My fiancee is a Thai national and before anyone starts
flaming she's not a bargirl either. Anyway we've decided to
marry in her country but would like it to be legal under
British law. So can we get married at the British Embassy
or British Consulate?
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Dear Engaged
There is no problem with you marrying in Thailand. As long as the marriage is registered at the Amphur office (local government office in Thailand) the marriage is recognised under British law. You do not have to register it at either the British embassy or when you return to England. I married in my wifes village in Isaan with a traditional Thai wedding ceremony and we registered the marriage at one of the Amphur offices in Bangkok. In order for my wife to get a visa to come and live in England we had to show all the documents along with english translation to the British Embassy. This was done quiet efficiently and we had no real problems with the embassy staff.
My wife was also not a bar girl but even if she was so what .They are still human beings and deserve the same respect and treatment as a non bar girl.
Anyway hope everything works out ok for you and you have a happy future together.
firstly you can't get married at the embassy. but you need
to go to the embassy to get a guidance note which tells you
exactly what to do from your side. the basic setup is this.
you have to make up a form with the wording from the
example given on the guidance notes. you take this unsigned
to the consulate on wireless road and they watch you sign
it and countersign it. you then need a certified
translation and and the vice-consul's signature has to be
verified by the thai ministry of consular affairs. the
address is on the guidance notes in english and thai. i
paid the translation agency to do it all for me, for which
i was happy to part with B1000. the office for this is out
near the airport and i was happy to pay a bit to avoid thai
bureuacracy. there are several of these agencies around the
junction of wireless rd and ploenchit and i would think you
need to shop around. i used one closer to home that i
already knew. once this document is in your hands you are
ready to go to the Amphur. the whole process takes about
four working days - mine was complicated by public
holidays. if you are outside of thailand you could ask the
bangkok embassy to fax the notes to you. you can get the
phone and fax number from www.fco.gov.uk and click on
the "British Diplomatic Missions" link. fax them as they
don't seem to know about the e-mail address they have. one
final word the consul only do their bit on monday to
thursday at the times in the notes.
whatever other religeous ceremony you go through with your
girlfriend you MUST register with the Amphur as i described
above otherwise the British Embassy won't recognise the
marraige and when the kiddies come along you will have a
problem registering them. the Amphur process is the ONLY
legal process in thailand.
Thanks a lot, both of you. If I post an invite nearer the
time, maybe you'd like to come along? Whatever. But I
really appreciate the time and trouble you took.