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Getting married in Thailand


khunsanuk

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The official information and process

 

(The following section is quoted directly from handouts readily available at the American Citizen Services (ACS) window in the American Embassy's Consular Section)

 

Marriage in Thailand - Information for American Citizens

A legal marriage in Thailand consists of both parties registering their marriage in person with the local Thai Amphur (Civil Registry Office). The United States does recognize the validity of such a marriage.

 

To marry a Thai citizen you must follow these steps:

 

1. Complete an affidavit at the American Embassy's ACS section. The affidavit form, available upon request, includes all of the information required by relevant Thai law. The form must be completed and notarized at the Embassy.

2. Have the completed affidavit translated.

3. Take the notarized affidavit and translation to:

 

Legalization Division

Department of Consular Affairs

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

3rd floor, 123 Chaengwattana Road

Tung Song Hong, Laksi, Bangkok

Tel: 575-1057-8 Fax: 575-1054

 

4. Take the notarized affidavit, the newly notarized Thai translation of the affidavit and supporting documents to a local Amphur and register yourselves as married. The Amphur will provide you with a marriage certificate. The Amphur will require the following documents: - Your American passport - The Thai citizens's Identification card - If either party is under the age of twenty, written permission from the parents (with Thai translation)

 

If either you or your fiance have been previously married the Amphur will want to see proof that prior marriages have been terminated; either divorce or death certificates. These documents if available, should be translated into Thai prior to presentation at the Amphur.

 

At the District Amphur (court house)

 

With all the forms completed and notarized, take everything including your passport to a local Thai district court house to officially register. This can take a couple of hours of waiting in line and waiting as they write everything down in their books. There are no computers in the Amphurs at this time so everything is done by hand. When that is completed you should receive two copies of your marriage license - one for you to keep and one for your fiance to take to the Amphur in her province (defined as the Thai province where she is listed as resident by her "home papers") within 60 days of receiving it.

 

Immigrant visa processing in Bangkok

 

(This information is also readily available in a handout form from ACS)

 

What do I do first?

First you file an I-130 Petition for Alien Relative with the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). There is an INS office in Bangkok that will accept petitions from American citizens residing in Thailand. The Bangkok office of the INS may be reached at Tel: 205-5352 and Fax: 205-2917, and is currently located on the 15th floor, Tower 2, Sindhorn Building, 130-132 Wireless road, Bangkok (next door to the Embassy). For general information, see the INS website at www.ins.usdoj.gov. Persons residing in the U.S. are required to file their petitions with the appropriate INS office having jurisdiction over their state of residence. Thais change their names often; be sure to include on the petition all names your relative has ever used or vias processing could be delayed.

 

What happens after INS Bangkok processes the petition?

After INS Bangkok accepts, processes and approves an I-130 petition, it will forward the petition directly to the Immigrant Visa Unit (IV Unit) of the Consular Section for the Immigrant Visa stage of the process. The IV Unit will send or give out a packet of materials called Packet 3, which must be completed by the applicant and returned to the IV Unit. Once the applicant returns Packet 3, the IV Unit will immediately request an FBI name check from the U.S. (which can take anywhere from 7-14 days), schedule the immigrant visa interview, and send or give out the Packet 4 which gives information for having the required medical exam completed. The interview is normally scheduled 2-3 weeks after the Packet 3 materials are returned.

 

What happens after an INS in the U.S. processes the petition?

After and INS office in the U.S. processes and approves an I-130 petition, it will be forwarded to the National Visa Center (NVC) in Portsmouth, NH. The NVC will process the case, send the visa applicant's name to the FBI for the required name checks, send out Packet 3 directly to the visa applicant's address in Thailand, and then forward the petition to the IV Unit in Bangkok for processing the visa. Once the applicant returns Packet 3, the IV Unit schedules the immigrant visa interview and gives out instructions for the required medical exam. The interview is normally scheduled 2-3 weeks after the Packet 3 materials are returned.

 

How long will the whole process take?

The length of time will depend on how quickly INS processes the petition and the how quickly the visa applicant returns Packet 3 to the IV Unit. Once the applicant returns Packet 3 to the IV Unit, the visa interview is normally scheduled 2-3 weeks later.

 

How long will it take to get a visa after the interview?

The same day, as long as the visa applicant is found eligible to receive an immigrant visa.

 

For more general information, please see the Dept. of State website at www.travel.state.gov and click on "Visa Services"

 

The Thai side of being married to a foreigner

 

"Officially" Thai citizens married to foreigners retain all the legal rights of Thais not married to foreigners. In practice this isn't the case. If you and your wife plan to purchase property in Thailand be prepared to leap a few legal hurdles. When your wife goes to her province to register at her "home'a" Amphur she will very likely be required to turn in her current Thai ID card and receive a new one with her new last name. That is where the legal difficulties originate if you wish to purchase property at a later date.

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