the plans. Good luck.

      Apr 10, 2019 at 9:33 am

      Reply

      • Steve says

        So where are the contact details for don muang amphoe. the Wikipedia page is linking to an old archived page in Thai only. I want to phone them to make the booking in advance. I am not taking any more risks whatsoever like last time. The second I have the new documents from the ministry I will be headed straight there to register the marriage, the unofficial ceremony of which has already taken place.

        Reply

        • Seb says

          Have had a hunt on the internet for you and I think it is 02-565-9424. This is the address 999 Soi Choet Wutthakat 9/1, Khwaeng Don Mueang, Khet Don Mueang, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10210, Thailand. Give it a try and hope it is correct for you. Good luck.

          Reply

        • Baz M says

          Steve, sorry to hear all this. I’m due to flight out to Thailand in a few days. I have nearly 4 weeks to get this sorted. I will keep you posted how I get on, and everybody else following this. Appointment is booked at Embassy, after that, its fingers crossed and hope I’m a married man to my fantastic Thai fiance’ before I leave.

          Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Hi Steve, sorry to hear what happened. A few weeks back I wrote a follow up to Seb’s comment about this happening to some people. Here is the summary of the situation I wrote then:

      1. This is an interim rule (not yet in the rulebook) and seemingly not one all amphurs are carrying out.

      2. This is for mixed Thai-foreign marriages. Foreign-foreign marriages, at least from western countries are unaffected.

      3. Not all amphurs are doing this, so try a different one if you encounter this.

      4. Those marrying at their partner’s local amphur (in their town of birth) are not experiencing this issue.

      5. A “contribution” to the local amphur seems to be one way around this, in some situations.

      Reply

      • Steve says

        We tried two amphoes in Salon Nakhon where she was born and they both thought my documents were forgeries. The whole system is a (bleep) joke. I now have to fly back, pay for all the documents again and go through that procedure and spend two weeks to get this done before flying back to get an o visa and flying back again. It’s stupid and I am still really pissed off this was not made clearer.

        Reply

        • TheThailandLife says

          The whole issue is unacceptable because this is not an official rule. There has been no press release or announcement of any kind. It seems very random too. I’ve heard from many people who have married in recent months who haven’t experienced this, so it seems quite random. It is only affecting foreigners marrying Thais, not foreigners marrying foreigners. Keep us updated.

          Reply

          • Chrisd says

            I just had the same experience at Banglamung. Mine was even more difficult in that my fiancee’s last husband passed away. They said before she is married she needs to take a translated copy of his death certificate to the amphur and get a new ID card. Then we need to go to the embassy again and get a new certificate(another 3000 b) then take it all back to be translated again and then to Bangkok to be certified. Then back to the Amphur and then they will send it to Bangkok again to be certified again. Then of course she has to take it to the amphur again and get a new ID card. If I had known all of this was going to happen I would have just married in Australia.

            Reply

  12. Steve says

    This is a good guide but a few things to note. The fee at Embassy 3250 baht with the certified passport too. Also on the form if you are not using an amphur in Bangkok you have to also write province at the end on the name of the province, despite what Wikipedia tells you and I had to re-type the form on their computer just because of this and not made clear on the instructions which just used Bangkok Metropolis as an example without province written at the end. I chose a translation service near the language school called itc, which was in the middle and seemed the largest of the three I found and wanted 1000 baht to do it in two hours after originally quoting 500 baht for four days!!!, but were also unsure if the translated the 4th part of one of the translations correctly, so I may need to go back if they have screwed it up. If so it means I have to go back to the translation center and then back again to klong toey before 1pm adding to transport costs and time spent. I went to klong toey mrt which was quick service, but there is also another 800 baht fee to get this part done. They also mentioned about the 4th part of the translation not making sense and mentioned there is a translation service upstairs but I have no further details, so there may also be a translation service at or near klong toey mrt now too which might be worth using over the ones near the language school that obviously do not know what to do or how to translate correctly. If I had known I would have got translations done at klong toey instead. The klong toey office is located near the supermarket and supercash near the back of the mrt and not the big Thai passport office. As another tip and a requirement to get a marriage visa, if you need to open a Thai bank account and only have a tourist visa you can also use the certified passport at Bangkok Bank to open a new account, and seems to be the only bank that will allow you to with just a tourist visa and this document, so the certified passport has two uses.

    Reply

    • Seb says

      One thing I would personally advise anyone is to use a translation service at whichever MFA office you are using for affirmation/passport documents. Then if there is a problem it will be far easier to sort than having the extra costs of having it all done again. Or going back to the original translation company which will involve time and more expense.

      Reply

    • Baz M says

      Hey Steve!!
      Thanks for the info. Regarding the Bangkok metropilis section of the Affirmation, we are planning on using an Amphur in Bangkok, as of yet we dont know which one as we dont want to book one yet until the paperwork is done. So is Bangkok Metropolis suffice as it is if we are using one in Bangkok or do we need an area/district in Bangkok also?
      Thanks in advance

      Reply

      • Steve says

        Just the province which would be Bangkok Metropolis but I would ask at British Embassy if you are unsure. They have two computers you can use to re-type the form and email it. They also have a water cooler to drink and toilets but not much else.

        Reply

  13. Rachael Beth Moss says

    Hi,

    I am British and my partner is Cuban. I know I can get an affidavit in the British embassy in Ho Chi Minh City (where we live) or in the embassy in Bangkok. However, it’s more difficult for my partner as the Cuban government never make things easy. He already has the affidavit from Cuba. Can he get that stamped in the Cuban Embassy here or must it be in the Consulate of Bangkok.

    Not sure if you know the answer to this but if you do, it would be great to know. We are going to try and contact them to see if we can get the information directly from them. Thanks for your wonderful and detailed post.

    Reply

  14. Don says

    We just got married in Thailand.

    Many thanks to the for a great post on the process. We would like to share our experience to aid in others who wish to get married in Thailand.

    We are very experienced travelers and have spent time navigating a few bureaucratic processes for visas and extended stays in conjunction with difficult boarder crossings. So please take this into account as you read our short report and calibrate your review accordingly.

    Here are few things that we encountered after many days of research prior to coming to Thailand. Plan ahead and have all things in order and remember an error in your process or paperwork can set you back days and cost you more in – Taxi fairs, Accommodation and Meals.

    1. As you read the aforementioned report you will notice their are many offices to go to and get your paperwork processed and certified. None of these locations are near to each other and will take you 25-45 min to go to depending on traffic. Plan your day early.

    2. It is vital that you know your mother countries embassy hours, when they are open, holidays observed and Thailand Holidays, many embassies will honor both.

    3. If you need an appointment for your embassy paperwork try and do it all in one appointment if possible and be sure to have more then one method of payment just incase one of the two fails you have a back up.

    4. Be sure to check any possible Thai holidays that will overlap with your desired time frame. Plan for those in your timeline.

    6. From our experience you must have a certified copies of your affidavit to marry and certified copies of your passports both must me from your mother country. Without these in had all things will come to a halt.

    7. Like any government agency, don’t not count on anyone in Thailand picking up the phone when you call the numbers listed on their website and if you are lucky enough to get someone, their language skills outside of Thai will be rudimentary and best. It was to uncommon for us to never get an answer and when we did they hung up because we didn’t speak Thai.

    8. We became actually aware of the nuanced challenges of getting married in Thailand when we found out that there is no express services for Certified and Authenticated Documents Notarized at the Klong Toey MRT Station.

    9. Some of the Amphur / District offices have a limit on the number of marriages they can do in one day.

    10. The Amphur / District offices will require a translator as no one speaks English.

    After a full day of running around and dealing with a plethora of setbacks and confusion we went back to our translation office and hired them for their Thai Marriage package. This was a cost of $400. While it was outside of our forecasted budget and seemed a kings ransom when compared to our first cost analysis we can’t say how easy it was and painless.

    We recommend you get an agent to assist you. Don’t go what we went through trying to push a string.

    Here is the service that we used. We receive no benefit by sharing this outside of hoping that your process goes smoothly.

    EXPRESS TRANSLATION SERVICE & TRAVEL CO., LTD.
    866 Phloen Chit Rd, Khwaeng Lumphini, Khet Pathum Wan, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10330
    02 255 5421

    Agent referral: Jammarie

    Reply

    • Baz M says

      Don,
      Interesting advice there. Could you break down exactly what the €400 got you. It seems to me a rather excessive amount. Is this to get your affirmation translated and them getting it certified at the MFA for you. I’m assuming the other thing after that then needs translating is the Marriage certificate and also having that certified. How is the agency justifying two translations and a trip to the MFA when the original article says you can get a translation done for around 1000 ish baht. $400 is around 12000 baht. Sorry to come across a bit brutal but this seems extortinate. Thanks for any help you can divulge.

      Reply

    • chacha says

      Hi All, I have been monitoring news from this web and found it helpful, thank you for sharing this all. I am planning to register in Bangkok as well, as we are different religions and nationalities.

      As advised by Don, an Agent will be very helpful, especially since we both are not experienced travelers.
      Anybody can recommend me an Agent which can help us? Thanks bunch!

      Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      That’s correct, unless you need to prepare divorce papers or your embassy in Bangkok requires some other paperwork from your home country. Always double check of there are any specific requirements for your country.

      Reply

  17. Andrew says

    Thank you for this comprehensive writeup.

    My fiancé and I have a slightly challenging situation. She is from Ecuador and I am from the USA. Ecuador no longer has an embassy in Thailand. She is able to bring an affidavit in Spanish from her home country, but there’s no way to notarize it in Thailand by an Ecuadorian embassy.

    I should note that the nearest Ecuadorian embassy is in Kuala Lumpur and I received an email from them that they are now handling Ecuadorian consular affairs in Southeast Asia. However, I am not inclined to go to KL to get a document notarized there since such a document would not have a Thai notarization and might not be any more acceptable than a similar document from Ecuador.

    Do you have any insights?

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      If your home country does not have an embassy in Thailand then you go to the closest country with an embassy. The affidavit from your GFs home country won’t be accepted; it will have to be the nearest embassy. As the embassy stated, they are handling all SE Asia affairs. Annoying but that’s how it works. Call them first though and clarify that if you come and get the document there it will be accepted by the MFA in Thailand.

      Reply

  19. Mike says

    A few points for any Aussies … yesterday we got our copy of the new “Certificate of no impediment to marry” which replaces the old paperwork.
    My thai GF was required to show her passport, even though it says nothing about that on the info sheet, luckily she had brought it along.
    One section of the embassy website says your partner does not need to attend, but the info sheet says she does …that is correct.
    Because this is a new format, many amphurs offices will not be familiar with the certificate of no impediment, so the embassy will give you a letter of explanation to show the district office….a nice touch.
    Your “usual address” has to be an Australian one, even if you usually live in Thailand !
    And if you are not familiar with the embassy location, do NOT believe the directions on Google maps ….that will take you to the back wall. From Ploenchit, go down Wireless road (Thanon Wittayu) and turn left just past the Japanese embassy, or from Sathorn turn right just before the Japanese embassy/after the Bangkok 1 construction site. There is a sign pointing to the embassy at the corner.
    There is usually a condo shuttle tuktuk parked at the Wireless road corner, they are always willing to earn a small tip by taking you to the embassy !

    Reply

  20. Jackie says

    Hi, I’m from United States and my fiancé is from Philippines. She has a work visa/permit to work in Thailand. And I only have the 30 day stamp in my passport. We want to get married in Thailand. Will we both need translations of our passports and her work visa into Thai language? And will we both need
    The Letter of Affirmation of Freedom to Marry (the original & the certified translation, plus copies of both)?

    Reply

  21. Helvin says

    Hi there, may I know after receiving the affirmation letter from my embassy, can I do the translation and stamps at Chiang Mai? Because I know there is a mfa legalized section there… Thanks for the answer

    Reply

  22. carries says

    Ｈｅｌｌｏ，　Ｉ　ａｍ　ａ　Ｂｒｉｔｉｓｈ　ｎａｔｉｏｎａｌ　ｌｉｖｉｎｇ　ｉｎ　Ｃｈｉｎａ　ａｎｄ　ｗａｓ　ｗｏｎｄｅｒｉｎｇ　ｉｆ　Ｉ　ｗｏｕｌｄ　ｂｅ　ａｂｌｅ　ｔｏ　ｏｂｔａｉｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｆｒｅｅｄｏｍ　ｔｏ　ｍａｒｒｙ　ｄｏｃｕｍｅｎｔ　ｉｎ　ｔｈｅ　ｂｒｉｔｉｓｈ　ｃｏｎｓｕｌａｔｅ　ｉｎ　Ｃｈｉｎａ　ａｎｄ　ｔｈｅｎ　ｔｒａｎｓｌａｔｅ　ｔｈｉｓ　ｉｎ　Ｔｈａｉｌａｎｄ．Ｔｈｉｓ　ｗｏｕｌｄ　ｓａｖｅ　ｍｅ　ａｂｉｔ　ｏｆ　ｔｉｍｅ．　

    Reply

  23. Hyang says

    I’m a US citizen & my fiancé is a Thai national. I was married & divorced previously and my divorce decree is about 35 pages long. Do I need to get this document translated to Thai as well or is the translation only required for the Affirmation and US Passport? Please advise. Thank you.

    Reply

  24. Hyang says

    I’M a citizen and my fiancé is a Thai National. I was married & divorced previously. My divorce decree is about 35 pages long, do I need to have the decree translated to Thai or just my passport and Affirmation to Marry?

    Reply

      • Mike says

        I believe it is at the Klong Toey MRT station. In fact, there are a number of other options in the provinces also now. From memory, Chiang Mai, Songkhla, and Ubon Ratchathani.
        The Australian embassy has an info sheet online with the exact contact details.
        These might be an option for people from upcountry with limited time in Bangkok.

        Reply

      • Stephen Perry says

        Yes it’s with the Khlong Toey train station.. new passport office there as well ..very good.. I was in and out within 5 minutes ..fantastic 2 day service if not Express.. having done both this place is far far better cook has nice Cafe toilets all clean and air con as part of underground train station

        Reply

        • Baz M says

          Hi Steve,
          So can we use this place as an alternative for Affirmation authentication and then Marriage certificate Authentication. I’m getting married in June over there and am wanting to be in and out without the need for anything getting posted in the mail as we are on a bit of a tight schedule. Thanks in advance.

          Reply

        • TheThailandLife says

          I was aware of the passport office but didn’t know they did the marriage registration too. I’ll add the address to the post. Did you need to pre-book online? The passport office there has an online reservation service.

          Reply

          • Stephen Perry says

            No just turn up .
            Cant stress how efficient and quick the service is at Khlon Toei. I got some photos of the place if you can give me a way of getting them to you. I dropped off docs and picked them up 2 days later …quick and easy it was the translation shop who told me about this place .. I had no idea before must be very new I reckon

            Reply

            • TheThailandLife says

              That would be great. pls email them to info [at] thethailandlife .com . I wonder if it will stay long term. There are a number of what they call pop-up passport offices dotted around the country – to deal with the demand – and Klong Toei is one; though that has been running for a solid 5 months or more.

              Reply

            • Claire says

              Hi My Partner and I are getting married in Thailand in April next year so I’ve been keeping a close eye on the updates on here. Although we would really love to be legally married over in Thailand, I was starting to wonder whether it would be easier to do the legal part at home as we didn’t want to stay in Bangkok for as long as it seemed to be taking. The fact that there is another option for doing it over there is music to my ears. We were planning on landing in Bangkok Sunday, going to the British embassy and translation on Monday morning and then trying to get the Ministry of Foreign Affairs done on the same day. The goal is to be able to fly out on the Wednesday (late morning / lunch time at the latest). Do you think this is now possible?

              Reply

              • James E says

                The rule of thumb is that it is always easier to do anything (that involves a bureaucracy) almost anyplace other than Thailand. In your schedule you need to allow room to get the certified translations dropped, done, and collected; if even one word is wrong you have to go back and get it done over. You have to make sure your among the few couples married at the office you choose – there is no Plan B as if you don’t make the cut all the other offices will be full too. Plus you’ll be in a rush which will be sensed by all and sundry. Being in a rush around bureaucrats is like blood in the water to sharks. Do it at home, take your short break to Thailand as a honeymoon.

                Reply

              • Mike says

                Don’t forget to allow for the public holidays in April. Chakri Day, then the country usually shuts up shop for at least 5 days for Songkran as many small businesses will take an extra day before and/or after the official holidays

                Reply

  27. Will says

    Hi, does anybody know if there is an expiry date for the affirmations? On my British affirmation i had to state the date of marriage within 3 months. My partners affirmation(argentinian) has no date. She has had it for almost 1 year. We just need to get them legalized at the MFA.

    Reply

  28. Colin Sare-Soar says

    One other question:
    You mention visas and getting them authenticated. I won’t have a visa as such, just an arrival stamp valid for 1 month. My Vietnamese Fiancee doesn’t need a visa either and will just have a 1 month entry stamp the same as I will.
    Is this what you mean?

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      You don’t need to have a visa authenticated. You will enter on an exemption stamp, which gives you 30 days on arrival. Do check with the Vietnamese embassy, or search these comments for the experiences of others, as there may be specific requirements for Vietnamese nationals.

      Reply

  29. Colin Sare-Soar says

    Hi,
    I have a couple of questions:
    Your excellent article explains most things very well. I plan to marry my Vietnamese fiancee next month in Bangkok. I assume that we go to our separate embassies and each get our affidavits etc. done so that won’t incur any time penalty?
    Where do we get an official translations of the marriage certificate? We will need 2 translations, 1 English and the other Vietnamese.

    Reply

  30. John says

    Excellent article, we just completed our marriage certificates and are now officially wed! The steps listed really helped to make the process as smooth as could be expected! Just a quick enquiry regarding the translation back to English (UK). The last paragraph states British nationals no longer need to file the marriage certificate back in the UK – does that mean that translating back to English is not necessary? Many thanks in advance.

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Great to hear you got it all done smoothly. You should definitely get a translated marriage certificate as you may need it in the future for visa or legal formalities. However, you do not need to register your marriage in the UK, as it is automatically recognised in UK law.

      Reply

      • Baz says

        Hi,
        Can I just jump in on this and ask at what stage you are at for it to take 3.5 weeks? Are you waiting for your affirmation to get authenticated and they’ve sent them back to Bangkok? Or are you already officially married now and you are getting the Marriage certificates authenticated?
        Would be good to know this as that is sending alarm bells ringing in my head!! As I want to get the whole process done in no more than 2 weeks so I can get my wife to be through the door of VFS global for her settlement Visa app before I leave there. (I’m there for a month by the way) just want the marriage stuff wrapped up in a fortnight.
        Cheers

        Reply

  31. Saleem says

    I was met a Thai lady on Facebook 2 years ago, now we are love each other and thinking about marriage. She wants to come marry in Pakistan and I know all about marriage in Pakistan process . But I want know about how can I go with my wife to Thailand and live in Thailand. Any one have details please share with me please. I am confused.

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      This is supposed to be a rule but some people have said it hasn’t been a problem for them. It seems to be for those marrying a Thai national, rather than a foreign couple on a wedding holiday.

      Reply

      • Aly says

        That’s a relief. We have trouble getting the affidavit to marry in Swedish embassy hence delaying the paper work. We might have less than 10 days left to do the other stuff.

        I have few clarifications:

        1. Also, does the passport translation into Thai still a requirement if both couple is foreigner?

        2. It’s not clear how one can certifies his/her passport by the embassy. Is it a piece of paper we have to attach to our passports then translated to Thai?

        Reply

  33. Lauren says

    Your article is very informative, however I am still very very confused regarding the marriage process. We have booked our wedding in Koh samui for the 7th Feb 2020, although our wedding organiser has tried to put us off obtaining a legal marriage and just doing it back here in England. We have decided to go to Bangkok ourselves to sort this out due to us not wanting to travel so far for it not to be legal. If we arrive in Bangkok on the 31st Jan (Friday – I am aware nothing will get sorted over the weekend) and get an appointment at the British embassy at 9.30-10am that day, sort out the translations and go to the MFA, will we have all our documents back by Wednesday 5th evening? Also we are aware we need to organise our ceremony with the Amphur in Koh samui, do we need to travel back to Bangkok afterwards? Will the wedding be legal after the ceremony?

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      It would be much easier to do this in the UK, as it’s simply a matter of going to a registry office. That’s why the organiser has put you off. I can’t guarantee that things will run that smoothly….but you should get everything back from the MFA within 72 hours but if you are doing the embassy and the MFA in one day I’d advise going to the MFA to get your translations done. It will cost a bit more but you can use one of the services on the ground floor.

      You will then need to book an appointment at an Amphur in Koh Samui to register the marriage after your ceremony. Can the wedding organiser not arrange for a representative from the Amphur to attend the ceremony and do the signing there?

      Reply

      • Seb says

        It is now becoming clear that nearly all Amphurs are having to implement the new ruling that any documents presented for a marriage ceremony HAVE to go back to Bangkok for verification. This is unfortunately due to the number of fake documents being used for sham marriages. Only Bang Rak, 8 marriages a day, and Don Muang are using the old system. So anyone planning to marry in Thailand must now factor this into the plans. Good luck.

        Reply

        • TheThailandLife says

          I have been looking into this over the last couple of days and here’s the deal:

          1. This is an interim rule (not yet in the rulebook) and seemingly not one all amphurs are carrying out.
          2. This is for mixed Thai-foreign marriages. Foreign-foreign marriages, at least from western countries are unaffected.
          3. Not all amphurs are doing this, so try a different one if you encounter this.
          4. Those marrying at their partner’s local amphur (in their town of birth) are not experiencing this issue.
          5. A “contribution” to the local amphur seems to be one way around this, in some situations.

          Reply

          • Seb says

            TheThailandLife is absolutely correct on all points. 4 is especially right as this is exactly what I did last Dec in Bang Saphan Noi. Everyone knows everyone and this makes a huge difference. Good luck to all those couples in the future looking to get married in Thailand.

            Reply

    • James E says

      Some friends of mine did this: They invited everyone up for a wedding and reception. Had a moving ceremony, a great reception, witnesses signing books, congratulatory toasts, everything except – they were already married having done so completely in secret the week before. Unless there’s an absolute reason why you must do so (like one of you is Thai) I’d suggest avoiding the Thai bureaucracy if at all possible. Hire a couple of people off the street in the UK to act as witnesses, get married, fly to Thailand and then get married again.

      Reply

  34. Snow says

    Hi all,

    After getting married does anyone know the full process for getting the certificate translated and legalised at the MFA?

    This is so it can be used for proof of marriage outside of Thailand & change of name on passport etc.

    I’ve read a variety of conflicting things and thought people here would be best to ask.

    I am currently in Thailand so can do it in Bangkok.

    Thanks

    Reply

    • Bryan Digby says

      We have tried to get married in Fiji where we are now. I am from UK my fiancée is Thai.
      Impossible for UK resident to get married in Fiji. Uk government do not issue affirmations of single status for use in British Commonwealth countries. The Fiji High commision are unable and not capable of issuing affirmations.
      These alternative are the only one’s acceptable by the Fijian Ministry of Justice to enable them issue a marriage license to a UK resident. We even arranged for a Fijian law practise to draw up a declaration of single status and witnessed by a local Fijian JP. This was declined.
      We now intend getting married in Thailand.
      When I return to UK shortly I intend applying for the required affirmation to get married in Thailand. When I return to Thailand can I by pass the visit to the British Embassy and go directly to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?

      Reply

  35. binneey says

    hello,

    my case is a little different but at the moment it is crucial. I got married in HuaHin Thailand in July 2018. I am from India and my husband is from USA. We did not register the marriage at that time and now we wish to as wee need a marriage certificate urgently for my visa process. Can anyone tell me if it is possible to get it registered now without having to travel to Thailand, while we both are in USA.
    We have a letter from the Hua Hin hotel stating we did a three days wedding ceremonies and a letter from our event planners too.

    would appreciate any help on this matter. thanks

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Hi, you should have been issued with a marriage certificate by a registrar. It sounds to me like you had some sort of wedding package arranged by an event planner. Usually in such cases the local registrar from the district office comes along and has you sign the documents at the end of the ceremony. You are then issued with a marriage certificate. In some cases, you are required to go to the district office the following day or the day after to get your certificate. This is something that should have been arranged by the hotel offering the wedding package and in conjunction with your event planner. If no certificate was issued, then you did not register the marriage and therefore are not legally married; you only had a wedding ceremony. If you want to get a marriage certificate in Thailand then you will have to return to Thailand and go through the proper steps as set out in the post above.

      Reply

  36. Lady Cher says

    Hi everyone, I have an important question. I am Filipino citizen and my partner is British citizen. We both presently live in Philippines and we plan to have our union registered and I thought doing it in Thailand is a great idea! He is divorced and I never been married! My question is, can we get our affirmation in his Embassy here in Philippines and bring it there, would it be accepted in Bangkok MFA? anyhow upon asking this I may have to call the embassy here myself. I just thought it would lessen the hassle. I would appreciate your view to this!!! Thanks!

    Reply

  37. Baz M says

    Hi guys,
    Really good article there…..however still a little unclear on a few things due to conflicting comments haha
    1. I’m British and my girlfriend of 2 years is Thai. I’m planning on visiting Thailand in June for 3 weeks. Is this long enough to go through all the paperwork and the ceremony whilst in Thailand?
    2. Am I right in thinking the Amphur is the equivalent of us getting married in a registration office back here in the UK?
    3. Her parents have agreed that I don’t need to pay a dowry for the wedding, but I don’t want to get married in an office and want it to at least be romantic with her immediate family there, at a relatively small budget. I’ve spent a small fortune on flights and visas for her to visit me in Europe and the UK hence why her parents have waivered the dowry. Any recent venues, locations experiences would be greatly appreciated?

    Thanks in advance

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      1. Yes.
      2. Yes. It’s a district office. There is one in every borough.
      3. Usually a wedding takes place in the bride’s hometown. Depending on where that is, venues are relatively inexpensive. Some people save on money and have a party at home or in a local school or other venue, while others prefer a hotel. It can cost anything from 50k Baht to 500k Baht+; it all depends on what you want and the number of guests.

      All the best.

      Reply

    • john says

      Book an appointment online at the UK embassy,
      They will send you an email confirmation of your appointment.
      They will also send an email one week before your appointment so you can pay your embassy fees online.
      I booked into the hotel nantra for five days..round the corner from the UK embassy.
      Inside they have two computers and the affirmation template are set up incase yours is incorrect. (No USB ports available)
      So off to MFA .
      Picked up after 3 days.
      (Now this is where you might have a problem)
      Some amphor in Thailand send all your documents back to Bangkok MFA for verification.
      The reason being…Indian gang’s have been forging the MFA papers.
      My advice is to speak with one of the Thai people outside the embassy selling the wedding package ,you can haggle the price,they can get you married within a week.

      Reply

      • Baz says

        Thanks John,
        Really good advice there.
        Do you think it’s worth getting in touch with my girlfriends local Amphor office to find out if they send them back. I’m under the impression if we get married at her local office it is far easier to get her name changed for her new ID at her local district office. I want to do the application process with her new name. However if they are going to send the documents back I’d rather do it all in Bangkok, new ID card and passport, saves unnecessary travel back and forth and wasted time.

        Reply

        • Seb says

          In a word, yes. I did the same at my local amphur and my wife then changed her ID card at the same time as she has taken my surname.
          We never had to jump through this new hoop as we got married in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province where my wife and her family are well known.
          Might make a difference if going to your girlfriend’s Office where they should know her family.

          Reply

  38. Dave says

    Hi, I am American and my girlfriend is Japanese. We met here and want to marry here then return to Japan when her contract ends. Does anyone have the experience of marrying a non Thai here as well as a citizen not from your country? I am guessing after we get the documents to have a wedding from our perspective consulates and have the wedding we would need to make it an official document then deal with making it legal in the eyes of our own countries when we arrive there…… Any advice or similar experience would be greatly appreciated. Cheers.

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Exactly as you presumed. Depending on state law in your hometown the marriage certificate might need to be filed there. The embassy states:

      Most states recognize the validity of legal marriages registered in Thailand. If you would like to register your marriage in the United States, you must contact the Attorney General in your state of residence to inquire about their specific documentary requirements.

      Reply

    • Seb says

      TheThailandLife is not sure of this requirement and I never had any problems in Dec. Mind you I did use my local Amphur in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province. I would advise people to check what their Amphur of choice is requiring before booking a marriage ceremony. Have a look around as this may only be pertinent to some offices for some reason, especially in Bangkok.

      Reply

    • Seb says

      Backing up the comments from TheThailandLife but it is a more complicated process. It is easier to get an extension based on retirement especially if you can easily meet the financial requirements. The best is to keep THB 800k in your account as you know.
      The extension of stay based on marriage does have a lower financial requirement but involves 2 visits to Immigration as there is a month of consideration. Many photos of you and your wife inside different rooms in the house and outside. First time of applying will probably need a witness to confirm all your details, mother-in-law, as well as marriage certificates, Kor 2 and Kor 3. And everything has to be duplicated again. Many hoops to jump through.
      Most Immigration Officers would prefer the retirement route as it is easier for them and personally, if you can afford it, stay with it. I am.

      Reply

  41. Leonard Levine says

    Bad news. Last year, when you both bring the required douments and witnesses to the Banglamung ‘Amphur, your can get your marriage certified the same day. This year, beginning in January, the game has changed. We came to the Amphur on February 18th, all documents were correct and sufficient, but they were then sent to Bangkok. We were advised they could return in a week, a few weeks, a mnth – who knows? So we are waiting and this is affecting my GF’s visa to the u.s., since we cannot apply for a CR-1(married ) visa until we show we’re married. Another layer of bureaucracy – just what we needed. If anyone has a way to shorten this wait, please let me know. We don’t even know which department,office,ministry our documents went to….

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Hi Leonard, to clarify: why did you go there last year and not get married? Or are you saying you tried to use the same documents you obtained last year and they have sent them away to be verified. This is certainly not standard practice so I’m wondering if there is something you’ve done differently here. I haven’t received any other comments or messages regarding this. Have you tried a different district office?

      Reply

      • john says

        Just been told by Amphur in Trad.
        I have all the documents from Bangkok ….but can not make an appointment to marry…because they have to sent them all to Bangkok to verify..same here…not know days, weeks or months for paper work to come back. Please could someone check and update the process above .

        Reply

          • Nate says

            There is a new layer of bureaucracy. After documents are certified by the MFA, the Amphur will then send those same documents back to the place they were certified to verify them. This takes anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months.

            Reply

                • TheThailandLife says

                  It seems this may be some sort of new requirement for foreign nationals marrying Thai nationals, though I have not seen a press release or statement on this and only two confirmed reports thus far. For now I’d try a different district office. Please report back and let me know what you encounter.

                  Reply

              • Dean says

                I have just booked my appointment at UK embassy today to get letter of affirmation…there is/was only one slot/date available for at least 6 months on the gov.uk website – very strange. Anyway, I’m (hoping to be) marrying my Thai fiance, was wondering if we get our marriage certified in Bangkok after we get the doc’s back, do you think we can circumvent the above mentioned new layer of bureaucracy???

                Reply

                • TheThailandLife says

                  Slots are released weekly (usually Monday/Tuesday) and once gone the site will show that no appointments are available for a long time; everyone is always alarmed by this. I’m still waiting for official confirmed reports on whether this is a new requirement for foreigners marrying Thai nationals or if it’s region/district office-specifc

                  Reply

                  • Dean says

                    I have found another forum that advised of the appointment times only becoming available for two weeks in advance, however, I managed to book a slot on May 10th (nearly two months away) so I suggest people keep logging on daily to see what pops up if they are in a hurry…luckily I’m not…hopefully this ‘new requirement’ is just a one (two) off as it just seems absurd and I’d rather get my doc’s sent to Chiang Mai to get our marriage certified there, rather than stay in BKK for a few days to get it done there.
                    PS. Thanks for the reply – good info on this page!

                    Reply

                    • Colin Sare-Soar says

                      Here’s an update on the appointment situation:
                      I looked on Sunday (14th April) as I wanted to book an appointment for early May. The site showed no appointments available until the 16th and only on that day. The next appointment was in June!
                      Due to the holidays, I had to wait until today to be able to ring the embassy to check.
                      A very helpful lady told me the process and said the earliest appointment was the 7th May which is perfect for me.
                      One thing to be aware of is that the appointment is for 1 document only. Therefore, if you need 2 documents, i.e. the affirmation and passport copy, you need to make 2 appointments.
                      I was fortunate in that I got appointments that follow on.
                      There are plenty of dates available but ONLY on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
                      I hope this helps.

  42. Reena says

    HI Good morning and Good Day.

    I’m a Hindu and my girlfriend is a Indian muslim. we are both Malaysian and im working in phuket now, we would like to get married in Thailand and settle down in Thailand. How do we legalize our marriage in Thailand without convert?
    can we get an agent to guide and help on this process?

    kindly I need a info/advice regarding this marriage process ASAP.

    Thank You.

    Reply

  43. Sarah says

    My partner and I have got all our documents ourselves, but are finding it difficult to find a district office which deals with foreigners. We’re Australian/British living in Wattana. I’ve heard Bang Rak is a bit of a scam and pain to use now.
    Anyone had recent luck elsewhere? Does anywhere still provide witnesses or a translator?

    Reply

  44. Majo says

    Hi Guys! Im a Filipino citizen legally divorce in UK from my ex husband in the Philippines. Im not sure if i can get Affirmation of Freedom to get married in Thailand from our Embassy there as by law divorce is illegal in the Phils. Im planning to have a civil wedding there with my British Fiancé. Is it possible? Thanks!

    Reply

    • Seb says

      Just been having a look on the Internet to see what can be done to help your situation and found this: Where a marriage between a Filipino citizen and a foreigner is validly celebrated and a divorce is thereafter validly obtained abroad by the alien spouse capacitating him or her to remarry, the Filipino spouse shall have capacity to remarry under Philippine law.
      Based on this the Filipino Citizen may now apply to have the foreign divorce validated by the courts of the Philippines and may marry again. To do this, the petitioner must show that the divorce was obtained in conformity of the foreign laws of the country of the foreign citizen.

      So it does look like you would be able to do this to get the necessary paperwork completed but it would, by looks of it, need you to go to the Philippines to do it. Or maybe a visit to your Embassy in Bangkok will help by seeing what they say.

      Reply

  46. EDWARD D CREIGHTON says

    I will next be in Chiang Mai Thursday March 28 and leave Sunday April 7.
    My girlfriend will visit the Chinese Consulate on Friday March 29 to apply for a tourist visa to visit me in Shanghai. She can collect the visa on Monday April 1 after 3 pm.

    Do I have enough time to go through the procedures in Bangkok between Tuesday April 2 and Friday April 5?

    So Tuesday April 2 I can do Step 1. I also need to get a certificate from the UK Embassy which will allow me to open a Thai Bank Account.

    Wednesday April 3 Step 2? Is there enough time to begin Step 3 and have the documents guaranteed to be given back on the Friday?

    Or should I wait until the end of July? I can spend Monday July 29 – Friday August 2 in Bangkok.

    Many thanks.

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      If you got an appointment on Tuesday morning at the UK embassy and then got your translations immediately afterwards you could go to the MFA on the same day and collect the documents on Thursday or Friday. I’m not sure you’ll have time to do the marriage though, unless the docs come back Thursday and you get an appointment at a district office on the Friday. Or you get the documents back Friday morning and get an appointment for the afternoon.

      Reply

  47. Walter says

    We had all documents ready
    Approved but when we when to marry the cue was full
    They had told my Thai girlfriend they don’t make appointment
    Which offices marry foreigner
    I’m from USA she is Thai
    And can you provide an agent that can help us
    Thank you

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      If you do a search through the comments using the comment search function – using keywords like ‘amphur’ district office’ office’ etc., – this should bring up the experiences of other readers and the district offices they have used.

      The majority of district offices now only marry a certain number of couples per day, generally four in the morning four the afternoon. However, it may be different outside of the big cities because they generally won’t be as busy.

      If you are using a district office that doesn’t require you to have an appointment, I suggest you get there very early in the morning.

      Are you in Bangkok? If so, you might choose to try Huay Kwang district office. I registered my marriage here a long time ago without an appointment and with very little hassle. We used two Thai witnesses, friends of my wife. However, we were residing in this area at the time, which may be a requirement for some of the smaller, not so well known district offices. Have you tried calling Bangrak? This was once a popular place for foreign nationals to tie the knot.

      Reply

  49. Matt says

    Hi

    We are getting married next year (both British). We are getting married in Phuket on a Tuesday and plan on being in Phuket for about 5-7 days before the marriage to see friends and family. Are we able to sort out these legalities over 5-7 days in advance so we can relax in phuket for 5-7 days before our wedding ceremony. We plan on getting the registra to our actual wedding day. Ideally we would go to Bangkok the previous Monday, get the legal docs by the Wednesday and then head to Phuket ready for the wedding the following Tuesday.

    Many thanks
    Matt

    Reply

  52. Graham Dietrich says

    Very interesting, a good report and very helpful. Thank you for doing this. What papers does a Thai lady need to marry an English guy? She has been married before to a Thai man and has her divorce papers.Graham

    Reply

    • Seb says

      Yes. Go in the main doors, top of the stairs and right in front of you is a translation and, if you want, an agent service. Best to do everything there in case anything is incorrect, then no problems getting them to rectify. Very good and as I also let them do all the work and posted back to my home address, well worth the money.

      Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      For documents you mean? A number of people have. Search in the comments using the search function and you’ll find some comments about this. It’s a bit more expensive that outside of the MFA but it’s convenient. I haven’t personally used a service there.

      Reply

      • Walter says

        I arrive back to Bkk until March
        Is there an expiration on any of the documents we have
        On the stamp
        Do I have to go back to the embassy get a new documents approved from the embassy
        Translate again and present again to get approved
        Or can we use what we have now
        It will be more than a month
        And I’m wondering with the visa since it will be a new one
        Thanks

        Reply

  54. Gfarang says

    All seems like a bit of a pain doing it yourself. Im not short of money and you only get married once (well i certainly will be thats for sure lol) so i wouldnt mind having an agent do all this mumbo jumbo for me while i chill in bangkok. Anyone got any good recommendations?

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      An agent can help to a degree, but you’ll still need to go to your embassy, the MFA, and the district office to get married. I don’t have a recommendation but if you use the comments search function you might find someone who has left one.

      Reply

      • Seb says

        I agree with TheThailandLife that really it is not hard to do yourself. As long as you have access to the Internet then it is easy to find the Affirmation of Marriage. Follow the instructions from the Gov.UK website to complete. Whilst doing this make an appointment for the Embassy, online, as well. From then on it is very easy. Takes 1 day for the Embassy, with an early appointment and MFA. Then return when told by them a couple of days later to collect the documents. Meanwhile you can be looking for a venue for the wedding. Advice for that is on this page.

        Reply

      • Somchit Srimoon says

        Sorry, Thailandlife if they use an agent they do not need to go to the Thai MFA.

        That may not be much to expats and people who live in Bangkok, but if you live in Phuket or Koh Samui. It will reduce hotel costs and wasted time in Thai government offices. It means half a morning at their embassy for most nationalities, then off to the beach or upcountry for many couples and destination wedding couples.

        Reply

        • TheThailandLife says

          That’s true, but they still have to visit the embassy in Bangkok, so if you have to travel to Bangkok you might as well stay a few days and get it done. You can do some shopping while you’re there.

          Reply

        • David says

          Didn’t go to the MFA either. Affirmation of marriage at Canadian Embassy in BKK. Exited back of building, and moto taxi to a translation service, gave them Power of Attorney and some Thai baht and they were able to get the required MFA stamp. Documents were mailed to our village outside Udon Thani. Eventually registered our marriage at a local Amphur.

          Reply

  56. Martin says

    Hello. I spent 2 months in Thailand and fell in love with a Thai girl. We would like to be together and married in Thailand. I understood you also need to show 400,000 bht in your bank account to be able to be married and stay in Thailand, is this correct? If correct then do you need it only initially or every time you renew your stay? If you could help I would so appreciate it. Thank you!!

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      If you get married you can get a Non-Immigrant O visa based on marriage. This will allow you to do an extension of stay. This extension will enable you to stay for a year, with 90-day reporting required (every 90 days). The financial requirement of 400k in a Thai bank for 60 days prior to applying for the extension is required for subsequent extensions.

      You can also go down the income route of proving an income of 40k baht per month.

      Reply

  58. Aaron says

    If anyone has successfully done this in 2019 it would be great to hear your experience. If u was to stay in Thailand for around 5 days would that be long enough to get the process finished? Im british and my fiance Indonesian.
    Thanks

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      It’s possible if you have your appointments at your respective embassies on the same day, and get your translations done on the same day. Go to the MFA on day 2. Pick up your documents on day 4 and marry at a district office that afternoon or the following day (day 5). It would be advisable to book in to stay the weekend too. You should book an appointment at a district office in advance as most now only marry a certain number of couples per day.

      Reply

  59. john says

    Hello.
    Do we have to make TWO appointments at the UK embassy.

    1. Certified copy of passport.

    2. Affirmation to marry.

    I’ve booked for affirmation to marry,can they certify passport at the same time.
    I ask because on the gov website it’s asking to make an appointment for certified copies.
    If that the case …these appointments could be days apart.

    Reply

  61. Snow says

    Hi all,
    Does anyone know the process / best place to get the marriage certificate officially translated from Thai to English. We’re British and need it for showing proof of marriage for a variety of things outside of Thailand. I’m currently living in Bangkok so can do cheaper / longer option in if needed.
    Thanks

    Reply

    • Chris Verhoeven says

      I got married with my Thai wife back in 2013. I’m from the Netherlands by the way, and we got our papers translated right at the ministry of Foreign Affairs.

      There below were a lot of translators who can do it for you on the spot. You can also go eat there. My wife and I were having lunch while those people translated everything for us and if I’m not mistaken, it costs us only 200 baht a page.

      When we finished our lunch, our documents were ready and we could go upstairs and wait to file in our documents for the official stamps.

      The official stamps costs I believe 2 days before you can go and pick them back up.

      I hope this helps.

      Chris

      Reply

  62. Kendra says

    Does anyone have any information about registering a marriage in Thailand as an Iranian national? I’m American, my fiance is Iranian. We live in Malaysia, but would be forced to have only a religious marriage in Malaysia. We would like a civil document…. hence Thailand. We are looking for anyone with firsthand experience dealing with the Iranian embassy in Bangkok for this matter. Thanks.

    Reply

    • Seb says

      I am going to say yes, the British Embassy will make checks. Does not take 2 minutes as they have your name and passport along with your Affirmation of Marriage. And you have to “swear” that all the details are correct so not worth get caught out.
      MFA rely on the documents you present from the Embassy.

      Reply

  65. Smarsh says

    Hello,

    Myself and partner will be getting married in Thailand this year. We are waiting for an appointments to come avaiae to book at the British embassy for the first step. Few questions:

    Can we make an appointment at the Thai Ministory of Foreign Affairs? Or will we be seen quite easily? I.e. they don’t have a cap on how many couples they will see per day?

    Can we get our affirmation of marriage and passports translated into Thai before we have had the english version authorises by the British Embassy? (This might speed up the process)

    We have 4 full working days to get this all done will this be enough time?

    Thank you for all you help.
    S

    Reply

    • Seb says

      Firstly, you do not need/ cannot book an appointment at the MFA.

      Secondly you must go to the British Embassy with an appointment before you do translating. This will ensure the documents are filled in correctly.

      I would advise you to go to the MFA after a morning appointment at the Embassy and do the translating there. (Any problems can be easily sorted.) 2nd floor, top of stairs and some good agents are there in front of you.

      You will not get the documents back from MFA normally for 2 days. That means 2 trips there I am afraid.

      Details above from The ThailandLife.

      Reply

    • Harry says

      Hi gang, my wife and I tried in Bangkok last week. It was hell to find an office with people available to sign off the marriage. Bangrak was a sham. See my notes below. We went to almost every amphur in Bangkok, some would marry is but they had no chief available to sign off.

      Note for UK….the affirmation if you are divorced has to include the salary you have each month and the amount you pay for child support. Witness ID passport for a Farango and ID card for Thai lady friend.

      The MFA at C W… we used the second floor, top of escalator translation office, express. They translated and presented to MFA, collected and called me to collect three days later. Saving time and effort but an extra cost of 700.

      We returned to Samui unmarried. Not happy. Monday we went to Samui Nathon office, walked in nd was married in less than 30mins. No interpreter, just witnesses and a cost of 240 baht. Bargain.

      Reply

  67. Leonard Levine says

    I cannot find my post or a reply to my earlier post about the ID requirements for witnesses. I know the Thai witness must have an ID and his/her house number. Since the second witness is an expat, he has a Thai driver’s license and the ownership papers for a condo he purchased in Thailand. Are those sufficient?

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Hi Leonard, comments have to be approved first before going public so there is a time delay, that’s why you didn’t see your comment show up immediately.

      I would assume that to be sufficient, but do check with the Amphur (district office) on their requirements, because as you’ll see from recent comments requirements can vary depending on the office. Thai nationals certainly do need an ID card to be a witness.

      1. Some offices will supply witnesses for a fee, or an extra one if you need one for a token palm grease. (this seems to still be the case upcountry but not so much in Bangkok)
      2. Some offices may only accept Thai nationals as witnesses (seems to generally be the case if you are marrying a Thai national)
      3. Some offices may only accept family members as witnesses (seems a tad over the top)

      Reply

  68. Jaap says

    Great post! I am wandering; how many days should we calculate to finish the whole process? A week or so? It looks like booking the Amphur is the hardest part. Is this something you can arrange in advance or an agent can do for you? Do you know a reliable agent?

    Cheers,

    Jaap

    Reply

    • Bruce Boivin says

      My wife and I ( now finally married ) just walked in and it was done – took a couple of hours but that was because we were waiting for the Chief to drop by and sign the marriage certificate. We did the process in Bueng Khla District office – slow and small office. We were also not charged a dime.

      Reply

  69. Joe says

    I reached the amphur part of the process. Bangrak is booked through the new year. They do 3 scheduled, 5 walk-in per day. We arrived around 7:30am, multiple couples had been there since 11pm the night before! We were couple 15 or so, so expect to spend the night if you want Bang rak. So tried Phaya Thai and ratchathewi, both require interpreter and 2 witnesses. Anyone fair better elsewhere?

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Oh my, the amount of people getting married in this city is insane. You could try Huay Kwang. We registered there (many years ago) and managed to do it within an hour of walking in, if I remember correctly. We used two of my wife’s friends as witnesses.

      Reply

    • Harry says

      Hi. Agreed, Bang Rak is not that helpful or useful anymore.

      We did all this week, entered at 8-15 and faced the same. We also learnt that a Thai couple provide someone to que and she inteeprets, all for 4500 baht.

      Approached ten others, all had no mayor available to sign off, due to restructuring.

      Also….Bangrak need more info on your affirmation than the UK embassy state in their template. Lots and all show stoppers.

      Its a sham. Some want one thing, others different things.

      I live in Samui, it was an expensive non marry process. Luckily, i have been livingbwith my wife on samui many years, we have a business etc. We can go there Monday with no problems. At this stage anyhiw all looks sweet.

      It needs to be widely told Bang Rak is no longer in favour of farangs. They had their day.

      Fobbed off with a very unhelpful smirk.

      All.incl MFA in this guide works. After that????????

      Reply

      • Joe says

        We shopped around yesterday to close to twenty agencies for an amphur interpreter (quotes from 4-12 thousand baht). It’s clear that they pre-book and essentially scalp amphur appointments. The only honest agency that quoted 2000 spent two hours calling on our behalf until they gave up in frustration. Some amphurs are booked through February. We settled on an agency for 4000 (interpreter and 2 witnesses) with an appointment confirmed within 2 minutes for Monday.

        Reply

          • Joe says

            Well, the 4000 baht an agency wanted turned out to not be a large enough scam. They wanted another 3000 in an envelope (amount made up on the spot) for the amphur. You would think that would be part of their fee. We turned them down. So still not married. I can’t understand Thai style haggling yet. It doesn’t seem to exist. I keep receiving ridiculous quotes without any attempt at bartering. Now the honest agency which doesn’t have magical money greasing hands is Siam Translation. The appointment can’t be last minute though.

            Reply

            • Joe says

              I managed to get married by staying up all night at Bangrak. They ended up allowing the translator to be a witness, and another man getting married volunteered to be the other. There were a few odd demands: for example we had to show our receipts from the embassy! Luckily we had them, but don’t throw out anything! Going through this as a foreigner/foreigner couple I would recommend not marrying in Thailand right now unless you have some extended time you want to spend painfully. Total 9 days for us, mostly because of amphur availability issues.

              Reply

              • Seb says

                Glad to see you eventually got married. Congratulations. I think the problem is the number of people who wish to get married and the majority will be in Bangkok. Get into the countryside and it is a different matter. I got married in my local amphur on Dec 4th with none of these problems. The man doing our “marriage” was one of our witnesses along with the bride’s mother. We had checked beforehand on exactly which documents he would want as it does change from amphur to amphur. 60 baht for the certificates was my costs. So my advice is to look around well before choosing where to get married and look for an amphur out of town when on a holiday, go and see them then make arrangements around that. Good luck.

                Reply

  70. Gary says

    A summary of our recent experience:

    My Australian Embassy Statutory Declaration and certified passport copy needed an online appointment a week or so prior. Paid upon completion, just over $140 AUD. Never mind, it’s a once off cost.

    Translation was carried out by small business called Express Translation Service and Travel (when looking directly at Language Express school at Ploenchit BTS, it is a few shops down along the right hand soi. They are friendly, facilitative and thorough, passing the two translations on to other staff members to check (and also giving me blanks with their letterhead upon so that we could do translation corrections if needed online, but their translation was good). Cost 500b each translation, in a two hour, late in the day time-frame. I was grateful for their service and would recommend.

    You can do the whole process yourself. Go to Thai Consular early in the day to submit (as per Peter’s instructions above) 2 x originals and 2 x translations = 4 pages at 200b each. Total 800b. As mentioned same day service only for Thai citizens at present, so you need to come back in 4 days to collect. Which you might do with a smile and kop khun kap to respectfully show your thanks, as they are dealing with us difficult foreigners all day.

    An Amphur Office in Issan Province, saw us spend 2 hours and a final signature from an official man who came from upstairs at the last moment to sign. Yes, you’ll be asked for a ‘donation’. Perhaps 800b and 200b for an extra witness we needed would have been appropriate, but we ended up paying 500b ($20 AUD) more than we should have, which we thought upon reflection was a bit too much as it all disappeared quickly into a drawer. But look, it’s quite a small amount in the greater scheme of things and we walked away with two lovely certificates after 2 hours and 3 people’s help with a lot of paperwork they had to action for us.

    That’s about all, easy to do, I needed 7-10 days in Bangkok as it was over a weekend with a public holiday thrown in. Good luck with it all

    Reply

      • Gary says

        All thanks goes to you Peter for the forum. but thank you. Yes we had Mum and needed one more witness who was in and out in about 7 seconds. So I think 800 + 200 for the translation would have been appropriate. Anyway no worries. Amphur Office was in Khon Kaen. They are thorough and you’ll be questioned but the few hours spent was completing the Thai government process, which if followed correctly, isn’t difficult.

        Interesting she did mention what another recent writer here mentioned that my Australian Embassy docs would have to be sent back and checked. Sigh. This is after Thai Foreign Affairs signature verification of both Australian documents. The elaborate Thai Foreign Affairs seals would be almost impossible to fake, and so on that basis alone I think, they could see legitimacy.

        But is is in congruence with someone else here who recently talked about counterfeiting problems. Insert another sigh here.

        Importantly, what we should all note, is that Thai Foreign Affairs legalization is actually the Thai government’s recognition of your Embassy’s signatories. Anyway I know little except it’s always good to have a forum like this that helps you track legal requisites and complete the process with a smile, flowers and a good coffee. Best wishes

        Reply

        • TheThailandLife says

          The reason I asked is because you used to be able to pay for a witness or two at most district offices, or even get a member of the public to step in. But generally they don’t allow this in Bangkok anymore (for Thais marrying foreign nationals). It’s good to hear you can still do that up-country.

          All the best!

          Reply

  71. khalid says

    hello,
    thanks for such a nice information,please tell me one thing ,i am from pakistan and my fiance is from mexico we are getting married soon in thailand as the process you told ,
    i want to know that is this marriage will be recognized or acceptable in mexico ?
    and after complete the marriage process can i apply visa of mexico to go with my wife ,and which kind of visa i have to apply.
    thanks

    Reply

  72. Robert says

    Important update for Pattaya and surrounding area, don’t know about Bkk.

    Apparently there has been cases of document fraud, so they now want to sent the documents fourth and back to the embassy for confirmation, giving a waiting time of 2-4 weeks!
    My gf and I had been told that it was no necessary to make appointments, so we went today, Dec 12 (our anniversary too), and just learned this. Clearly disappointing of course. We called a few other amphurs which told the same. We ended up in Siracha where we convinced them to do it tomorrow, Dec 13, instead. Apparently the mayor can decide whether documents need further checking or not… Makes very little sense and is greatly frustrating when having done all the preparations.
    So wherever you’re going, call and make an appointment and check the procedures and document requirements well in advance. It’s Thailand and may greatly differ from place to place.

    Regarding legalization, I had no problem doing express service on Dec. 6. I recommend the new office at Khlong Toei MRT.
    Only thing to note: they require you to have 10 days left on your visa! This was not stated anywhere and took me by surprise at the Chaeng Wattana office the day before, when I also went to extend my visa – with 9 days left… ^^

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      So it seems the express service is still running for foreign nationals at Khlong Toei, but they are using the 10-day’s left on your visa rule. Interesting. I think that 10-day rule is probably only applied to foreigners marrying Thai nationals, not foreigners marrying foreigners, as it only ever seems to come up in with the former. Thanks for the heads up!

      Reply

    • Mark says

      Hi Robert

      I am going to the Brittish embassy tomorrow for the affirmation stamp.. About the new office at MRT Klong toei. Did you see any translation services about?..and can you confirm you can do the whole legalization process there so you don’t have to visit Chang Wattana…

      Cheers Mark

      Reply

          • Seb says

            I agree with TheThailandLife on this one. There have been no reports anywhere of being able to complete affirmations there. I am fairly sure it is just a passport office for Thai people. So to play safe, go out to Chaeng Wattana. And would advise Mark to do the translations there because if anything is wrong then you will need to rectify and pay even more. Go to 2nd floor and the girls there will do everything for you, even posting back to you if need be. Saves having to hang around there and all for a cost of 2100 baht. (2 translations = 900 + MFA stamp = 800 + postage =100 + agent fees = 300.)

            Reply

            • Joe says

              I did the first few steps here today. Canadian embassy with Canadian fiancee. Very painless, friendly staff. Bring a Second piece of identification to leave at the security/baggage check. Cost 1400 baht each person for marriage affadivit and passport notarized. Taxi to MFA was 225baht+60toll. Went to the wrong building (B) which is 2 kilometers inside the government complex. Motorbike taxis were 30baht each to the correct building by the main chaeng wattana road. Translation cost 700 per person (400affadivit,300passport). Had to make 2 sets of photocopies of visa entrance stamp page of passport (to prove 10+ days on visa) and another copy of passport picture page (4 baht a page 3rd floor). It took 3 hours in total (1.5 translation, 1.5 waiting). Did this Monday, they said come back Wednesday at 1 pm. Oh, there are signs inside Chaeng Wattana advertising the new legislation services at the kleong toi mrt. So it does exist but I don’t know anything else about it.

              Reply

  73. John says

    The Price for an agent has jumped dramatically. Sent the Mrs to get a translation woman quoted 8,000 baht to do the translation and wait in the line at foreign Affairs. The other question is do i need to be at the foreign affairs location or can the Mrs do that for me. I am guessing that she can do all that as it seems logical if a agent can do that for me. But had to ask

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Hi John, sorry I missed this comment previously. Translations are generally between 500-700 Baht on the high street, and 600-900 at the MFA. If you are translating a document with multiple pages then a deal can be negotiated for additional pages. 8,000 Baht is extortionate.

      Reply

    • Seb says

      That is totally wrong!! The cost should be 900 baht for 2 translations + 800 baht for MFA stamp + 300 for agent + if required postage back to you. (This is for marriage ceremony legalisation.) This comes to 2100 baht which is a bit different to your quote. They do everything for you and are on the 2nd floor in front of the stairs.

      Reply

      • Gary says

        Sigh. Yes, what you advise is correct Seb, even if you DIY as I did, based upon this kind forum (with 300 roughly equating to taxis fees). Anyway, unfortunately there are some unscrupulous agents charging thousands more than what a fair price ought to look like I had a 12,000 and 15,000 thb quote for full service by the translators. No point when you can DIY for under 3000. Regards

        Reply

  74. Snow says

    Just an update for anyone looking to do it in 1 – 2 days express – it cannot be done with any documents that have been translated into Thai, thus only Thai’s can get the express.
    Recommend to anyone getting translations to do it at the Consular as if there’s any mistakes you can get them changed then and there and not have to go back to where you got it translated in a Bangkok. In the consular, on the second floor they charge 500baht per affirmation & 400baht per passport.
    Whilst waiting for your translations, go to the far right and get TWO copies of the page with your visa stamp in it & 2 copies of your passport. Once translations are done – take everything to 3rd floor and hand in to desk. If you don’t have everything done before they’ll send you off to do it without telling you you need 2 copies of the stamp and you’ll be running back & forth. We’ve been told to return in 2 working days.
    They’re pretty unhelpful in there – good luck!

    Reply

    • Gary says

      It’s the public holiday on Monday 10th December 2018 as I write this, I’m sitting on my hands in the capital waiting. I submitted Friday morning – was in line and at 0815 when the first lady checked my papers she told me twice that there was no same day service. When I was called to get my receipt, the girl confirmed a 3rd time – no same day service. My receipt informs to return on Wednesday 12th. (I had Au embassy affirmation and Au passport certification)
      Hope this helps, regards

      Reply

    • Harry says

      Hi, great article. I went to British Embassy on the 14th.

      The affirmation template, you complete before you go and MUST have a copy on your email in case they want to change something. I did that, BUT they have only two pc available at consular, you may have to Q. Also, and very important, if you have two factor authentication on your mobile, DISABLE it before you go so you can access your email in the consular section. Your not allowed to carry your mobile.

      Also, and very important, you need a certified copy of your passport picture page as shown above. Total cost, affirmation and passport, 3300baht.

      At MFA you advertised, I used the left hand translation service, for 900baht they will do the translations. You then can have them present to MFA for the stamp, an extra 700baht. I chose this, after all you have to pay 400baht at MFA. There was NO EXPRESS AVAILABE. I was told to come back in two working days, to the translation girl. It makes sense really, I don’t have to Q at MFA and they can fix translations in your absence if they get it wrong. They did ask for a translation of my name, I had that on my work permit. Total cost 1700baht.

      Total for a Brit is 5000 baht using this service above. I heard a few horror stories outside the embassy, some people using agents at great expense and some going it solo but having huge translation costs and taxi fares running in thousands too. I played it safe, if the girl at the translation can fix it, let her fix it. They know the personalities.

      Next step the registration next week sometime in Bangkok. At my leisure.

      Great guide.

      Reply

  76. Gary says

    Many thanks for the useful guide TTL. I thought I might leave my experience for others to benefit from. As at today’s date – Friday December 7, 2018 – wherein I’ve just submitted my translated documents at the Chaeng Wattana Rd Consulate Services building, I was assured twice (at 0815 in line with the first lady who checks, and then upon receiving my receipt of 800thb for 4 pages) – that same day service for Marriage Legalisation documentation was not available. No worries, will come back in the requisite 4 days. Thank you and regards

    Reply

  77. Martin says

    Great article .I will arrive in Thailand tomorrow and hope to marry my Thai girlfriend next week .I’m confused about the arrival card.I have read on many websites you need a Thai arrival card .But the problem is when you go through Thai immigration they keep the arrival card .But we just keep the departure card section.So how can we produce the Thai arrival card when Thai migration keep that part ??
    regards Martin

    Reply

  78. B Cole says

    Isn’t there a new rule about having to have your finger prints taken at a police station to be included with the other documents. I was on a marriage visa previously and did not have to do it. However was sure I read somewhere last year that it was a new requirement

    Reply

  79. Joaozinho Martins says

    Greetings from Goa, India 🇮🇳!
    I am from India and plan to get married to a Filipina in Thailand in the first week of January 2019.

    From your above post, I’ve come to know as to what documents we need to marry in Thailand. Thanks for it.

    I just want to know if you can arrange an Agent to help me in the entire Marriage Registration Process and his fees for the same.

    I also would like to know if you can recommend inexpensive hotels in Bangkok where I can stay.

    Hoping to hear from you and thanking you,
    Sincerely,
    Joaozinho Martins

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Hi Joaozinho, I don’t have a recommendation for an agent. You may find a recommendation from someone else if you use the term “agent” to search through the comments section. For cheap hotels in Bangkok, what sort of price range and area? Check out Agoda.

      Reply

  80. Claire says

    Hi – Firstly, thank you for the information on this page – it has made what felt like an extremely daunting task seem much more doable!
    My Partner and I are planning on getting married in Thailand in March 2020. We were planning on flying into Bangkok and doing all of the steps in the dance that your article covers – giving ourselves three days and then moving onto Phuket to meet with family and friends and have a ceremony, etc.
    I’ve done all of my research and am pretty much ready to book the Ceremony and Reception but need agree on a date with the hotel. I was going to base this on landing in Bangkok on possibly a Monday then flying to Phuket on a Wednesday evening / Thursday morning. I thought it best to see how easy it is to get an appointment with the British Embassy first – to see if they only allow appointments on certain days, etc and work the dates out from there however when you try to book an appointment online – there are only two dates available next week (Monday and Friday) and other than that every day is showing as unavailable up to April 2020! Is it normal that it is so difficult to get an appointment? Without knowing what dates we would be able to have all of this sorted in Bangkok it makes it seem impossible to book a date for the wedding and internal flights, etc?

    Reply

    • Seb says

      TheThailandlife may cover this better than me but here goes. Firstly appointments at the British Embassy are not released months in advance. You have to keep checking as they are quite often made available at the beginning of a week for the next few weeks. Secondly you will need 2 days for the quickest procedure. Once you have booked the Embassy that will be the first day and maybe get your translations done nearby. The second day to get the Express Service will need you to have the requisite papers in by 09.30 this includes translations to get them back the same day. Then you will have completed the dance.
      The slower route would mean an early appointment at the Embassy then straight to the MFA. Get the translations done and then present it all as stated in the article from thethailandlife. Then this can be collected on the day they specify.
      Looking at your schedule, it would be arrive Monday, the Embassy Tuesday and the MFA Express Service on Wednesday then fly to Phuket that evening or Thursday.

      Reply

      • Claire says

        Hi,
        Thanks for your response. Sorry, my mistake – we would actually be landing Sunday evening so we would be able to start the process on Monday morning, which would then give us time.
        My main concern is that we book the flights only to find that there aren’t any appointments available at the embassy on the Monday.
        I guess it’s a risk that we will have to take and keep our fingers crossed that if we check the website for the weeks or two leading up to our departure from England that we will be able to get an appointment on the Monday morning.
        Thanks again
        Claire

        Reply

        • Seb says

          As a guide I booked online on 15th Oct 2018 for an appointment on 27th Nov 2018. Just keep checking and reading your article again and seeing the date of March 2020 as your planned date of marriage, you have loads of time. Start looking from Jan 2020 onwards.

          Reply

  83. BILAL KHALID says

    HI,
    my name is BILAL i am pakistani national and my fiancee belongs from mexico, next month we both have to go thailand for marriage ,is this is the same process we should have to follow ,and same all these documents,or some other kind of documents we have to need ,please guide us
    thanks

    Reply

    • Seb says

      As far as I can see doing some research, the process is basically the same.

      You will need to go to the Pakistan Embassy at 31 Soi Sukhumvit 3, Khwaeng Khlong Toei Nuea, Khet Watthana, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10110, Thailand.

      For your fiancee, she will need to go to the Mexican Embassy at 21/60-62 S Sathorn Rd, Khwaeng Thung Maha Mek, Khet Sathon, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10120, Thailand.

      The following applies, “Foreigners who are wishing to marry shall appear in person with their respective passports and arrival card at their Embassy in Thailand to complete declarations attesting that he/ she is single and free to marry in accordance with Thai Law and the registration shall be effected by a Thai Diplomatic or Consular Officer”. This is the Affirmation of Marriage that will be required by the MFA.

      Reply

    • Seb says

      If you needed to go to the MFA after translation then personally I would advise you to have it done there. Reason being that if there is a problem you can get it sorted immediately with whoever did it. I would recommend the company at the top of the stairs on Floor 2.
      Otherwise there are a number of companies very close to the BTS at Phloen Chit.

      Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Supposedly the MFA. Only a few people have reported this. Someone should correct me if I’m wrong, but I think this “rule” is only raised for foreign nationals marrying Thai nationals. Most foreign nationals marrying in Thailand are on holiday for a couple of weeks, so this rule would really affect the wedding economy, because many wouldn’t have 10 days left on their exception entry (30 days). I’ve only heard a couple of cases of this earlier in the year, so it maybe one of those silly rules that started to be implemented but then they realised what a mess it would cause and retracted it.

      Anyone have an update on this?

      Reply

  86. Rayne says

    I was really worried about this whole process, and with all the other wedding plans was starting to stress out. After reading your article, I feel much better and am confident about the process now. Thank you for taking the time to care and help others. You have taken a load of my shoulders.

    Reply

  87. Mukesh says

    Hi my name is Mukesh and I am a citizen of India,this year I did a marriage at india with thai national and already got a marriage certificate too now I want to settle in thailand and want to register my marriage at thailand too.now what should I do and how to do.2nd thing after registration of marriage in thailand how I can stay at thailand for long time with my wife.help me bcs soon I ll go to thailand to meet my wife.

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      I’m not sure. I assume you would have to visit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to have the marriage certificates legalised. You would need your documents translated first. I would contact the Indian embassy in Bangkok to get the full requirements. You might find that it is simply easier to get married again in Thailand. If you are married to a Thai national you can apply for a Non O Immigrant visa (based on marriage), which can be applied for at the Thai embassy in India. This will give you a visa of 1 year, but you will have to leave every 3 months, unless you extend the visa under the financial requirements. If you do that, you can stay in the country but you will have to report to immigration every 3 months. The financial requirement is 400k Baht in a Thai bank account for 60 days prior to extending the visa. You will need to leave this money in the account so that you meet this requirement each time you do your 90-day reporting.

      Reply

  88. Ren says

    Hi! We are a filipino-french couple wanting to get married in bkk as soon as possible. We already did the affirmation to marry from both of our embassies now just waiting for the public bans to finish and collect the certificates. I went to Phra khanong amphur and they told me its not possible to do the registration once we verified everything by the MFA as they need to send letters to both of our embassies confirming our documents. Does this apply to all the amphur here? People told me i should try in bangrak. Would appreciate ur help

    Reply

  89. Snow says

    This is such a great article, thank you so much for providing this information! We have an appointment at the British Embassy on 6th Dec, if we get to the MFA by the afternoon on the 6th and ask for express, is it guaranteed we’d receive it back on the 7th? We’re going to Krabi and need to pass on the paperwork to the Amphur ideally on the 7th or Monday 10th the latest.
    Is the express delivery defiantly available again?!
    Again, thank you for the up to date information and answering everyones questions, this is invaluable info when trying to arrange getting married in Thailand over a short period of time!

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      No, because you need to get to the MFA and have your documents processed by 9.30 AM to get the express service, so you’d want to be at the door at 8 AM. The express service is available at the moment, but rules and procedures can change here, so it’s always best practice to have a few days spare in case the worst happens. As you’ll read from the comments, there are stories of people being turned away by the MFA because the translator spelt a name incorrectly. I think you’re cutting it too fine. The MFA is closed on weekends, so you won’t be able to go to the embassy, get the translation and process at the MFA and have the documents back in time to be in Krabi on the Monday.

      Reply

  91. Stan says

    Hi there
    We have done all things translated and stamped and intended to get married in Bang rak office, but someone told my wife that she needs at least one witness from her family , and she doesn’t have any in BKK. Is it possible to get married in some other office without bringing family member?

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      This has been mentioned in the comments before. This is a rule solely for foreigners marrying a Thai national, though you might find slight variations in the rules at different offices. Bangrak used to offer a service where they supplied the witnesses. When I married we had two friends, not a family member, but that was many moons ago. I’d try a different district office; otherwise you might need to go to your wife’s home province to get it done. Have a search through the comments and see what other district office others have recommended.

      Reply

  92. Tom says

    excellent imformation here, thanks very much ! Having left it too late to get an affirmation of freedom to marry here in the UK, it would appear that all will be well as i can get one from the British Embassy in Bangkok, can you comfirm this please?

    Reply

  93. shahin d says

    If I’m in Bangkok and have appointment at embassy at 10 am. What’s the quickest I can get married to an Iranian citizen. We arrive nov 23 appointment 26 nov. but we have to be in pai on dec 3. Can we start true process and not get it signed by amphur a month later. When do we have to have 10 days left on our visa?

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Once you have the affirmation from your embassy, get it translated on the same day and go to the MFA. You’ll get your papers back from the MFA within 72 hours, unless you get the express service (same day but must apply before 9.30 am). After that, book an appointment to get married at a local district office (amphur). You have enough time to do this.

      Reply

  94. Mozelle Matias says

    Hello!
    My fiance and I are planning to get register our marriage at an Amphur in Koh Samui. I just wanted to get confirmation that the same steps above apply if we fly to Koh Samui and register our marriage there? Also, what is the approximate fee for registering our marriage?

    Thank you in advance!

    Reply

  95. Matt says

    Good morning,

    First I’d like to start by saying THANK YOU for this invaluable information! This is really a big help.

    On to my question – can I get married to a Thai girl while on a visa exemption? I’m an American citizen.

    I was in Penang the last few days to get a new tourist visa, but I made the stupid mistake of not checking Malaysian holidays and the embassy was closed today. I had already purchased flights back to BKK, and so for the first time I entered on an exemption.

    My fiance and I would like to get married next month (I should be able to get the 30 day extension. No negative mark in my passport), but now I’m worried about my lack of visa status. Any insight you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

    Kind regards,
    Matt

    Reply

  96. Mikaelian says

    I was just at the British Embassy and they stated that if I’m not getting married in Bangkok I don’t need the verification translation of my passport. Has anybody else experienced this? I will be going to the MFA tomorrow, I have a translation of my affirmation and I also got a translation of passport but didn’t get the verification. Wish me luck…..

    Reply

    • Brit in Taiwan says

      I’m pretty sure you’ll need that at the MFA to apply to register. It was requirement 2months ago. There’s a separate queue to check your documents and get a number, before you go to the counter to submit the documents. If you’re not getting married in Bangkok, where are you doing it? Maybe someone can help who’s done it there.

      Reply

  97. Nusrat Islam says

    1. My husband and I got married in 2016. We both are Muslim. I am a Bangadeshi Citizen and my husband is a Bangladeshi-Canadian citizen. As we got married on Phone, our marriage was not regognized my Canadian immigration. Hence my application for spousal sponsorship has been refused. Now, we have decided to get married in person under your agency. Under this situation, what papers do we need to bring to complete this procedure?
    2. Is it possible to arrange for testimony by your agency? As we do not have friends/families over there.
    3. How many days do we have to spend to to get married and to get the registration papers.
    4. Can you give me an idea about the total cost of this procedure?

    Reply

  98. Ehab Mohamed Elsaedy says

    I would like to ask about marriage in Thailand
    I’m Egyptian Muslim and my fiancee from phillpins and she’s Christian we have plan to marry in Thailand next April, 2019 .
    We need to know what’s the requirements for us and what’s the documents need from every one .

    Best regards

    Reply

    • Seb says

      Obvious questions are firstly what nationality are you and secondly have you prepared the paperwork, affirmation of marriage etc, for visits to an Embassy and MFA? You would need a visa to come into Thailand whether it be from your country of origin or a tourist visa on arrival.

      Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      If you intend to stay less than 30 days then you don’t need a visa. You will be given a stamp as you enter, which is valid for 30 days. If you need to stay longer it is also possible to extend your stay for another 30 days at an immigration office for a cost of 1,900 Baht.

      Reply

      • John says

        I am at the Thai consulate.
        Thay will not stamp our documents by express anymore. It takes 2 days. Once we get them then we can get married. I have to fly back before that date and and my affirmation is only valid for month of visit so I will have to pay and do all again. 😔 you cannot get married in one day.

        Reply

        • TheThailandLife says

          Hi John, Sorry to hear that you are going to have to fly back and go through the process again. I do state at the very beginning of my post that you can’t get married in one day any more because the express service is only available if you submit your documents before 9.30am. My advice to everyone is to get your freedom to marry document from your embassy and the translation for that document on one day. And then go to the Ministry of foreign affairs on another day and get in the queue at 8 AM to get the express service, so that you get your documents legalised in one day. If you get the documents back early enough you may be able to make it to a district office to get married on the same day, but this is unlikely because they now only marry a certain number of couples each day and generally require that you make an appointment. If that’s not possible, then you should visit the district office on another day, having made an appointment in advance. So I would allow three days to get the process complete.

          Reply

  100. David says

    Hi there, looking for advice.
    I already have my single prove and copy of my passport certified by my embassy and now I’ll do the translation but happens the my documents have one part in english and one part in Spanish. I already ask in the translations offices near by the embassies (around Wireless Road) and most of them only translate the english part . So, the question is if anyone has this kind of trouble? or someone knows where can I go to translate my documents at reasonable price? Or if I can just translate the english part and show up at the MOFA to legalised?.
    Thank you in advance!

    Reply

  101. Leonard Levine says

    I have written to ask this question before, so I hope I can get an answer now. My Never Been Married form, confirmed and stamped by the U.S.Embassy in Bangkok in September does NOT contain an expiration date. We originally attempted to get married at the Amphur in Banglamung, but too many mistakes or missing forms(courtesy of the Thai translation agency) made it impossible to get everything back in time to return to the Amphur within the time constraints. So we decided to redo the process next year. My question is whether the Amphur will say too much time has elapsed and you (me) will have to get that same form re-stamped. We intend to restart the process next April(the earliest restarting date).

    Reply

  102. Michele Bolton says

    My brother has been married to Thai lady for 16 years and bought land, built house, etc. They have 2 children. One biologically his, younger one ?. She refused DNA test. Even though we have proof his wife has been cheating for number of years. What is the legality of this since he died 2 weeks ago? My brother brought children up while his wife chose not to even though they lived under same roof. Info would be appreciated.

    Reply

  103. MM says

    For fellow Dutch folks going throug this process; for obtaining the afidavit at the Dutch embassy, in adition to your own documents (birth certificate, divorce certificate if applicable, population register certificate, filled in income and witness form and request form for the affidavit) you will also need to take an unmarried document (from amphur) of your spouse translated into English and legalized at Thai consular affairs and her ID card. So it’s easiest if you can take him/her with you to both the embassy and mfa (due to the new requirement previous poster mentioned that mfa now also wants ID card copy of Thai spouse).
    The dutch documents dont need to be translated nor legalized before taking them to dutch embassy. An appointment is required at dutch embassy and if you go in morning you can collect the affidavit in afternoon. So it’s not really feasible to go mfa on same day. It’s faster to go early morning next day to mfa and use express service.

    Reply

  104. Bruce Boivin says

    Just to give you an update because I am actually here right now ( Department of Consular Affairs ) some changes regarding getting married.

    The express is available except the paperwork has to be submitted before 10am.

    They requested a copy of my current stamp in passport plus the TM6 immigration stamp.

    A new requirement ( 2 weeks old ) they want to know the person your marrying and a copy of her ID card. Her driver’s license or passport were not sufficient.

    Needless to say she didn’t have her ID card so the whole process is taking longer than a day.

    Reply

  105. Lia says

    Hi,
    I want to ask, do we need to have been to thailand before to be able to get married there? Because my embassy there said that one of the requirements is that we have been to thailand before using our current visa.
    Thanks

    Reply

  106. Laszlo Kurtzcyzk says

    Excellent guide. I’m just curious to know exactly what happens next? Do you get the marriage certificate or do you need to explicitly ask for it?
    Which documents exactly do you get after the marriage? I’ve seen references to “Kho Ro 2” and “Kho Ro 3”.
    Another question that is important for me: which of my details will be in the marriage certificate, which is the document I need to present to the UK embassy to apply for a spouse visa? Does it contain nationality and / or passport number? Thanks, Laszlo

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      You get a marriage certificate when you officially marry at the district office. You get a memorandum document too, a Khor Ror 2.

      Your name will be on the marriage certificate, your date of birth, nationality, passport number will be on the memorandum.

      A spouse visa application will require an English translated version of both documents. It also requires a lot of other documentation. It is a very detailed application.

      Reply

      • Brit in Taiwan says

        I only got 2 identical marriage certificates (one for me and one for partner). There is a stamp on the back with our passport number is-perhaps this is the memorandum?! Laszlo double check that your number is CORRECT before leaving the district office! The woman wrote my passport numbers incorrect on one of my certificates!

        Reply

  107. Carlo Montana says

    Hi all, I’m Carlo (Italian living in the UK):
    Does anyone have experience with the Italian embassy in Bangkok? It seems that they give the Affirmation in both English and Thai language, in that case, I believe that I’d just need to translate my passport and that could be done by my girlfriend before I arrive. My issue is that I plan to arrive on 9th December (Sunday) and start the process on Monday 10th December. However, I can only take 1 week holiday. The Italian embassy says they give the Affirmation back in 2 to 3 days and if the express service in the MFA is no longer available, then it could take the duration to 6 to 7 working days. I will try to extend the trip and depart on Wednesday 19th morning, but this means that starting on Monday 10th I would need to get it all done by Tuesday 18th (including marriage in the Amphoe.
    Many thanks for any feedback/tips
    Also: does anyone have any guidance or step-by-step on how to apply for the EEA Family Permit to the UK once married?

    Reply

  108. Robert Hol says

    hi I’m a Dutch citizen living since March 2016 in Germany after 7 years in London. I “married” my lady in Non Thai March 2017. Her family bless us we are married. But official of course we not. I arranged all the paperwork myself, but I didn’t visit the embassy. That’s my mistake, I know that. My girlfriend recommended a agency what costed me €750. It took months I never heard from them. Last August it shut be all ready. Now it’s October and find out we double cross with it. Nothing is done. Now I’m in Non Thai and wanted to investigate to get some new information how to get my marriage official. Then I came on this website. I seen its written about “visa” “10 days left” etc. I always came to Thailand for about 14 days. I don’t need a visa for that. Can I still go to do the process as written if I start strait away at the first day of arrival next time or recommend a visa?

    I hope to hear a answer. A thank you in advance

    Reply

  109. Gareth says

    How far in advance should we look to book an appointment at the British Embassy to get an affirmation appointment? I’m looking today and the soonest are end of November to mid-December. I’m in the country until the 27th of this month and was really hoping we could get everything done on this trip.

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Appointments are released weekly and usually at the beginning of the week. You’ll see from a number of other comments here that people panicked because they couldn’t see any available appointments. However if you check back at the beginning of the week, on a Monday or Tuesday, you will usually see appointments being freed up for the next couple of weeks. I’d keep checking in every day.

      Reply

  110. Len says

    For reasons not germane to this question, my GF and I must wait until 2019 to repeat the marriage process. ‘Since my U.S. Embassy Never Been Married confirmation document has no expiration date(same for the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs stamp), will the Amphur office refuse to issue a marriage certificate because of the one year delay in applying?

    Reply

  112. Ali says

    Hey, Your article is very informative, covering all aspects. Thanks.
    Just wanted to know, is it essential to do all these activities only after we stay for 4 days in Bangkok ?? So ideally how long do we need to stay for a marriage getting registered in Thailand ?

    Reply

  113. Bill Noak says

    What is real experiences with this: “Due to a new requirement, as of 2017/18, you also need your passport certified by the embassy and then translated into Thai.” I’ve gone through like 10 different websites and this website seems to be the only I found that says I need this requirement. Just want to make sure that is someone’s real experience because it would be a waste of 50 dollars if not really needed.

    Reply

    • David says

      Canadian here. Went through this very process earlier this year. Visit to Canadian embassy in BKK to fill out marriage affidavit and pay $50 CAD. Took about an hour. Exited the same building and took a motorbike taxi to a translation service.

      Then documents were translated, including my passport and gf’s ID, etc., we gave the translation service power of attorney and some money to get the MFA stamp. (only did this due to limited time I had, normally would of gone to the MFA ourselves for the stamp). Documents eventually mailed to us in Isaan.

      My understanding is the translation has to be bang on, with no mistakes. Oddly, when we first tried to register in Udon, the Amphoe wouldn’t accept our documents as they said there was a translation error (claiming one letter of my passport ID was not correct in Thai, which was not the case); took the very same documents to another district office without any issues and registered our marriage.

      Reply

  114. andrea says

    Tried to book an appointment at the British Embassy on the government website but it’s indicating no available slots until November. I need to get the affirmation stamped by next week.

    Am I able to get my affirmation stamped in the UK before I fly out?

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Weddings in Thailand are as cheap or expensive as you want them to be. The actual signing of the papers costs less than a dollar. The majority of people have a ceremony at home or in a local hotel or function room, followed by a party of sorts.

      You can do this very cheaply or very expensively, I guess it all depends on how many people you want to invite, how many people you want to impress, and how special you want the day to be.

      The Sin Sod (dowry) is something that he would have agreed with her parents, or actually, if following the proper tradition, his parents would have agreed this with her parents. Unfortunately, when foreigners get engaged to Thai women they tend not to understand this tradition and end up paying an amount dictated to them by their fiancée. If you want to find out more about this, read this post: https://www.thethailandlife.com/sin-sod

      Reply

  116. Cody Graham says

    Hey I just followed your guide step by step and when I went to use the express service for same day they told me it was for thai documents only. I asked several people and got the same answer saying there is no express service for foreigners. I suggest you change the article for accuracy.

    Reply

  117. Mohan says

    Hi
    I am indian national I am marry to thai national ..
    We have 1 year old boy together .
    I am working in Marriott hotels ..
    I want register my marriage can I ??
    Please help me tell proses of my case
    Best Regards
    Mohan and supaporn

    Reply

  119. Joe says

    Thanks for th guide tried to follow today

    British embassy do one appointment for all 8am

    Cost for affirmation and passport 3200,

    Translation in soi you say 2 pages 600baht

    Taxi. 290 including toll

    consulate
    Charge 800baht. They. They stopped express service, now only do 3 day pick up or can post to you

    Reply

      • Robin says

        Hello there!
        I have sent and received confirmation of originality from the foreign and commonwealth office via the government website (British citizen) as I have heard you must now do this in your home country and not at the British Embassy on Bangkok,
        May I now proceed without a visit to said Embassy in Bangkok..
        (I have official stamps on 2 documents, decree absolute and my birth certificate) ?
        Thank you for any guidance.

        Reply

        • Seb says

          Have you sent these documents to the Royal Thai Embassy in London to be legalised after the FCO? If so then you will still have to go to the Embassy to do the Affirmation of marriage and passport with the documents. Then the translations before going to MFA in Bangkok.

          Reply

  120. Abby says

    Hi all, finished the process of getting married and now have 2 marriage certificates in Thai. I’m Irish and he’s British. For the translation, do we need to go to back to the mfa again to have it translated to English or just any certified translator? Many thanks

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      It doesn’t cost anything to get married in Thailand; well, it cost me 40 Baht (less than a pound) 6 or so years ago. You will need to marry first and then start your settlement visa process. This must be done in Thailand, not in the UK.

      Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Witnesses used to do it for free; well mine did – they were friends. I’m not sure how much a district office would charge if they supply the witnesses. I guess if someone has to take unpaid time off work then pay them for the time. Most people don’t earn more than 500-1k per day, so it should be pretty inexpensive.

      Reply

    • Brit in Taiwan says

      Lok Si district office were the only ‘amphur’ I could find to accept a non-Thai couple due to language issues and translation. They charged us $3000 which supposedly covered the translator fee and the witnesses, although the translator was the lady who gives out the certificates and the witnesses were the reception staff. Underpaid government workers have found their niche.

      Reply

  123. Joe says

    Thanks for this blog. With the possible no express service available now, any ideas if everything can be done in 4 days? Two Canadians here. Booked tickets to Thailand for the week of Oct 8th, but the Canadian embassy appears to be on holiday on the Monday so I booked the first two times 9,9:20 am on Tuesday. Can I book an Amphur for the Friday afternoon while the MFA sits on my docs for 72 hours (if that’s the case)? (or do I have to wait to book until I get the docs back?)

    Reply

    • David says

      Hi Alex,

      I am Canadian as well. Brought my birth certificate with me (born in the UK originally). Never asked to show this at the Can. embassy in BKK, or at anytime during the process. My passport seemed to be sufficient. Probably wise to bring it however, just in case.

      Reply

  126. ELISABETH ANNA STRASSER says

    So my fiance and I wanna go to the dirstrict office on tuesday next week and we are not sure about the witnesses. Any experiences? we were told different things by different authorities but at the end most people said that he needs to bring two people and one should be a family member.
    I can read a lot of posts about taking other couples as witnesses or donating some money to office workers to do that…

    Anyone has some up to date experiences about it and can tell me which district office he went to?

    Reply

  130. Jay Marroquin says

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) NO LONGER offers express service as of Sept 4, 2018. The only available service takes 2-3 days. We dropped off our documents on Friday and went back early Tuesday morning to pick them up.

    We actually arrived at 6:30 AM on Friday to check to see if the express service was still available but we were told it was no longer an option.

    Reply

      • Laston says

        So I should go to the closest country with an embassy which in my case is China and get Affirmation of freedom to marry. Come to Thailand and get it and my passport translated to Thai. Go to foreign ministry to get it stamped and then i can get married? Is it possible to get affirmation to get married from let’s say Poland which is far from Thailand my but a neigbor to my home country and the country of my residence where I will be travelling from to Thailand. Is it possible?

        Reply

        • TheThailandLife says

          The best thing to do is call your embassy. Every embassy is able to provide assistance to it’s citizens regarding such matters. If you are in Asia go to the closest country with an embassy. If you are in your home country you may be able to get your affirmation there before you travel to Thailand.

          Reply

      • Laston says

        So if I travel from Latvia to Poland for example and get the affirmation of freedom to marry from Latvian embassy in Poland and then travel to bangkok to get the documents translated and stamped from Minstry of foreign affairs. Instead of going to China in the first place. Will this work?

        Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Appointment for where? Your embassy? You need to check their website for instructions. The MFA you just turn up on the day. The district office, for the actual marriage, you’ll need to book (probably, depending on the office you choose).

      Reply

    • Brit in Taiwan says

      Robert, Is this is for the British Embassy? I had the same issue for next week! I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it….I emailed the embassy and they told me to keep checking everyday. Whenever I had a spare second I was on the British Embassy website instead on Instagram lol and finally they opened slots for the WHOLE week. So weird, but at least I got one! Good luck!

      Reply

  134. Harleyboy says

    Spot on. I got an agent to start with, but he couldn’t even get the appointment with the British Embassy right (still took my money though) In the end I did it all myself. Not too difficult, and a sense of acheivement

    Reply

    • Brit in Taiwan says

      Hi Harleyboy,
      Not sure if you went through the process recently or a while ago, but did you have any difficulty getting an appointment at the British Embassy? How long before did you book your appointment there?
      Cheers!

      Reply

      • Harleyboy says

        The agent I hired said he booked the appointment, but the Embassy had no record of it. That was in June 2018. So I got on the website to book my own, and the month of July was just blacked out, luckily I was still in Thailand during August, so I booked the nearest one & every thing went smoothly

        Reply

  135. Jp says

    Hi. My partner and I (both non-Thai) are going to get married in Bangkok in November. Your blog has been really helpful to us planning everything, though I have few questions about your post. In Step 3, you wrote “if you want your documents back the same day, you need to submit them before 9.30am” but then you wrote “They no longer offer the one-day express service, so expect the pick-up/delivery date to be within 72 hours.” So does this mean, it is not possible to get the authenticated documents the same day even if we go there before 9:30am? Does this also mean that “Afterwards you can go to your appointment at the district office of your choice to get married.” even if we go before 9:30am is not possible anymore, just to be clear, we can only go to Ampur if we already have all the authenticated documents, right? Thanks!

    Reply

  136. Brit in Taiwan says

    I just went to book an appointment at British Embassy Bangkok and there are no appointments at all in September! So plan B is get what the MFA need from Brit embassy in another country; Malaysia. Then get it certified and translated in Thailand. Turns out in Malaysia they only issue a ‘certificate of no impediment’.
    Will the Thai MFA accept this? Would be interested to hear from anyone who’s experienced first hand.

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      No, they won’t accept it. It must be from the British Embassy in Bangkok. Check back on the appointments next week. They release appointments in batches. I experienced the same problem, and so have other people if you look through the older comments: the system says there’s no appointments for the whole month, and then you check back following week and you’ll see some. Try on Monday or Tuesday morning.

      Reply

      • Brit in Taiwan says

        Thanks! so useful to know, I mustn’t have scrolled down far enough. You’d think the embassy website is would give more info about appointments. My partner checked on the USA system and they’ve got 30+ available. I really appreciate this blog!

        Reply

  138. Seb says

    Unfortunately as of 1st June 2018 death certificates etc have to be now “legalised” in the UK. That means if you live here in Thailand you have to send a copy of the document to the FCO in Milton Keynes, then have it couriered to the Royal Thai Embassy in London then have it couriered (DHL or whichever) back to Thailand before you can start. I believe all documents have to be “legalised” in the country of origin.

    Reply

  139. Nicole says

    Hi! Thanks for the info! Do you know about Cambodians marrying in Thailand? We have all the legal documentation and are ready to go but people have said that Cambodians are only allowed to marry in Cambodia. Help much much needed!

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      What you need is the Affirmation of Freedom to Marry document, which your partner can get at the local government office in the town he was born, or in Phnom Penh. The Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok will not issue this, apparently. Once you have that document, you can go to Bangkok and get it translated into Thai.

      Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Read Step 2 of the post. There is information on where to go to get the translation done. The best place is Pleon Chit BTS station. walk round to the side road by the language express building. There are about five companies there will do it for you. Alternatively, there are companies at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the ground floor.

      Reply

  142. VILSON FERNANDES says

    I am a Indian National and i have a thai girlfriend.We have decided to get married in the coming months.I would like to know if i need to do any documentation in India before travelling to Thailand.Sir, Please kindly advise

    Reply

    • Seb says

      Have found the following for you….The Indian embassy in Bangkok is now issuing affidavits for Indian nationals to marry in Thailand. It requires a Thai work permits Or education visas for the Thai MFA to certify the documents.

      Also…..The Indian embassy requirements are as follows

      DOCUMENTS REQUIRED:

      – Applicant has to submit on his/her own behalf a Bachelorhood Affidavit from Competent Courts in India in original with photocopy. The affidavit should (must) be attested from Consular Section, (CPV Division), Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India (Address: Ground Floor, Patiala House, Tilak Marg, New Delhi).
      – Original passport with the photocopy of all pages of personal particulars and current visa page.

      Reply

  143. David says

    Finally we were able to register our marriage in Ban Phue district office. The very same document was rejected in Udon Thani in May, supposedly due to a translation mistake in one letter of my passport number; however, both the original translation office and the MFA said everything was fine, so it appears the individual in Udon made the error in judgement.

    No visa, since Canadians allowed to enter Thailand for 30 days without one. Had about ten days left on the six-month expiry of my marriage affidavit from the Canadian embassy as well. Neither were issues when getting our marriage certificate accepted.

    Reply

  144. Dean evans says

    Hi my name is Dean…I just read your comment about needing to have 10 days left on your visa to complete marriage…I will only have 5 days left..so I got my girlfriend to call the man she has been speaking to that works in the district office in Bangkok and he assures us that we are still fine to get married as we sent him photos of all our papers and he said that because he has checked our paperwork and that everything is fine that we don’t need to have 10 days left on my visa…so I am just wondering how sure you are of this new rule? Thanx

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Rules like this seem to come and go, and seem to be implemented by some officials and not others — such is the nature of the system. A few people who have commented have encountered this rule in the last few months, but it may be that they are enforcing it on some nationalities and not others, and in some districts and not others. it may be that they tried to roll the rule out but ended up causing too much hassle and dropped it. If the official your GF spoke to said you are good to go then great.

      It would be great if you could report back and let us know how it goes, so that I can update the post to reflect the current situation.

      All the best.

      Reply

  145. grant rundle says

    I am an Australian ,living in Australia born in here and both my parents are English (both are deceased) ,i have met a Thai lady and been talking with her all this year.She is coming over here in December this year ,in which i am paying for her airfair and accommodation while she is here for 3months visa ,.My problem at the moment is she wants to stay with me and get married ,i have no problem with that I am 64 and she is 60 yrs old ,but problem is i have not got $7,000.00 dollars for marriage certificate money to pay Australian Govt if you have any suggestions ( by the iam on Dis Pens my age pension does not come till 2020dec

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      I’m not familiar with the marriage rules in Australia, but I did a quick Google and I can’t see where you are getting that $7,000 figure from? I am quite sure she would not be allowed to simply stay with you and get married if she is visiting you on a visit visa. The best route for you would probably be to get married in Thailand, and then apply for a settlement visa (that’s what we call it in the UK) if you want her to move to Australia. But as I say, I am not up on Australian immigration rules, so I don’t know how the Visa options work. Perhaps someone else who has experience of this can jump in and give some advice.

      Reply

  146. Darren Littlewood says

    Is there a time limit on using the documents from the British Embassy and the MFA, we had everything planned to get married in July but then some cock ups meant we couldn’t. I will go back in October now to marry but do I need to do the British embassy and MFA parts again or are those documents still valid?

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      This is the million-dollar question, and one I have heard different answers to over the years: 3 months, 6 months, etc. The embassies will tell you there isn’t a time limit on the affidavit, but it is at the discretion of the MFA. My gut feeling is that it is over three months it could be a problem. Even 30 days might trigger them to be funny about it. I would just go and get another one, unless you have time to test the one you have and, if not, go an get another after.

      Reply

  147. Annie says

    Does the process vary for a US Citizen and an Indian Citizen who choose to marry in Thailand? It’s a special place for us and where we fell in love. If we spend 3-5 days in Bangkok preparing and obtaining all required documents and filing the registration then are we free to marry anywhere on the Island (Koh Samui)? We then return to home country to register marriage and we can then file for related spousal visa? Thanks for all the great info.

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      The processes is straightforward for a US citizen and pretty much how I have outlined in the post. However, there may be additional requirements for Indian citizens. So you should check with the Indian embassy. I received a comment today from an Indian citizen who said that immigration are not recognising her and her husband’s marriage certificate, even though their visa was issued on the basis of marriage by the Thai embassy in India. Unfortunately, some citizens from certain countries can run into these issues. This is slightly different because it is for the purpose of extending stay, but this highlights the importance of speaking with the Indian embassy first before you start your marriage process, just so that you are aware of any specific requirements for Indian nationals marrying in Thailand, and indeed any problems that you might run into.

      Reply

  148. Len Channon says

    To all British Citizens.

    As it has stated that you now need to have at least 10 days on your tourist visa. All amphurs will state this as me and my now wife registered this just literally on time and at the time we did not know of this so please be aware.

    But in General. Following this guide was extremely helpful and followed every aspect of what to to.

    Go on the gov.uk and look affirmation to confirm your status that your free to marry and you have templates to copy word for word filling your details in the gaps. They have forms for people who have divorced or widowed.

    Use microsoft word and type out the template you have word for word and ensure every word is correct filling all your details and also your partner detaisl of who your going to marry. Also where you want to marry. You can replace Bangkok with the province you want to get married at. Yes i did put Bangkok but actually registered in Renu Nakhon in Nakhon Phanom.

    Leave a bit of space at the bottom so that the British Embassy official can put the official seal on that document when they have looked at the document.

    Book the appointment online but remember if your booking for an appointment 2 months away. They embassy will release booking slots every week normally 4 weeks of the day you want to book an appointment. Set a reminder and keep looking at the booking dates page and the day you wish to select will eventually come and then you can book your date and time for your appointment.

    Also now you have to have your passport certified as well. The embassy can also do this along with getting the affirmation certified. The cost is about 3400 baht at the time i did this.

    When appointment day has arrived. Get there before your appointment time as you will have to go through security first and drop off your phone etc.

    I got to my appointment very early and due to a no show. I managed to get seen early.

    Paid for the affirmation confirmation and also a passport colour copy certified and within a few minutes the affirmation and the passport copy are stamped and certified officially.

    When you leave the embassy. You will find some people outside the embassy who do the translations of your affirmation and passport copy. The one i had. Their office was not far from the embassy and he did the translations in 30 minutes and was cheap. He did offer to do all the leg work for 3000 baht but decided to follow this guide to the word. But they will put their stamp on the back of your translated thai documents to certify the translation was correct. Always advisable to take your Thai partner to check out spellings as well.

    Once translations done. Go to the MFA as per instruction above and they will do all the checks and you and then you sit and wait for your name and or number to be called out. You pay a fee and you can collect your documents in a few days of get them posted off. I opted to get them posted to my wifes home address as was gojng to Pattaya for a week and then Nakhon Phanom and the documents were at her home. General tip. I took my wife to the embassy and the MFA as always good to have someone who can translate in Thai and also read Thai.

    All in all due to good luck as someone did not turn up for their 8.40am appointment my 9am appointment became that 8.40 appointment. So in reality excluding the express service, doing all this apart from getting married was done in half a day.

    As an average price for everything was give or take is around 8000 baht which we used BTS and Taxi to get to venues. We were based in Sukhumvit soi 11 so was not too far from the british embassy. Also please note. In 2019 the embassy will move to a new venue.

    Once the marriage has been registered and you get your certificates. Get them translated and i used the same place i got the other documents and you will have an official translation and again with their stamp to certify translation.

    Thank you to this website for all their help.

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Thanks for reporting back Len. 8,000 seems expensive. How much were the translations. I advise ignoring the touts and going over the BTS bridge to the other side, where Language Express is based. There’s a side street there with about 5 translation companies. Usually you can get it done for 500-600 Baht per page. You made really good time on this, which just goes to show how much more efficient the process is if you get up early!

      Reply

      • Len says

        Hi There

        I did go to a shop which is on a side street where on the day we got our marriage certificates translated there was a street market. This belonged to the guy who was waiting outside the Embassy and he charged 500 Baht for the translation of the certificates.

        I know I said it was about 8000 Baht but maybe was a bit too generous in total, but looking at it in a bit more detail, around 6500 Baht in total including Taxis and BTS.

        But as this was the first and only time me and my wife did this, we did quite well considering rush hour in Bangkok. Plus side the hotel I usually stay at is on Sukhumvit soi 11 so not a long trip on the BTS from Nana. Also it was great that even though we got to the embassy for the 9am appointment being seen at 8.40am was a bonus.

        But as I state now the Embassy need to do a certification of your passport on top of your Affirmation. But all in all was pretty seamless and getting virtually everything done in half a day while in rush hour and unpredictable weather as well.

        Reply

          • Len says

            All I will say is with the guidance of the information on your website. I would recommend anyone to follow this information as it was of a great help.

            Without this I would have been clueless and would have taken much longer.

            Also as I have stated, Take your Thai partner with you (if he or she is Thai) as it will help with the language barrier as myself (the farang) cannot read or understand the Thai Language (except some basic phrases). This will save you a lot of headache and looking like a lost soul.

            Reply

  149. Jennifer says

    Hello, thank you so much for this post. I will be going to Thailand this September 2018 to be married to a Thai national. I fist need to get a Visa, so my question is: can I marry on a tourist visa?
    There is a Thai consulat about 2HRS from where I live that does Tourist visa’s only. To get another visa I need to travel about 12 HRS. Also I read that to get a Thai marriage visa you need 400,000 baht in your bank and a steady income of 40,000. To stay in Thailand will I need that?
    Thank you so much for your help, I’ve done a lot of searching to find information about this.

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Yes you can, you will need at least 10 days left on your exemption stamp (you’ll get 30 days when you enter) or on your tourist visa.

      Usually you can apply to the consulate by post, unless you want to go down there.

      Once married, you can get a Non-Immigrant O visa based on marriage. The duration of this visa lasts for one year, and during that period you have to leave the country every 90 days. However you can extend one of these stays by 60 days at an immigration office for 1,900 Baht (giving you 5 months of stay in one go – without having to leave).

      You can apply in your home country (you’ll be able to get a multiple entry visa from there – lasting one year and you have to leave every 90 days), or if you are in Thailand you can go to a neighbouring country such as Laos and apply for a visa there, but they will only issue you a single entry Non Immigrant O visa – lasting 90 days.

      With either version, multiple entry or single entry, you will be able to do the extension of stay for one year at immigration. The extension of stay is what allows you to stay for a whole year continuously without having to leave the country.

      To get this extension of stay, when it is a man marrying a Thai woman, he must be able to verify one of the following:

      – A Thai bank account holding of at least 400,000 THB (for 60 days prior to extending the visa) or
      – An ongoing source of income of at least 40,000 THB per month

      Luckily for you, in the case of a foreign woman who marries a Thai, the financial criteria are not applied. The Thai husband must, however, produce proof of payment of personal income tax to get the extension for his wife.

      Reply

    • Len Channon says

      Usually you will find touts outside the embassy. One that we had did the full translation of the affirmation and passport which was accepted by the MFA and also used the same place to translate the marriage certificates.

      Also you do not need to go back to the embasssy to inform them as your marriage certificate will be legal in the uk if the marriage is legal in Thailand.

      Reply

  151. Steve says

    Id like to hear about people returning to the US and trying to make the legal Thai marriage recognized here. What is the correct process? I contacted my states Attorney General office as recommended by the Embassy and was told that information was wrong and that they cant help. I contacted a judge in the county in which I live and was told he can only marry us again . Does the US really recognize legal Thai marriages or am I misunderstanding the word recognize in this situation? Anybody have any ideas?

    Reply

  152. Charlie says

    I’m a US citizen, my fiance is a Philippines citizen who’s been working as a school teacher in Thailand the last few years. Getting the time off from our jobs to go back and forth to the Philippines to do everything that would be needed there is impossible. Could you possibly tell me what is needed for us to get married in Thailand.

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      If I remember correctly there are some specific rules for Filipinos. If you read through the comments on this post you will come across them. If you don’t have time to flick through the comments I suggest calling the Philippines embassy in Bangkok and getting some advice from them. For US citizens, everything you need to do can be done at the US embassy in Bangkok, as per the steps in the post.

      Reply

  154. Joe says

    Can you please help with your knowledge on this one:
    He is Burma Refugee who lived in Refugee Camp near Mae Hong Son, resettled Australia. From Burma he has no records. From Thai he has only the UNHCR household Registration. From Australia he has the original resettlement visa as permanent resident and Titre De Voyage, Travel Document. He cannot travel to Burma under the rules of his Australian visa.
    She has Burma passport and Thai Visa to be in Thailand.
    Can they get legally married in Thailand?

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Yes, if he has an Australian passport; because then he could go to the Australian embassy and acquire a freedom to marry document. If he does not have an Australian passport, then he would be considered Burmese, and he would need to go to the Burmese embassy in Bangkok to obtain the document. Even if the Australian embassy in Bangkok are willing to issue him the document on the basis of his permanent residence, I think you will find that he would have a problem once he got to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Without an Australian passport they would consider him Burmese, and as such expect to see a Burmese passport.

      I am not saying this is not possible, but I think it may not be possible if they were to try and do it on their own. I think they may need to enlist the help of a lawyer in Thailand to give them further advice and help them navigate the process.

      Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      I am not 100% sure which is easier to register at, but I do know that Bang Rak has been a popular place for foreigners to register for many years. You need to book in advance, as is the case with most district offices these days. Most offices marry between 4-8 couples per day.

      Reply

      • Lee says

        Hi there, This might be a silly question, but how do you book an appointment? Is there a number we can call or do we have to go in person?

        We already have our freedom to marry documents and certified passport. They are being translated at the moment.

        Any updates on the witness situation? Can we turn up at Bangrak and find witnesses there?

        Thank you for your help!

        Reply

        • TheThailandLife says

          You don’t have to book at the MFA. Just get there as early as possible, before the mid-morning rush. Not sure on Bangrak and witnesses. They use to provide witnesses. Some amphurs now require a family member (Thai citizen) to be a witness (not if it’s a foreign couple). Have a read through the comments here for the experiences of others.

          Reply

  157. Bianca says

    Hi! We want to get married in Bangkok in July. I’m from Luxembourg and for me getting the paper of marriage clearance from the Luxembourg embassy should be straightforward. Can i also get this affirmation paper at a luxembourg embassy outside Thailand, or does it have to be from the embassy in thailand specifically?
    However my US fiance was married before. His original divorce paper is with his ex wife, so he only has a normal photocopy. Would he be able to use this at the US embassy and legalise it or do we have to fly to Indonesia to request a new certificate?
    Also does it need certifying at the US embassy in Indonesia where he was married or do we certify it at the US embassy in Bangkok where we will be getting married?

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Hi Bianca,

      1. No. You need to get this from the Luxembourg embassy in Thailand.
      2. He will need to call the US embassy and find out about this. I do not know if they will accept a copy.
      3. When you marry in Thailand you need to get the freedom to marry document from your respective embassy in Thailand.

      Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      They won’t know, necessarily. But if you lie then you are in breach of the law and could find yourself in a lot of trouble for deceiving your home country and Thailand. You will only be digging a deeper hole for yourself. For example, let’s say you lie you get married, and then you want to visit your husband’s home country. Your lie will then extend to the application form of your Visa, and if you get caught lying on the application form you will never get another visa again. When the Thai authorities find out, you may be prosecuted. It just is not worth the hassle. Perhaps you and your partner can live together until he is able to finalise a divorce. And if he is unable to do so, maybe you can settle in a country where it is easy for you both to live.

      Reply

  160. Zuhra says

    Hi ,
    I’ve read the comments but I want to make sure that the process won’t take more than 10 days. We are planning to get married in Bkk in July.
    To make it more clear for me, we will need both to visit the embassies of our countries in bkk and get the affirmation then go to MFA to legalize it along with passports and only after that to go to ampur for registration of marriage? But without knowing thai language will it be possible to do everything on our own? I know thai people do not speak English that much

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Yes, that’s plenty of time.
      Yes, you both have to go to your embassies to get your freedom to marry documents.
      You then need to have these documents translated by a certified translation company.
      You then need to go to the MFA to have your documents approved and finalised
      You can then get married district office.

      It is possible to do this process without speaking Thai. however, you should consider that you will need two witnesses to get married. These two witnesses must be Thai nationals, with Thai ID cards. some district offices like Bang Rak provide witnesses for you as part of a marriage package. So you may want to contact them in advance and book an appointment. Please read the other details in the post, and read through the comments section for more advice from recent commenters who have married in Bangkok.

      Reply

  161. sovann hou says

    Hi There,
    We are getting married in Thailand on this mouth, I am Canadian but my bride she is Cambodian and I have known that Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok of Thailand will not issue the affirmation letter, so I really need help, please someone cans help me to get done all those process and legally, successfully to finish my wedding ceremony I will pay for the service, if any agents deal with this issue please contact me via Email: [contact details removed as per website privacy terms] I am speaking English and a little Thai. Thanks

    Reply

  162. Stuart Formstone says

    I have completed all form filling etc. thanks to this article which, as it stands 08/06/2018, is absolutely correct.
    However, just be aware that if you lodge the paperwork at any Thai district office there is a wait of between 1-3 months before the marriage request is cleared.
    I have been in touch with 3 offices and have the same story from each.
    I believe that by using an agent early on in the process this time frame can be reduced by a considerable amount!
    Thanks again for great advice received.
    Stuart F.

    Reply

  163. Tee says

    Does my wife need to go back to her hometown Amphur in Phuket to get certify her single?

    We are planning to go Embassy of Singapore in Bangkok in 1 days time. However, there are no requirements from my embassy. I am not sure if Chang Wattana or Amphur in Bangkok require this certify of the single for my wife.

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Only if it is required by your embassy. If you read below there was a comment left by a guy who went to the Polish embassy, and they did require that his girlfriend had evidence of being free to marry. This is not a requirement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok or any Amphur, as far as I know – unless of course she has been married before, in which case she will need to show her divorce papers.

      Reply

  164. gururaj says

    hello sir,
    i am from india 27 age and my girlfriend 27age. she is from thailand
    we decide to marry legally in her country named thailand..so what are the correct procedures to follow and get married in thailand ?
    what india documents has to be submitted and what thai documents submited to whom and where ?
    how much time we need to do all procedure and get married in thailand
    if i have to contact agent whom should i prefer …please update me sir…

    Reply

  165. David L says

    Hello,

    I am trying to do as much paperwork before travelling to Thailand as possible. Also, I am doing things one step at a time, “to get my ducks in a row.”
    I am getting married at the end of July 2018. I am a United States Citizen. I contacted the U. S. Embassy at an e-mail from their website, support@ustraveldocs.com. So far, they are only concerned with immigration visas to the United States. Okay. I asked them to refer me to the proper department for the “Affirmation of Freedom to Marry in Thailand” form. So far, they have persisted in ignoring my direct question. Do you know what department I need to contact? Do you have an e-mail address for this department?

    Your help is appreciated,

    UPDATE: Hello,

    I found my answer. It is on the United States Embassy Website, https://th.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-of-u-s-citizens/getting-married-in-thailand/. It is a pdf. Now, am I able to have it notarized in the United States by a local notary, or a U. S. Government Office before I travel.

    Reply

    • Bryan says

      I am American also, here is my recent experience…

      My experience getting my documentation done on Friday May 04, 2018

      New requirement folks. You need at least 10 days on your 30 day tourist VISA or the MFA will not accept. On my arrival to present my documentation, I found out and had to go down to the immigration office to extend my VISA. But I was still able to get all of my documentation completed in one day.

      My experience started when my Thai wife contacted a translation service in Bangkok by phone to ask about the requirements and documentation they were aware of that required translation. We were offered the ability to have them prepare all of the documentation for us and physically present to the MFA for us. This was a 9000 baht charge. But is well worth it. See info:

      Express Translation Service & Travel Co., Ltd.
      (near Ploenchit BTS)
      Mahatun Plaza, 888 Ploenchit Rd, Ground Floor
      Tel: 02-254-7169; Fax: 02-650-8653

      All I needed was my passport and Embassy certified Marriage/Divorce Affidavit in hand. This saved me $50.00 for not needing a certified copy of my passport. And saved me a trip to the MFA. My wife presented her Thai I.D. and her Tabien Baan (Thai House Book).

      The service took the documents to the MFA for “legalization” and is sending us our completed documents in the mail. As has already been discussed it takes 3-5 days for processing at the MFA. And for us the additional mailing time.

      I had to travel out of Thailand for 2 months for work, but upon my return in July, we will go down to one of the Ampurs closest to U.S. Embassy Bangkok in Pathumwan and Bang Rak. There we will need to:

      Present our legalized MFA stamped Marriage/Divorce Affidavit, My passport, her Thai I.D. and two witnesses.

      Reply

      • Bryan says

        Update on the final step we completed in July. The service (mentioned above) met us at Phayathai (Bangkok) government district office to finalize our marriage and receive our marriage certificate. We did not need to bring our own witnesses as mentioned above, as witnesses were provided. We had about a 1.5 hour wait time and our assistant from our service, who clearly had been there many time, was well versed in the presentation of our paperwork. We had an interview with a uniformed woman who asked my wife some questions in Thai and verified my work status and that was it.

        Reply

  166. Rosalie Zingapan says

    We are both Filipino National.We want to celebrate our wedding in Bangkok.What are the requirements?Can you please help us to pursue our intension to marry? How much do we have to pay?I wish in minimal amount only.

    Reply

    • Chris says

      1.You need to get red ribbon document in the phillipines

      2. walk in and submit to your embassy in bangkok. You have to.wait 10 days for the affadavit and collect.

      3. take to amphur laksi the place you can marry close to the consular .give them power of attorney to do the translation of docs to thai and legalisation at the consular its easier than take direct to.the consular

      4. Collect in 2 to.3 days and marry at laksi amphur. They can.provide witness and translator.

      5. Give power of attorney to laksi amphur to translate docs to english and legalise. Wait 2 to 3 days to collect

      6. Take documents to your embassy to register

      7. Collect in phillipines a month later

      Reply

  167. Jenny says

    Hi I have a friend Malaysian Indian and the boyfriend is bangladeshi muslim would like to married at Thailand, But this girls already married no kids and leaving separately for so long . The husband dont take care of her abt 5 years already. Legally they never take any divorce but leaving separately. So now she already found her love and would like to settle in life.
    Is it possible they can register and married in Thailand since the husband dont even bother about her.

    Reply

  168. Filip says

    Hi, I’m a Polish national, we went to Polish embassy in Bangkok to obtain my affirmation of freedom to marriage document. I phoned them before just in case regarding what documents I need to bring with me, they said passport and birth certificate is all I need. Booked an appointment, turned up and the lady refused to process my application because my fiancee haven’t got a document from amphur proving that she is single? Is it required? Everywhere I searched no one ever mentions that your partner needs to bring that document as well. Super pissed off as I’m only in Thailand for 2 weeks hoping to get everything sorted….

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Hi Filip, that is a strange requirement, since your GF should only need to prove this to the Thai authorities and not the Polish embassy. I have never heard of this so it must be a requirement set by the Polish embassy. I am assuming she would need to get this document from the amphur of the town in which she is registered to live.

      Reply

      • Filip says

        Yes it really took us by surprise and messed up our holiday plans. What’s worse they also want her document translated to English and authenticated in thai MFA. We’re on our way to Udon Thani now, after that 2 hour bus drive to her home province and we should hopefully get the document tomorrow. I think Swiss and Dutch embassy have similar requirement from what I’ve heard so I would advise people to double check with their embassy to avoid any complications.

        Reply

          • Filip says

            I believe it applies to any nationality.

            I managed to get all the paperwork, went to Thai MFA with my affirmation to marry and certified copy of my passport and they refused to accept it because the Polish Consul signature in their opinion doesn’t match the one they have in their records… I’m lost for words and lost all hope to ever get our marriage sorted…

            Reply

            • TheThailandLife says

              That’s terrible. Sorry to hear you are having so much trouble. Surely it is up to them to verify it; I mean what do they think you did, fake it? I would go back to the Polish embassy and get them to call the MFA.

              Reply

  169. David Woodley says

    We married at Bangrak district office on May 9th. We tried on May 7th but they only do 4 a day, so we made an appointment. A lot more forms needed to be filled out and extra copies were needed of everything. A shop a few doors down does copies. Also the two witnesses were my wifes parents, and we were lucky because we were told 1 witness has to be on the tabien baan. Also because my wifes parents cannot speak English well, i had to pay for a translator, who also is a lawyer and made sure everything was correct. She also is situated along the same road as the district office, and cost 4500 bht.
    So to give you an idea, i arrived with copies of affirmation and passport, my wife had her ID card and tabien baan . Also when you arrive at airport keep the arrival card, the lawyer said that was vital. She stapled it into my passport. I was very shocked to hear 1 witness has to be on the tabien baan. A lot i read before actually getting married was not correct. Things change.
    Also my affirmation at the UK embassy had a small error, which luckily they let me use their PC in the embassy to correct. And to finish, we had an appointment on the day , but other couples had been there from 3am to make sure they could marry that day

    Reply

      • Bryan says

        Yeah… interested to see if this is true, as I will be finalizing my marriage in the second week of July. I too was just going to bring my wife’s sister and husband as witness’ and they are not listed on the Tabien.

        One other note: I had to present my airport in country VISA Stamp paper (actual name escapes me at the moment) and when I presented it, I was told it had to have at least 10 days on the stamp remaining… I had eight. So I had to go down to the immigration office and wait 3 hours in the queue and pay for a VISA extention that I did not need, but apparently is now a new requirement at the MFA.

        Reply

        • TheThailandLife says

          I am going to add the 10-day rule to my post information. This rule about one of the witnesses having to be on the house document is not something I can find any other information on. It’s always been the case that the witnesses need to be Thai nationals with ID cards. I cannot imagine that they would refuse your wife’s sister and her husband as your witnesses, seeing as they are close family members. Please do let me know how you get on.

          Reply

          • Bryan says

            Update on my marriage certification process:

            We used the service:

            Express Translation Service & Travel Co., Ltd.
            (near Ploenchit BTS)
            Mahatun Plaza, 888 Ploenchit Rd, Ground Floor
            Tel: 02-254-7169; Fax: 02-650-8653

            This service did everything for us including providing witness’. So it is correct to say that the witness’ do not need to be listed on the Tabien Baan. Our experience at the Phayathai district government office (Bangkok) was smooth as this office seems to host many of the foreigner marriages.

            Reply

    • David Woodley says

      I used Siam legal, situated on Sukhumvit Rd. I only paid for my affirmation and passports to be translated and certified. It cost 5000bht. But they offer the full package for 20000bht. I only got them to do it because i never wanted to wait around Bangkok for long. I collected them from their office after doing some travelling. But they will post them to you anywhere you want.

      Reply

    • Bryan says

      I used:

      Express Translation Service & Travel Co., Ltd.
      (near Ploenchit BTS)
      Mahatun Plaza, 888 Ploenchit Rd, Ground Floor
      Tel: 02-254-7169; Fax: 02-650-8653

      They charged us 9000 baht which included all paperwork and personal presentation to the MFA for stamping/legalization. This service gave us everything we needed to then go down to the Ampur (government district office) to finalize our marriage.

      Reply

    • Robert Royston-Cornick says

      I did affirmation myself at British Embassy, cost £50.
      Verification of Passport cost £50.
      Followed Peters instructions went to translation company by Asoke BTS?
      Cost 1000BHT to translate both documents.
      Taxi to MAA including tollway 200Bht in MFA 30 Mins.
      Documentation returned to home address signed within 5 days.
      Having read peoples problems with Bangkok District Office regards marrying, suggest go to your Thai Fiancees home District Office. No problems.
      Mine even though I paid, did not require a translation of my passport.
      Original copy only!
      I was allowed to photo copy, the Thai legislation page regarding marriage.
      No where,once translated, does it stipulate, translated copy of passport required.
      Ok, I maybe a unique case however! Why so many problems in Bangkok or Metropolis with numerous Falanges. Question to ask is it not.

      Reply

  171. Mad says

    Hi thr

    Im a Pakistani national and want to get mattied to my British national fiance. We were trying to complete tge documentation since Decemeber and when finally today we are done with everything. The agent lady said that Thailand stopped registration of Pakistani nationals. This is so upsetting and heart breaking.
    Can somebody confirm please.

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Sorry to hear your sad news. I have no idea about this policy. I recommend you contact the Pakistani embassy and ask them about it, as they would have the details. They may even have a notice about this on their website (for the embassy in Thailand).

      Reply

  173. Ry and Ni says

    Witnesses:
    Do you have to supply your own witnesses on the day, or are there people at the registrars office willing for a fee? I will be getting married without family and friends there. I know two couples who married in HK and they just had some randoms do it.

    And thanks for all the recent info from newly weds 🙂

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      You can do that, if you can find people there at the district office willing to be witnesses. I’m sure if you offer a couple of hundred baht you will get some people on board. some district offices such as bang rack, I believe, will provide witnesses as part of a package – though I’m not sure they still do this, so do check first. If possible, it is best to arrange your witnesses before the big day, so that you don’t run into any problems that prevent you from getting married.

      Reply

  174. Sarah says

    Hi,

    We are planning to get married in thailand by next month. However, my fiancee has been married to a us citizen before but they have been divorced for 13 years but since divorced is not recognize in Philippines we can’t get married to our homeland. Does my fiancee need to file for recognition of divorced before we can married in thailand or he can use his divorced paper in thailand?

    Reply

  175. Bryan says

    My experience getting my documentation done on Friday May 04, 2018

    New requirement folks. You need at least 10 days on your 30 day tourist VISA or the MFA will not accept. On my arrival to present my documentation, I found out and had to go down to the immigration office to extend my VISA. But I was still able to get all of my documentation completed in one day.

    My experience started when my Thai wife contacted a translation service in Bangkok by phone to ask about the requirements and documentation they were aware of that required translation. We were offered the ability to have them prepare all of the documentation for us and physically present to the MFA for us. This was a 9000 baht charge. But is well worth it. See info:

    Express Translation Service & Travel Co., Ltd.
    (near Ploenchit BTS)
    Mahatun Plaza, 888 Ploenchit Rd, Ground Floor
    Tel: 02-254-7169; Fax: 02-650-8653

    All I needed was my passport and Embassy certified Marriage/Divorce Affidavit in hand. This saved me $50.00 for not needing a certified copy of my passport. And saved me a trip to the MFA. My wife presented her Thai I.D. and her Tabien Baan (Thai House Book).

    The service took the documents to the MFA for “legalization” and is sending us our completed documents in the mail. As has already been discussed it takes 3-5 days for processing at the MFA. And for us the additional mailing time.

    I had to travel out of Thailand for 2 months for work, but upon my return in July, we will go down to one of the Ampurs closest to U.S. Embassy Bangkok in Pathumwan and Bang Rak. There we will need to:

    Present our legalized MFA stamped Marriage/Divorce Affidavit, My passport, her Thai I.D. and two witnesses.

    Reply

  176. MOMO says

    Just finished the process. Few notes that might help others:

    *Express service at the MFA is still available, If you submit your docs before 9:30am. The cost is 800 baht per doc. pick up around 3pm.( try to be there before 8am)
    *If you can, translate your docs at the MFA translation office. If there is a translation error they will fix it themselves and you wont have to run back to your translator.

    *We got married at the Bangrak amphur office. they have 8 couples limit per day so be there early. we got there at 8:40 and we were no 5 in the queue…..
    *At this amphur (and maybe other places) they require translator if one of you dont speak Thai. we used the translator of the couple ahead of us. 2000 baht.
    *They require that one of the witnesses will be a family member of the thai person (if relevant).

    Hope it will help.

    Reply

  177. Mac says

    I’m a US citizen married yesterday to a Thai citizen. That part is legal and complete. Our question involves making sure it is legal in the US. I’m reading that all is good from the UK but not finding an answer for a US citizen. I did read that the US embassy does not register a Thai marriage certificate on their website. It appears this may be a state specific thing in the US. Specifically I am from North Carolina and Oklahoma, I can use either as a home state. Do you have any information if this needs certified or is it legal with a translation back in the states? All information will be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Hi Mac, here is the information I found on this:

      REGISTERING YOUR MARRIAGE IN THE USA: You cannot register your marriage through an embassy or consulate as marriage is a state-specific responsibility. Most states recognize the validity of legal marriages registered in Thailand. If you would like to register your marriage in the United States, you must contact the Attorney General in your state of residence to inquire about their specific documentary requirements. Some states may require your Thai marriage certificate to be “certified.” To certify a Thai marriage certificate, please have it translated into English and take both documents to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Legalization Division. Then make an appointment and bring the MFA-certified documents to our office; we will authenticate the signature of the MFA officer by appointment for the appropriate fee.

      Reply

      • Mac says

        Thank you for the info, this matches what we have been able to find online. I cannot find your location or contact number. Can you email that info please? I have questions regarding authenticating the MFA certified documents. Thank you very much.

        Reply

        • TheThailandLife says

          Hi Mac, I am the Webmaster of this website, so I do not have location or a contact number. The information that I provided previously was found on an American embassy website. As the info recommends, you must contact the Attorney General in your state of residence to inquire about their specific requirements. I would imagine it is a pretty straightforward process to register your marriage in your home state once you have completed in Thailand.

          Reply

  178. Gunter says

    Hi There,
    I am sorry to tell all of you that getting married in a day does not work anymore. I liked your advice and it is correct till you get to the department of forign affairs. Now, you have to wait 3 days till you get your paperwork back. We went through a broker who translated and went to the DoFA, cost more but less headache. After we got our papers back we went to the Ampor office in Pattaya, Banglamung. We where told that the papers have to send back the DoFA for checking with the embassies which take a month or longer.
    How frustrating. So all you people who thought about a wedding on the beach, romantic and all the BS, forget it. The Thai government does not support wedding tourism.

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Hi Gunter,

      That’s why right at the beginning of the post it says:

      They now require 3 days to process your documents.

      Additionally, some district offices (amphur) are now putting a maximum limit on the amount of couples they marry in one day; some also require you to make an appointment.

      This means that you should now plan for 4-5 days to get this process completed.

      Don’t be disappointed though. You can still get all your documentation completed in one day.

      I strongly suggest reading through the latest comments from other readers to get their most recent experiences.

      Reply

  179. Hang says

    Hi Rob. I am vietnames woman and my partner is british citizen and we don’t live or working in Thailand. May we can get marry in Thai Land or not. Because i hear that the ThaiLand Government just support for foreigners who live or working in ThaiLand can get marry in ThaiLand. Is it right? This August we will get marry and we hope we can get marry in ThaiLand.
    Thanks

    Reply

  180. Tori says

    Hello,

    I am now confused as the other websites have advised that the affidavit and the passport translations need to be certified by the embassy before being submitted at the MFA but this website is suggesting that the MFA will certify them directly. Do i need to take the translated documents back to the embassy to be certified or do we just go straight to MFA once all the documents have been translated?

    Also, does anyone know how our marriage certificate will be issued if we have a registrar from the local amphur coming to the resort instead of us going to the amphur? Do our documents need to be submitted to them ahead of time so that they can prepare a marriage certificate or is it like a blank document that they fill in with our names and details on the day?

    Any help would be greatly appreciated!

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      You get your affidavit, which is your freedom to marry document, from your embassy. You then have this translated into Thai. The MFA then certify that document. You get a copy of your passport certified by your embassy, and then translated into Thai, and then present this to the MFA along with your freedom to marry document.

      On the issue of the marriage certificate if the registrar comes to your resort, there are a couple of ways that this can be done. Often people hire an agency to organise everything, and the agency will communicate with the registrar and most likely given your documents beforehand so that they can arrange for the certificate to be prepared for the big day. So you will do an official signing there and then at your wedding. Or it could be that the registrar comes to the wedding to marry you but then the official document is then issued a couple of days later by you going along to the local district office and finalising things.

      Reply

  182. Alberto says

    Do any of these documents (the affirmation, translations, or Thai Consular Affairs authentications) have expiration dates? Meaning, should I go to the Amphur office relatively quickly once everything is completed, or do I have a few months?

    Great post, really helped me out. Cheers.

    Reply

  183. Leonard says

    Hi there,I am planning to marry a Russian lady here in Pattaya.Do we both need copies of our passports to be stamped at respective embassies and certified at MFA for local office in Pattaya? And how long all the documents are accepted by marriage office before they “expire”?
    All comments are greatly appreciated.

    Reply

  184. Liam says

    Hi Rob, what is the actually address of the one in Ari? Is it the Phaya Thai office? I’m in a similar situation as a few posts in this thread.
    My documents are dated for this month, was told by my embassy not to worry about the passport translation and turns out I do need to be. Next appointment with them is May 1st, the day after my documents expire haha.
    Any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Reply

    • Hang says

      Hi!. I am vietnames woman and my partner is british citizen and we don’t live or working in Thailand. May we can get marry in Thai Land or not. Because i hear that the ThaiLand Government just support for foreigners who live or working in ThaiLand can get marry in ThaiLand. Is it right? This August we will get marry and we hope we can get marry in ThaiLand.
      Thanks

      Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Hi Rob, apparently the authenticated passport copy is a requirement now. You might try Bangrak or Ari, these seem to be very popular. If you scroll through the comments you may find other suggestions to. All the best.

      Reply

      • Rob says

        Thanks. I actually live in Ari, didn’t make the connection that the office there is a local district office. I went in this morning to double check things. They don’t require passport verification, but appointments are nessessary.

        Reply

        • Liam says

          Hi Rob, what is the actually address if the one Ari? I’m in a similar situation as a few posts in this thread.
          My documents are dated for this month, was told by my embassy not to worry about the passport translation and turns out I do need to. Next appointment with them is May 1st, the day after my documents expire haha.
          Any help would be greatly appreciated.

          Reply

    • Chris says

      Hi. We have just been through the experience and its been very difficult i must say. I Could write a whole saga on it.

      The translator at the mfa downstairs made a mistake twice. On mine and my partners affirmation and passport thai copy. It cost us a lot of time and taxi money.we gave up with him.

      I would highly recommend lak si . Its the closest to the mfa. Just 20 mins walk or 40 baht by taxi 5 mins.

      after the mistakes by the translator at the mfa lak si offered to translate and arrange to legalise the marriage cert for my phillipine partner . (You dont need to legalise your marriage cert if you from uk) We should pick it up tomorrow. The lady there is really helpful and seems a good spirited person and offered us a marriage slot the next day as it was full that day as we went around mid day.but it seems relatively quiet there.

      In fact if i knew all this before i would gave gone to lak si first of all to translate affimation and passport and they take to legalise for you. The cost should not be much more. it will save a lot of waiting at the mfa . Just take there and pick it up 2 days later at lak si. The lady there who does the photocopying will do the service for you. She seems very nice and jokey too. Enquire at the information desk.

      If you marrying in bangkok you need to certify your passport. Some districts may not need it but i would do it in case. £25 at the embassy plus translation cost.

      If you decide to do it all at the mfa beware the translator downstairs as i said made mistakes. Of course if you dont read thai youll not know till the mfa tell you 2 days later and youll have to get the translator to correct re submit to the mfa and wait all day for it.

      So to sum it up it seems to me Lak si is a good central.place to process all after you get the embassy affirmations done. Just sign power of attorney for them to do for you.

      Reply

  186. Brandy says

    Hi, please I need your advice,we wish to get married in bangkok but my fiancee is Macedonian and there is no Macedonia embassy in bkk,if he takes affirmation for freedom to marry from his country will it be accepted here?
    Thanks

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      You need to find out where the closest Macedonian embassy is. As far as I am aware that is the rule when there is no embassy in Bangkok, however, things can vary between embassies, so I can’t say for sure. The best thing to do would be to call your embassy back home and ask for their advice. Embassies are generally very helpful to their citizens abroad and they will no doubt have experience with this matter.

      Reply

  187. Chris says

    Hi after my amphur marriage tomorrow do i need to translate my marriage cert and registratiion as a uk national .is it necessary ? My partner will be translating and legalizing hers to english as she needs to register it with the phillipines embassy.

    Thx

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      You don’t need to do immediately, but is a good idea to get it done because you may need these documents in English in the future. There is no longer a requirement to file a marriage certificate back home in the UK. Your marriage will be recognised in the UK. However, I would recommend getting a translation of your marriage certificate and any other related documents, because you may need for Visa purposes or other purposes in the UK later down the line.

      Reply

  188. Abby says

    We attempted to do this ourselves in February in Bangkok. Both foreigners UK and Irish. On the UK affidavit we had put the marriage date as Feb 2018 and Bangkok as the area. We went through all the steps and finally got to having our affidavits translated and legalised at chang wattana when it was pointed out to us that we only had 5 days being the end of February to get married using the British affidavit. (Bear in mind the date if you are a Brit) and that we could only have the marriage registered in Bangkok. We dashed across town to the first district office and they told us the chief was not there all week and to go to Bangraak. We went to Bangraak with all paperwork translated and legalized and they told us that we would have to spend a month in Bangkok (we had already been in Thailand for 2 months) because we are foreigners…never heard of this and the lady behind the counter was having none of our pleas and told us to go back to Phuket knowing we couldnt use the affidavit there. We had 1 day left before the affidavit became invalid and having been turned away twice and feeling pretty defeated I called an agent who was willing to charge us 6000baht to get it all done. She first wanted to see the paperwork we had to make sure it was all correct which it was and said there was no reason for either offices to turn us away. None the less the next morning before our trip back to phuket we headed over with the agent to the district office near chang wattana and all the paperwork was accepted and signed…thankfully.

    Reply

  189. Don says

    Hi, I have a question to ask if anyone could help I would appreciate it..I have dual nationality..UK and Australian. So if my partner and I get married in Thailand,Chiang Mai is where she lives. Do I/we have to register with both embassies? I am currently living in the UK but, in the future we hopefully will be heading back to Australia.
    Many thanks, Don.

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      What passport do you have? If you have both, I assume you pick an embassy that you want to deal with and go there. I am pretty sure that you do not have to get an affirmation from both embassies, because the MFA wouldn’t even know that you had dual nationality as you will only be presenting one passport. That said, the British Embassy may say that they need confirmation from the Australian embassy that you are married in Australia, and vice versa; so I suggest you ask the embassy about this because I don’t have a definitive answer.

      Reply

  190. chris says

    HI . This is a new question. Please help. I have my affirmation stamped ko chang. can I marry in Bangkok amphur instead even though my affirmation says ko chang as have no time to go ko chang now? I am assuming there is a reason for them stamping it a certain district in the first place.

    thx

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Hi Chris/Soraya, Please stop posting the same question over and over again, I have replied to this question a number of times. You will need to contact the embassy and ask, as I can’t be sure on this. I assume that you can get married in any district office in Thailand once you have the MFA approval. However, Thailand is very strict about rules and local officials may see the reference Koh Chang and say that this only permits you to marry there.Don’t wait, Check with your embassy. Or, if you know someone who speaks Thai, get them to phone up the MFA and asked this question.

      Reply

  191. soraya says

    Hi I have a really important question. My partner has his uk affirmation stamped to marry in ko chang Because we just found out ,as Im from Phillipines, I need to register my marriage cert at my embassy afterwards, which will probably take 3 days at the mfa to authenticate beforehand, we now have no time to do it in ko chang. will they accept to marry us in amphur Bangkok even though his affirmation is stamped for Ko Chang?

    Thanks

    Thx

    Reply

  192. soraya says

    hi we pick up on our doc. on Tuesday. and we are planning to be done here in Bangkok. but my partner affirmation have stamp koh chang, can we have chance to get merried in Bangkok? bcoz we dnt have enough time to go in koh chang, pls help us
    thank you

    Reply

  193. Srikar says

    Hi, Your information are very helpful. I am from India and My girlfriend is a Thai and we all set to get married next month. We heard not all the District Offices(Amphur) in Bangkok have the facility for Indians to get registered. Could you please help us which District offices in Bangkok having the facility for Indians for marriage registration. Thanks a lot in advance

    Reply

  195. Kyi Thar says

    You know what happened yesterday. My fiancée and I went to a district office in our neighborhood in Bangkok to register the marriage. The registration staff looked at my letter of affidavit from freedom of marriage and said ” Mai dai” because of the date. I had it in January, 2018. I found out from her that such document valid upto one month. My embassy cannot issue affidavit here. Therefore, I have to back and get the whole process started from the beginning.
    Have you guys had the same experience? Do you, somehow, know any district office in Bangkok, which has flexibility?

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      This is why when people asked me this question regarding how long the affidavit lasts for, I always disclaim my answer with the fact that it may vary. The US embassy has historically advised that you must use the affidavit within six months, and this usually applies. But there are instances I’ve heard of where the district office has said three months, and in your case you have experienced them saying one month. Unfortunately, there are often fractures in communication in Thailand between different areas of government policy and execution. I would advise people to try and get married as soon as possible after obtaining the affirmation, to avoid this kind of issue. Perhaps this is a specific rule for your embassy. What nationality are you? have you tried the Bangrak district office? You might also try the Huay Kwang district office. Someone previously mentioned Ari as a good place to register too. Can anyone else following the comments on this post help out?

      Reply

  196. Chris says

    My bf i have his uk affirmation stamped to marry at koh chang. Is it ok to get married in bangkok instead as i now understand that it takes 7 days to.register it in koh chang and the schedule is too tight . thx

    Reply

  197. Chris says

    Hi we are traslate our doc. Done yesterday, after that we go in amphur district? How long to wait to get merried in amphur? Or its same day after pick up MFA doc. We go amphur and get merried that day?

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      You need to go to the MFA to get your document legalised. You you cannot get it done on the same day. You will go to pick it up after 2 to 3 days. In the meantime you might choose to book an appointment to get married at a local district office. or you can wait until your document is legalised with the MFA and then go to find a district office. It is very doubtful that district office will marry you on the same day, most of the offices in Bangkok now require you to make an appointment – because they only marry between four and eight couples per day. don’t forget that you should get your embassy to verify your passport, and then have that translated into Thai. The MFA now requires passport verification too.

      Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Your affirmation of freedom to marry should be good for six months. Though don’t leave it too long, I’d recommend getting it done within three months. most embassies say the MFA will accept it up to 6 months.

      Reply

  200. Daniel says

    Thanks a lot for all your dedication and hard work to this website.

    Quick question.

    Under the heading. .

    ‘What Marriage Documents to Take to the Registrar’

    2. Your Visa.

    Is a 30 day stamp on entry good enough to process the application?
    I was rejected recently for a tourist visa from HCM city and now I plan to get the marriage certificate for a Non-O.

    Thanks in advance!

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Yes, in Thailand you can get married on the 30 day entry stamp, or any other Visa. Plenty of people come on holiday for less than 30 days just for the purpose of having a wedding in Thailand and then honeymoon at the beach.

      Reply

  201. Jane says

    How long should it take to get married? A Thai friend told us that it will take 1-2 months for the amphur office to look at our paper work, is this correct as we only have 2 weeks in Thailand? Also, we are struggling to find information on whether or not I can legally get married without my parent being present as I am 18 yo British citizen. Some websites say that you need to be the marriagble age in accordance to the home country others say the parent will need to be present and others say written permission is fine, we are just very confused! Thank you

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Hi Jane, it does not take 1-2 months. Once you have your appointment it takes just an hour or so.

      How it is done depends what type of wedding you are having. Many British nationals get married through a wedding company in Thailand: the company organises the wedding on a beach and then afterwards arranges for you to go to the local district office to sign the paperwork and get your marriage certificates.

      In some cases it can be arranged that the registrar comes to the wedding and does the paperwork there.

      If you are going to do it all yourself, then you need to follow the instructions in my guide and read the comments section here for the experiences of others.

      Generally speaking, you will need to book your appointment at the district office, because now most of them only marry 8 couples per day. So you get your paperwork done at the MFA, you can then go to the district office that you want to get married at and book your appointment. There are some for which you won’t need an appointment, but these tend to be in more rural areas where they are not so busy.

      In terms of your age, under the age of 20, written parental consent is required, which must be translated into Thai. One thing I am not clear on is whether that written consent requires a parent to be there. The reason I’m not clear on this is because a letter from your mother or father giving their permission view to get married would be just that, a letter, without proof that they’d actually written it.

      It may be the case that the British Embassy can verify the letter and then you have it translated into Thai to present to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok. I would contact the Thai embassy in London and ask them about this, because I have not come across any British national under the age of 20 getting married in Thailand.

      If someone else knows the answer to this, please do chime in.

      Reply

      • Jane says

        Thank you for that information, I’m glad it doesn’t take as long as we was told. I am hoping that my parents an give written permission to the embassy of Thailand in London for them to certify it and forward it on to Thailand.

        Reply

  202. Greg says

    Hello TheThailandLife, thank you for the very informative article. I’m about to go along its lines, may I ask, why would you need a certified copy and translation of your passport? Do they really require it at MFA to proceed with legalization of the translation of the Affirmation of Freedom to Marry? On the web page of MFA (goo.gl/CRh6HR, point 7) there’s no mention about that.. certainly it could be simply because it’s outdated or maybe i’m looking up wrong document type? Thanks^^

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Hi Greg, they did not used to require this so perhaps they have not updated their requirements. When I got married, this was not required to get the legalisation from the MFA. But if you read through the comments over the past six months to a year you will see that this requirement started to become more common. At first it was just a few people being asked for it here and there, and then after a while it became the case for everyone. It is not difficult to do, all the embassy needs to do is verify that the passport is legitimate, and then you get a translation of that verification.

      Reply

  203. will says

    hi I liked your article very easy to understand and helpful.
    i’m from the UK and my girlfriend is from Thailand she says you need to bring your birth certificate to get married in Thailand is this true as your article doesn’t seem to mention this.

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      I was not asked for my birth certificate and as far as I know the requirements have not changed. Don’t forget that you have your passport which proves your date of birth. Your girlfriend has her ID card, which proves her date of birth. But hey, there is no harm in taking it with you, just in case you do need some point. I always roll with more documentation than I need whenever I go to do something like this in Thailand, be opening a bank account, extending a Visa, getting a new passport for my daughter, whatever – always be prepared. if you find you’re asking yourself “will I need this?” Then you should always take it with you, just in case.

      Reply

        • will says

          just to let you know the uk embassy only opens at 8am-11am and 1pm-3pm Monday to Thursday closed Wednesday and 8am-1pm on Fridays.
          I think the uk has a department now that specialise in getting papers verified before you leave.
          I will call them and post what I find out.

          Reply

          • will says

            I have another concern and that is there is a one month waiting list to see the uk embassy in Bangkok. how am i going to get my passport verified.
            if this is true then it puts abit of a spanner in the works for your article saying it can be done in a 3 days.

            Reply

            • Robert Royston-Cornick says

              Hi Will,
              When you look on line yes it might come up no appointments.
              Close it and keep opening, appointments will appear.
              Had same problem initially, however booked an appointment easily using the method above.
              Maybe a program safety feature to stop, randomly booked appointments. You know what people are like these days?

              Reply

          • will says

            my friend says theres a long wait for appointment at uk embassy 5 weeks your article doesn’t seem to mention this gives the impression you can go there on the day and just walk in for an appointment for the same day.

            Reply

            • TheThailandLife says

              The article states that you will need to book an appointment online. Generally, appointments are released in batches and usually one can be secured within two or three weeks of the day you are checking. Oftentimes you will check the website and be shocked to see that no appointment is available for the next two months or so. If you check back the following day or at the start of the following week, you will usually see that they have released a new appointments much closer to the date that you need. Some other people have left comments about this before, having encountered similar.

              Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      You need to follow the steps in the article. You should contact your respective embassies in Bangkok, and make sure that there are no specific requirements for your nationalities that fall outside of my recommendations in this article. Also take time to read through the old comments on this comments thread, because there have been people from Pakistan and India asking similar questions, so there may be answers for you or people that you can reply to to get more information. But the best place to start is always with your own embassy, because certain embassies like the Filipino embassy for example, have different requirements to the US embassy or the UK embassy.

      Reply

  206. CHRIS COX says

    Im from uk they stamped my affirmation to marry in trat district as requested. My phillipine partner is awaiting the 10 days for her affirmation. We are unsure as to if they stamp the district at the phillipine side as we didnt ask at the time. Does anyone know as if they stamp it to be in bangkok it will not match mine. Have looked for samples on line and can only find one from 2009 and it does not mention any district on the affirmation. Thx

    Reply

  207. gerlyn says

    Hello,
    My fiance has already his affirmation to marry stamp by his embassy (czech) last february but we werent able to use it as we plan to marry in thailand but we run out of time so we go here in philippines (my country) and just planning to go back in thailand again perhaps on April to marry…
    Is his affirmation to marry be valid and acknowledge still by ministry of foreign affairs thailand?

    Reply

  208. Leilani says

    HI Im from philippines..Im still married but we got separated since 1997 and im not using his surname anymore..I use single in my passport and valid ID’s.My american boyfriend wants to marry me,can we get married in Thailand with my status..Thank you..

    Reply

  209. Mikado says

    Hi I’m a Singaporean and my Girlfriend is heavily pregnant. One of the criteria for singaporean to marry a Thai national is to get approval from ministry of Manpower. My application to marry my Girlfriend was rejected because she was a work permit holder 2 years ago. I have all the documents except for the ministry of manpower’s approval. Does this mean that there is no way for us to get married legally in Thailand? We do not intend to live in Singapore and we have only gone through the traditional wedding ceremony here in Thailand. She is giving birth in 2 months and I’m feeling lost on what to do next. Kindly advice

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Hi there, where is the Ministry of Manpower? In Singapore? do you mean that before you marry a Thai national you need to get permission from the Ministry of Manpower in Singapore? All you need to get married in Thailand to a Thai national is an is an affirmation of freedom to marry from the Singaporean embassy in Bangkok. I’m quite sure that you don’t even need to tell them who you are marrying. The affirmation of freedom to marry is to simply confirm that you are eligible to marry and that you are currently unmarried and that you are who you say you. you also need to have your passport verified. You then take these documents to get translated into Thai, then you go to the Ministry of foreign affairs in Thailand to get the documents legalised, then you get them back, and then you can go to any district office in Thailand and get married.

      I have no experience with the Singaporean embassy, so I don’t know the rules and whether or not they will ask who you are marrying and if they have any additional requirements, I haven’t heard of any in the past. Perhaps the issue will arise if you try to register the marriage in Singapore, in this case it may be that you need some kind of additional permission. What would it matter whether she was a work permit holder in Singapore two years ago, if she is now living in Thailand and intending to marry you in her home country?

      Reply

      • Mikaido says

        Unfortunately force, this ruling only applies if my partner is Thai. Honestly, I don’t really care if they recognise my marriage in Thailand but what’s more important is that I’m able to marry my fiancée in Thailand and it is recognised here. The law in Singapore states that as long as you are currently holding a work permit or used to be a holder, you still need to ask permission from MOM. I have the rest of the required documents but when I asked the Singapore embassy in Thailand whether it is still possible to proceed, I was rejected which also means that I won’t be able to obtain the affidavit of freedom. Is it the end of the road ??

        Reply

        • TheThailandLife says

          Okay: so what you are saying is that the the Singapore embassy in Bangkok is asking to see permission from the MOM (in Singapore) before they will issue you the affidavit of freedom to marry? If that is the case, then that is what you need to do because you can’t marry in Thailand unless you have the freedom to marry document, and passport verification, from your home country embassy in Bangkok. I have no experience with this rule about Singapore Nationals not being able to marry someone who has currently got a work permit or used to be a work permit holder, so I can’t really help on this front – I only know what is required to marry in Thailand. Each embassy is within its right to have its own requirements for its citizens to obtain the freedom to marry.

          Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      If there is no embassy for you in Bangkok then you will need permission from the embassy that is closest to Thailand. This is generally the rule, as I understand it. However, you may be able to get it from the embassy in your home country, but I am assuming this will not be practical for you because you have to go all the way home so maybe easier to go to wherever the nearest embassy is. The best thing you can do is phone your embassy and get the details from them, as they will no doubt dealt with this situation in the past.

      Reply

  211. soraya says

    hi we are here now in Bangkok . and we got already the affirmation took 30mins to get.
    i just want to ask if possible to register our married in koh chang or if you know if they have district office in kho chang?

    and if they have MFA?

    thank you very much

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      You can get married in any district office in Thailand. But bear in mind that they might have their own restrictions, such as the requirement for witnesses, and the requirement to pre-book as they may only marry a certain amount of couples per day. I do not know if they have an MFA, but if you are in Bangkok I really recommend doing it there.

      Reply

      • Chris says

        Thx. So its ok do the mfa in bangkok and marry in the district office in koh chang as i have my uk affirmation now stamped to marry in koh chang. Unsure of the rules i.e if the mfa and marriage have to be in the same district. and cannot see that there is an mfa other than in bangkok. Thx

        Reply

  212. Simon says

    Hi

    Does the permission to marry have a validity period? I am just wondering if it is better to wait until the marriage date is set and the arrangements made etc, or get the permission well in advance so it is not a mad dash to get it when you need it?

    Reply

  213. David Tucker says

    Took the MRT from Sukhumvit to Silom in early Feb. Short walk to the Cdn. Embassy. When you arrive at the building, 990 Abdulrahim Place, you are taken outside the building again to go through a security check. Then back in and to the 15th floor. Took about an hour, needed two references and paid $50 CAD. My family had driven in from Udon and spent a few days in BKK.

    Then exited the back of the building and able to quickly get motorcycle taxi to take us to a translation place which was on the second floor of a restaurant. Excellent restaurant next door served Isaan food as well. Lady said translations take longer now, lots of fake stamps out there and everything has to be translated correctly for the ministry, no mistakes. Didn’t have to go to the MFA, since we gave her office Power of Attorney to get the stamp on our behalf. Documents are ready, when I go back again in late April will go to our district office (Ban Phue) for the marriage registration.

    Reply

  215. Harriet Wright says

    Hi

    This may seem like a very silly question – but I am going to ask it any how!

    With booking into the British Embassy in Bangkok for the affirmation process do I need to book an appointment for each of us or is one appointment for the both fine???

    Latest thread is super helpful – getting married in May!

    Hopefully hear back 🙂

    Reply

  217. Eddie says

    I went to get my documents legalised today with my translated Affirmation and passport. They said that the embassy has to stamp the copy of my passport. Is this true? I have the translation but they wouldn’t touch it. They just said we can only legalise the affirmation you need a stamp from your embassy for you passport. The embassy did not tell me this. Can anyone elaborate?

    Reply

    • Robert Royston-Cornick says

      Hi Eddie,

      I visited the MFA on 9th March, for Affirmation of right to Marry, encountered no problems.
      Took my copy and stamped translation. Only required to give a copy of my passport and Visa stamp in Passport, (on 30 day Tourist at present).

      You will however require a certified copy of your passport, translated.
      As detailed by Peters in depth Blogg on this issue.

      Nearly missed it, as probably read to fast and only nearing the last line caught it.

      Peter may be an idea to highlight this in the Embassy Affirmation section, hope not offended, not my intention. Only trying to help.

      To continue, on my experience with this task.
      Embassy good concise and informative, computers available in waiting area, in case of ammendments to documents.
      As stated by your blogg numerous translation offices, to right of translation school.
      In the end chose translation on left Translation Express 500 each, affirmation and Passport. Chose these as did not try to ppush doing the full service for an extra 1800Bht.
      By the time translation completed. 12:30.
      Jumped straight in taxi, took Tollway on Peters recommendation.
      Arriving MFA
      At approx 1pm.
      Service quick and efficient, paperwork checked, forms filled in fee paid 400Bht plus 40 Bht Postal Service. Clear of building by 13:45.
      Painless

      Many thanks Peter without your information would have been a complete chore.

      Regards

      Robert

      Reply

    • Geoff Baker says

      Yes just had the same. The Embassy said you only need them to stamp a copy of your passport (expensive) if you wanted to marry at Ban Rat Amphor.

      However, at the MFA they said I needed it and also at another Amphor. They would not accept a copy and a translation. The next free appointment at the British Embassy is not for another month.

      So anyone else getting their Affirmation stamped at the British Embassy should get their passport done at the same time now.

      Reply

  219. Ken Cheong says

    Hi. Thank you for sharing this valuable information. I am from Malaysia and my partner is a Thai lady and we are both divorcee. I have a few questions to ask.

    1. I have all my documents translated in Malaysia to Thai and certify by Royal Thai Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Is it valid for my submission in Thailand for marriage registration? (Maritial Status Document, Divorce Records, Passport)

    2. I will be in Thailand from 28/4/2018 till 8/5/2018 but I will travelling to my wife hometown on 28/4/2018 till 2/5/2018. I will be back to bangkok on 3/5/2018 for my submission for marriage. Do you think we have enough time to get our marriage done in time before 8/5/2018?

    Thank you very much. Really need your kind feedback on my matter.

    Regards,

    Ken Cheong

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      1. No. You need to obtain your freedom to marry document from the Malaysian Embassy in Bangkok. Then get it translated in Bangkok, and then take it to the MFA to get it authenticated/legalised.

      2. If it is just the marriage registration part then yes, but to do all the documents, no.
      Why not do all the documentation first, then go to your wife’s hometown and marry at the district office there?

      Reply

      • Ken Cheong says

        Hi. Thank you for your feedback.

        1. No matter what. I must have the freedom of marry document from Malaysia embassy in Bangkok. Can I get this document done in Malaysia or only Bangkok? I am currently working in Myanmar, so can i get it here in Myanmar?

        2. I can register in at my wife hometown district office? My wife check with the local district office that we need to register at Bangkok only because i am a foreigner. Advise please?

        Thank you.

        Reply

  221. dean says

    Thank you! Your post explained perfectly how to get married in Thailand! One question is can we get the Thai marriage certificate translated into English in L.A? If so do we then take it to the county registrar to get the licence and certificate here in the states? Thank you!!

    Dean

    Reply

  222. chris says

    We plan to do our affirmation on 16 March and my partner for phillipines has to wait 11 days for her document .

    We are going to Cambodia on 18th March We will do our district office on 17th April. Is it ok to use the new arrival card for mfa as I’m concerned that this could affect things as i believe they ask for your arrival card to copy for the affirmation?

    Reply

      • Robert Royston - Cornick. says

        Hi Peter,
        Rob again, yes you perfectly correct, MFA excepted my photo copy of Visa tourist, as a matter of course. It raised no issues with them.

        Further to that my District office are of the same vein. Only require it to ensure your not an illegai in Thailand.

        Yours

        Rob

        Reply

  223. JWNYsg says

    This has been very useful. Thank you for your write up.

    Could i kindly check on Step 3. is this a long process? If i have the completed documents already translated – how long would the wait be if i come at 0830?

    I plan to do the express service and was hoping everything could be done for Step 3 before lunch

    Many thanks

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      If you arrive at the MFA that early you will be in and out in less than 2 hours, probably. But you have to wait up to 72 hours now to collect the documents. They don’t do the same day service like they used to.

      Reply

  224. Guy says

    Hi. Firstly, thanks very much for the great information – very much appreciated.

    I live and work in Thailand. I have an appointment for an AFM at the British Embassy in BKK in April. I have downloaded the ‘Application Pack’ from the website. There is a section where you have to put the province, month and year when I plan to register the marriage. My question is ‘is this set in stone?’ i.e if I haven’t actually decided if I want to get married in Bangkok or Koh Samui or if I haven’t decided if I want to register the marriage in July or August, can it be changed?

    I’m assuming not as everything needs to be translated. Therefore am I correct in assuming that I have to plan the actual marriage location and month before my interview for the AFM?

    Thanks for any help.

    Reply

  225. Chris says

    HI. I am from the UK but My partner from Phillipines. We arrive in bangkok March 15 for 3 nights to do the affirmation. She has a affirmation process of 11 days from the date of taking in her documents. When we return to Bangkok we are only there 3 nights 2 days. if the pick up time is 72 hours can it be delivered to our home address abroad translated? Otherwise I will have to extend and change all my flights. Thx

    Chris

    Reply

        • TheThailandLife says

          The district office is where you register your marriage. The MFA is where you get your documents legalised (signed off). So yes, if you want to get married, you have to go to an amphur ( a district office). You will need two witnesses to get married there. Also, keep your receipts from your embassy, translations, and the MFA. You may be asked for these.

          Reply

            • TheThailandLife says

              No. It takes up to 3 days to process your documents. So you will have to wait and then pick them up when they are ready. A reader recently reported that Bangrak Amphur (district office) marries 8 couples a day. You have to arrive early and take a ticket. There are many district offices though, so you may choose to find another that doesn’t get so busy. Go through all the old comments in this thread and you will find lots of advice on different district offices.

              Reply

              • chris says

                We plan to do our

                affirmation on 15 Mar

                translations and process at MFA on 18 Apr

                marriage at Amphur 27 Apr

                Thank you

                1. Is there anything to wait for after Amphur 27 Apr marriage date as we fly back on 29 Apr

                2. How likely are we to get the exact date 27 Apr for the Amphur marriage after our MFA apt on 18 Apr?

                Thank you for your help

                Reply

                • TheThailandLife says

                  1. No, not once you have the certificates. Though I’d recommend getting an English translation of those at some point.

                  2. Some Amphurs may allow you to pre-book, others you have to arrive early to be one of the 8 couples they marry per day. This seems to be a limit many are setting now, such as Bangrak for instance.

                  All the best!

                  Reply

  226. Robert Royston - Cornick says

    TheThailandLife.

    Need help please!

    Planning to Marry in 3 months, arrived back in Thailand December, after 3 months work in Portugal.
    Previously here for 15 months 90day Retirement plus Retirement VISA.
    After having stayed 60 days through the hop out, hop in after 60 days, so back on 30 day tourist VISA.

    Have read intently your observations regarding types of VISAS.

    Sorry but, still a little bemused by conflicting info from Embassy and other sites.

    At last my question.
    Can I apply for a 90day on the Tm87 form in Thailand inlight of my upcoming marriage.

    With Kindest Regards

    Robert

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      If you’re on a 30 day entry stamp, you can extend your stay by 30 days for 1,900 Baht at immigration. Your marriage will not affect this. Once married, you can apply for a Non Immigrant O visa based on marriage, but you’ll need to do that outside of Thailand. You can then activate the extension for that visa once back in Thailand. If you want a multiple entry Non O based on marriage, you need to get that from the Thai Embassy or Consulate back in the UK.

      Reply

      • Robert Royston - Cornick says

        Hi Peter,
        Think this might be of interest to yourself and others in the same position as myself.
        On completing my 30 day extension today 26th Jan 2018. I interjected an enquiry regarding marriage, (bearing in mind, my family cannot visit untill next year)
        Was informed by the head of ghe immigration office, that if I supply all relevant documentation regarding, pension details, marriage details from district office, and the legalisation from MFA, they will extend my Visa by a further 60 days.
        Within which timetable, they will process my application for 1 year extension re Thai Wife.

        Yes came as a suprise, however perfect for my situation.
        When all is done its the ceremony that matters for all, not disputing the legal document from the Amphoe.

        Hope this proves useful, may assist in fellow ex-pats, saving them an expensive trip home or a weeks hop out, to visit a Thai Embassy.

        Ask you never Know!

        Kindest For all your help

        Robert

        Reply

  227. Raf. K says

    Hi there, can anyone suggest me one or two names of reliable and affordable marriage registry agents? I’m coming to Bangkok to marry my fiancee and I want everything should be organised by a marriage agent. Because I’m going there for 15 days only. Thanks in advance.

    Reply

  228. Andy Steele says

    Phuket amphoe.
    End of November make appointment with British Embassy for affirmation and passport notarized copy . Appointment date January 8 th .
    Go to amphoe December 6 th to make sure of paperwork required . Assured any day in February will be fine . All ok just bring in documents when you get them
    Go to embassy , get forms and translations , documents arrive Phuket home address by January 14th .
    Go to amphoe January 16 th . Hand over documents, wait an hour and are given a letter to take to police forensics where get fingerprinted and told will take up to a month to process .
    Go to amphoe February 6 th to see what’s going on . Police check not arrived
    Go to amphoe February 16 th to see what’s going on . Police check not arrived , letter reissued .
    Read letter and take a copy this time . Not just a criminal record check but a personal profile check to make sure not just getting married for a non o marriage visa . As stated in the letter .
    Police print off the check form and return to Amphoe . Hand form over
    Still February 16 th now sit down with administrator and fill out a form stating where , when and for how long we met , been together plus other information gleaned off affirmation.
    Told next step would be an interview. Ask for it to be 19/20 th . Said she would call to confirm .
    To date no phone call . So back down amphoe on Monday to get interview date confirmed and then after that we can get married .

    Jan 16 th amphoe expressed irritation at another wedding being applied for , said they must do something to protect Thai girls . Did witness a loveless marriage of convenience or bride for sale so have sympathy.
    February 16 th admin expressed surprise we getting married after only knowing each other 10 months
    Been living together since June 2017
    Me 54 she 47

    Reply

  231. Ayah says

    I have question regarding of this

    choice when you go to register your marriage after the ceremony.

    Of course, you can register your marriage before the ceremony, it’s up to you

    What is the meaning
    Its means we just pass all the documents and after that we are offical couple?
    Just alittle bit confuse

    Thank you very much

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      A marriage ceremony is not the official marriage. You can have a ceremony but not register a marriage. To get married, you need to go to a district office (called an ‘Amphur). Here you give them your documents which you are all mentioned in the article above. You need your witnesses too. They will then issue you a marriage certificate. At this point you are officially married.

      Reply

  232. Leo Cole says

    Just finalising this process today. My experience is that things have changed a bit. Firstly as a UK national I needed my passport verified by the British Embassy as well as an affirmation to marry. You need to keep your receipts as the Amphur want to see those two, had two knock backs by the MFA due to incorrect translations. We started this process on the 2nd of Jan and only today are actually getting our marriage legalised. Even using an agent doesn’t guarantee anything as I believe this change with the passport verification has taken them off guard. Best advice is check with your local Amphur on what docs they require before starting then make sure you get them and keep all receipts especially the ones from the MFA – good luck

    Reply

  233. Ann says

    Hi there. My daughter is trying to get married in Thailand, we called the Thai Embassy in South Africa and they said that the documents can be stamped and legalized at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok and that she doesn’t have to fly all the way home to SA to do this. She went to Ministry of Foreign Affairs today and they told her that they cant help her, and that she has to have it done in South Africa.

    Help!

    Thank you!

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      Hi Ann, your daughter needs a freedom to marry document. She will need to get this from the SA embassy in Bangkok. She then needs it translated. She will also need her passport verified by the SA embassy. She will also need to keep all the receipts from the embassy and translation just in case they ask for them later on. She then takes these documents to the MFA in Bangkok to have them legalised. She can then go to a district office to get married.

      Reply

  234. Robert Leigh says

    Hi, I have an appointment for an affidavit to marry at the Bangkok Embassy Monday 6th April. I know after that I need to get my documents translated and certified at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    I have tried to make an appointment to do this at the ministry, but they don’t seem to take appointments. Is that the case, is it just a walk in?

    Many Thanks

    Reply

        • TheThailandLife says

          The simplest wedding would be under $1! Just get the documents you need and go to the district office to register the marriage. I think it was 40 Baht they charged us when we did it. Getting all the documentation together is the hardest part, as you’ll read from the comments. Take notes and make sure you get it right first tie, especially if you only have two weeks to get it done.

          If you want to have a ceremony/party, you can do this at your GF’s home for under $500, I’m sure. These things are as expensive as you want them to be.

          Reply

  238. DAVID FISKE says

    all seems very stressful, after the ceremony am I able to get a marriage visa so I can stay in thailand ? if so,whats the procedure, hopefully stress free ? and I assume my new thai wife has a procedure if she goes back to UK with me for holiday etc.

    Reply

  239. Rob says

    Hi, I was planning to come to Thailand in April and get married to my Thai partner. I have just been onto the British Embassy Website to get my Affirmation of Freedom to Marry and the online booking system says there are no available appointments between April and December!

    Surely that cant be right. In your experience is it that hard to get an appointment? Does it sound like a website problem, or can you only book appointments a couple of months in advance?

    Reply

  240. Janny Natsudip says

    Hi there! Went to Amphur Banglamung (Pattaya) to get married with my Thai Fiancee. Brought all the listed documents but the officer requested an official receipt from MFA. I showed her the translated and MFA stamped documents but she insisted that I should produce a receipt. Good thing the agency that processed the translation and authentication kept the receipt (they will send it by EMS later) but I don’t know why she requires the receipt, isn’t the stamped documents enough to prove that’s it’s the authenticated document.

    Aside from Amphur Banglamung is there any other recommended Amphur that is a few hours drive from Sriracha?

    Thank you in advance!

    Reply

  241. Valen Thomas says

    Hello there, me and my partner both UK Nationals are due to be married in February 2018 in Koh Samui, on our Affirmation form it says that we need to put the Province where we are to be married, can you confirm for Koh Samui that we put Suratthani as the Province.

    Many Thanks

    Reply

  242. Val says

    Thanks for putting together all this information! It really varies between countries.

    I’m a New Zealander in Thailand trying to get married to my Swiss fiance, you won’t believe the amount of paperwork I need to give for us to get HIS “marriage application” from Switzerland.

    The Swiss embassy here in Thailand needs my New Zealand embassy affidavit (signed here in Thailand) to be legalised by the MFA before they will accept the documents to process the Swiss marriage application; but the translation agency that helps with legalisation says that MFA might not legalise my documents *without* my fiance’s Swiss marriage application.

    Plus, the Swiss procedure takes about 2-3 months from submission to issuance of the Swiss marriage application here in Thailand, which means my documents need to be legalised at least 3 months before we actually register our marriage. But, the agency also told me that the amphur might not accept a legalisation that was done so far in advance.

    Vicious cycle. We’ll find out.

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      I have heard they supply witnesses on request. They have a marriage package. If you search through the comments on this post you will find more about it. Or just give them a call as this may have changed since.

      Reply

  244. Is says

    Hi I’m a Mexican national and my boyfriend is from India. We want to get marry in Thailand on 2018.
    Do you know what about the Hindu and Spanish documents translation in that language center?
    Thank you for your advice

    Reply

  246. Nick says

    Hi there. Both my partner and I are Australian Nationals and we are getting married in Phuket on the 28th March.
    We plan to get this process completed on Monday 19th March as we arrive in Bangkok on Saturday 17th March.
    Do u think this will be sufficient time to have all the documents processed, stamped and then mailed to our wedding planner in Phuket before our wedding day on the 28th March which is a Wednesday?
    Many thanks

    Reply

    • John says

      At the British Embassy best to take your Affirmation file in case they ask for changes. If not, they do offer a computer for you to retype the Affirmation with changes. Cost for Affirmation yesterday 2300 THB.
      Apparently some District Offices require an Embassy stamped copy of your passport. Embassy said not necessary in my case but got one anyway just in case. Cost yesterday 1150 THB.
      Translation prices near Pleun Chit station varied from 900 to 5000 THB – if problems you would need to return for changes. Suggest best to go direct to Chang Wattana where we paid 800 THB for translation of Afirmation and Passport.
      We took Skytrain from Pleun Chit to Mo Chit then Taxi to Chang Wattana about one hour journey. They no longer stop for lunch open til 4:30.

      Reply

    • Nick says

      Thanks for this informative information.

      I was just wondering once my partner and I have our Statutory Declarations from our Embassy(Australian) in Bangkok, If we go straight after to the MFA to get them translated in Bangkok, do they provide a service where you just hand them over your documents and they translate them and then certify them and then send the documents to postal address(Phuket) without us having to wait at the MFA to get the documents translated, certified and then sent?

      Reply

  247. Tearshan says

    Hi, my situation looks bit complicated . Please advice me as this is one of the key decisions in life.
    I’m a Sri Lankan male and my fiancee is a pakistani Muslim girl . We want to come to Thailand and get marry. First I want to embrace Islam as no Muslim woman is allowed to marry a non Muslim man. I wanna know in Thailand conversion can be done? Then how to get married as two Muslim foreigners in thailand ? The above steps are to be followed? Or any change. Please help us.

    Reply

  248. Versya says

    Hello, i’m indonesian going to marry with an Indian in Thailand. Is the procedure same for us ? Which type of visa do we need for the marriage? Can we have some contact person in thailand to help us on this process?
    Thanks.

    Reply

  249. John says

    Hi there, for step 3, the endorsement of the translated documents, from what i read above, are you saying that after i have handed all documents to them to check etc, i can opt for the option of posting it to my address, instead of waiting around bangkok for a few days to collect it?

    Reply

    • TheThailandLife says

      They used to have an EMS service. I thought it had been discontinued but I’m pretty sure someone mentioned using it in the comments not too long ago. Previously you could prepay and arrange to have the documents sent back to an address in Thailand. Ask when you queue up for your ticket.

      If someone following this post has done this recently, can you confirm if this is still available?

      Reply

  250. BLANCHE ZAPANTA says

    Hello, me and my boyfriend are both foreign nationals we are planning to get married in Thailand. He is from Slovenia and I’m from philippines. Is our marriage going to be legal and acknowledged in both countries after?

    Reply

  251. Nishna says

    Hello I am thai and planning to marry my Italian bf in Thailand. Is the process above same for all foreign men marrying in Thailand? if anyone has experience with the Italian embassy process, would appreciate your feedback.

    Reply

          • Nishna says

            Yes I will for sure. We are planning to sign the papers in April and will keep updating in the forum 🙂 The Italian embassy has asked for his tax documents and freedom to marry document/single status confirmation document along with my ID card and Single Status document from the Amphur.
            Will let you know how this goes 🙂 Thank you!!!

            Reply

          • Nishna says

            OK, so here is an update. We went to the Italian Embassy last week and submitted the documents. As he is Italian, we had to submit his single status document along with a copy of his tax return and both our passport copies. After one hour, we received the Right to Marry document. The document was issued in Italian and Thai so we didn’t need to get it translated. Went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and got it attested the same day. We received the documents back in two days.

            We will register our marriage in April, however, got all the documents checked at Bangrak district office and its all good to go. Only thing is, the staff at Bangrak informed us that we cannot book the day in advance as they have a huge backlog. We need to come on the day we want to get married and get a number. Note, they only accept 8 couples per day. The Italian embassy only accepts marriage certificates issued from Bangrak or Laksi district office.

            Also, please note, the documents issued from the Italian Embassy is valid for 180 days. Also, Bangrak district office will accept documents attested by Ministry of Foreign Affairs within the 180 day period. I have been told that each district office has different requirements so best to check with the district office of your choice, or in our case, as instructed.

            Good luck to all 🙂

            Reply

              • Nishna says

                Yes it is. In fact, we were told that once documents are attested by the MFA it is only valid for one month. The Bangrak district office confirmed that they accept it within the 180 day period. Highly suggest that you go and check in person as processes here tend to change rather quickly. In January, the staff at Banrak said we could book our date advance, come February and that is no longer the case. Sigh!

                Reply

                • TheThailandLife says

                  Yes, the goalposts are always moving! Was it the MFA that told you the documents are only valid for 1 month? A long time ago the US embassy said the documents should be good for 6 months, but I hadn’t read that from any other embassy, so I was always cautious when telling people this. I think to be safe it is best to complete the process within a month.

                  Reply

                  • Nishna says

                    Yes the MFA mentioned that it is usually valid for one month, however, some district offices will accept 90 days. The Italian embassy and Bangrak office confirmed that all documents issued and attested are valid for 180 days 🙂 I was a bit worried when I heard that, so went over to the Bangrak office as soon as we got the attested documents to confirm what they had already told me over the phone 🙂

                    Reply

                    • Nishna says

                      hello all, just wanna give you another update. So now bangrak district office has cleared their valentine day backlog and while they still accept only 8 couples a day, they allow 3 couples to book in advance per day (hope i made sense there). We went in today and booked for 18th of April and got the 1st que for 7.30 am (yikes). Apparently, it takes an hour and 30 minutes to register our marriage and get the certificate. This works as we can submit the marriage certificate to the MOF for attestation and be done by 12 pm 🙂