My wife and I are not legally married here. We got legally married in the U.S. and only had the religious (Buddhist) ceremony here but never registered the marriage with the Thai government so I don't think it would have been a problem here either.
Apart from the country I was married in (UK), my circumstances are identical to hhfarang's. Until I read the above, I assumed I was legally married here. Now I'm not sure.
Can somebody please confirm one way or another?
If it turns out I'm not legally married, does it really matter, and do I need to rush out and sort it?
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Other countries recognize a Thai registered marriage as legal and good enough for immigration and other things. I don't see why Thailand wouldn't recognize a foreign registered marriage as being universally legal. Pete
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I was always under the impression that if you were legally married in the UK..... It applied worldwide.....Think bigamist laws etc.....
I was also under the impression that if you got married.... Say here in Thailand.... The normal thing would be to have a ceremony..... register the marriage somewhere ( Not sure where )..... and then this paperwork could be taken to the British Embassy in Bangkok and you could then register your marriage under UK system......
For peace of mind..... In the event of an unfortunate accident..... I would make a will leaving everything to your wife.....
I do not believe you suddenly become 'unmarried' simply by changing countries.
That would be too easy!
My wife is not Thai, but we were married in Thailand (quite a few years ago), and our marriage was legally recognised in UK, and in Japan. I'm sure you are still married BB
..... and then this paperwork could be taken to the British Embassy in Bangkok and you could then register your marriage under UK system......
It was 96 when we married. British Embassy was not interested in seeing, receiving or registering anything.
We lived in the UK for a few years (I'm British). I went to the local Registry Office and the Registrar said not necessary to see or register anything. Foreign Marriage legally valid in UK. Checked with a Cousin, she's a Registrar who performs civil ceremonies, she confirmed the same.
You'll need a Thai marriage certificate which you can get from the amphur office. You may also need something from the embassy to prove that you were married in the UK.
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
As Buksi says, I'm fairly sure that any marriage here has to be registered to be considered a legal marriage. My wife is considered single by the Thai government and still carries all ID in her maiden name. If you only have the Buddhist ceremony (as a lot of people do in the villages) and do not register it with the proper paperwork with the government, you are not married under Thai law. We did not register ours because of some archaic laws that were in place back then that if a Thai woman married a foreigner, she lost the rights to legally own land and vote here. I think those laws are no longer in effect but I'm not certain of that.
We have both a U.S. and Thai wills to make sure she is covered in the event of my death.
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hhfarang wrote:As Buksi says, I'm fairly sure that any marriage here has to be registered to be considered a legal marriage. My wife is considered single by the Thai government and still carries all ID in her maiden name. If you only have the Buddhist ceremony (as a lot of people do in the villages) and do not register it with the proper paperwork with the government, you are not married under Thai law. We did not register ours because of some archaic laws that were in place back then that if a Thai woman married a foreigner, she lost the rights to legally own land and vote here. I think those laws are no longer in effect but I'm not certain of that.
We have both a U.S. and Thai wills to make sure she is covered in the event of my death.
My wife has never been married to me in Thailand, but her ID Card, Passport etc carry my surname. At the land office, I as my wife's husband, had to sign to say that the money being spent belonged to my wife.
There have been several things that we have done where copies of our UK marriage certificate have had to be shown.
I am now finding this incredulous that I'm probably not married in the eyes of Thailand.
Does anybody have anything other hearsay/word of mouth to support this?
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Just wondering - when my wife's surname was changed in her Thai passport, the passport had to come to Thailand. Was our marriage registered at that point?
Championship Plymouth Argyle 1 - 0 Hull City
Points 51; Position 21 Consolidated - Championship Next Season
Big Boy wrote:Just wondering - when my wife's surname was changed in her Thai passport, the passport had to come to Thailand. Was our marriage registered at that point?
If your marriage had been registered you would have been provided a Thai marriage certificate.
My wife and I have a Thai marriage cert and official translation. Whe we visited the British embassy to register the birth of our son we thought that we would register our marriage at the same time. The embassy said that it was not necessary.
"'The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why." - Mark Twain
We registered our Thai marriage at the British Embassy in BKK because my wife was living with me in the UAE and they needed an attested English translation of the marriage certificate. There are many couples living here who will be farang/Thai that got married in the home country of the foreign husband/wife so I can't see it being a problem.
Big Boy wrote:Marriage in Thailand is a different question. My question in the OP was whether my marriage in the UK to a Thai national is recognised in Thailand?
BB
As I said in my original response..... As far as I was aware..... A marriage that takes place in the UK is recognised world-wide......
TiT..... Probably the only way to be certain.... is to take your marriage paperwork to the Amphur office and ask them.... They should then be able to issue a Thai marriage certificate.....
Big Boy wrote:Marriage in Thailand is a different question. My question in the OP was whether my marriage in the UK to a Thai national is recognised in Thailand?
Did you not have to show your marriage certificate to immigration when you first came here?
