These Are The Steps To Get Married in Thailand
I. Affirmation of Freedom To Marry
You have to prepare a copy of your valid passport with your arrival card and your visa for your visit to Thailand. For your Thai fiancée, she should have her identification card with her house registration certificate with copies of them. You would have to fill out an Affirmation of Freedom To Marry form wherein you state that you are legally capacitated to marry and provide other essential information required in the form. You do this at the American Embassy in Bangkok.
In case this is not your first marriage, but you have been divorced or your previous wife died, you will need to present a certified true copy of either the divorce or death certificate to prove your eligibility to marry. The same applies for your Thai fiancée who has obtained a divorce or is a widow. You can get your copy certified in the Embassy as long as you have the original document with you.
You must also state in the Affirmation of Freedom To Marry form your Thai fiancée’s identification and/or passport number. Such form also requires you to state your annual income and with this area, honesty is still the best policy. The annual income is especially significant when you apply for a visa for your Thai spouse so that she can legally go to US. Your annual income is required to be stated so that the Thai government can assess your capacity to support your wife financially. The government usually allows Americans with an annual income of $28,000 and if they have a child the threshold will rise to $35,000, rising by $4,000 for each additional child to bring their Thai wife to US for a visit. Upon completion and payment of the required fee, the Embassy will give the documents back to you stamped with their seals.
II. Translation of Documents and Certification
The next step in processing all the necessary documents for marriage in Thailand is having all these documents translated into Thai and their subsequent certification. If you are wondering where you could have these documents translated, there are many private translators available in Thailand or you can opt to go directly to their Legalization Division Department of Consular Affairs in Bangkok. You can hire someone in the same building to do the translation for you. This more convenient since this is also the place where you will actually submit the applications and the rest of the documents for approval by the Thai authorities. You can visit the Ministry of Foreign affairs website for more information and you can also reach them through the contact numbers posted.
The translation process will require some waiting for a few hours so you might as well do some relaxation and enjoy some stroll or a fine Thai meal while you wait.The waiting time also varies depending on how many clients they have at the moment. If they are busy that day you may have to wait a lot longer. After having your documents translated, you can then submit them to the Thai consulate for approval of your application of marriage.
Again, you will have to wait until your number is called.
If it is your first time to marry, you can take advantage of their express service to ensure you get the approval within the same day but if you are divorced then you cannot get it. Normally it takes two days to process. You can come back to the office after two days to check if your documents are already ready. After all the documents are approved and certified, you can now proceed to marry your Thai girlfriend.
How much does it cost?
I. Fees for the Documents
Getting ready for a wedding necessarily includes expenses especially in processing all the legal documentations required. Aside from filling out your Affirmation of Freedom To Marry form, you will also need to pay a fee of around 800 Baht. The cost of having your documents translated into Thai may vary from one private translator to another. It is better if you allow your Thai girlfriend to negotiate about the fees.
If you are divorced you will have to pay more because you have more documents to be translated. Americans also usually pay more for the translations because the American divorce certificates include technical legal terms and it is more complicated for them to translate. This will range between 1000 to 1500 Baht. Upon submission of all your documents, you will have to pay a fee of 1,400 Baht.
When you have all the documents ready, you can now get married. During the marriage ceremony you will have to sign some forms and once they are all signed, have them witnessed by an Officer who will now issue your marriage certificate. There is only a small fee of 50 Baht for the issuance of a marriage certificate. You also have to consider other expenses like paying for the copies of the original documents, notarization and registration of the documents. Remember that these fees may change and you have to verify with your Embassy and the designated Thai authority if there has been changes in the rates of fees and get the most recent schedule of fees so you will be properly guided.
II. Sin Sod and Marriage Celebration
You must have heard of American guys who marry a Thai woman paying the sin sod. People have this misconception that the sin sod is a form of dowry but it is not really a bride price but a form of gift to the family of the Thai woman.
In fact, considering it as payment for your bride can be quite insulting to her family. It is generally given for the welfare of the Thai woman’s parents and as a form of insurance for your Thai bride. A Thai woman usually helps her parents in terms of finances and once she gets married, the parents lose this support from her. It also serves as insurance for the Thai woman in case the husband leaves her without any means to support any future children and herself. It is a traditional practice among the Thais and respecting the Thai culture will greatly boost your image to them. However, not all families especially those who are better off than others will expect you to pay the sin sod.Some even return the money after the marriage celebration. So it is not mandatory at all times. If ever you have to pay it, the amount will depend on a lot of factors such as your age, job, educational attainment, among others.
When you marry a Thai woman, you will mostly have the Thai traditional wedding as well as a legal wedding. For the traditional wedding, you might have to prepare for the ceremony itself as well as the reception.The family members of your Thai bride as well as family friends are invited and the majority of your expenses would come from the food that is served at the reception. The cost varies depending on the number of people attending the wedding but it is still relatively cheaper than the usual American weddings. Love is considered the universal language of the world. Naturally, it does not choose or discriminate between race and nationality. It is a common human emotion that unites people all over the world. You must have heard a lot of stories of people all over the world who fell in love with each other despite the distance, difference in culture and language barrier.
A lot of similar stories also happened in Thailand or between an American and a Thai national. If you happen to be in such a relationship right now and you know you are ready and very much willing to take the relationship to a whole new level, you might be interested to know some facts on how to get married in Thailand. In fact, you must learn the preparations needed in order for your wedding ceremony to proceed smoothly.
Getting married in Thailand does not necessarily involve a complicated process but it includes a structured method and step-by-step procedures to follow. Following these steps would ensure the absence of any hitch when you marry your Thai girlfriend.You may need to sacrifice some of your time though, and exert effort when processing all the required legal documents necessary for a valid and bonding marriage in Thailand.
Then again, whenever we talk of marriage there are always big preparations involved and some processing of papers that must be made by the couple so there is only a slight difference. As an American marrying a Thai lady in Thailand, you have to satisfy more requirements but I’m sure your special someone would be worth your extra effort and time.
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