Regarding registered marriage in thailand

[steve n songsang 45]

totally confused...we tried to "register" or get legally married in Thailand in January at the Amphur in Korat, using our certified marriage certificate and translation from our marriage in USA but were told I need the "free to marry" form from the U.S. embassy, translated and stamped at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, BKK. So, are we registering our existing marriage or are we "getting married again"? We thought U.S. marriage was recognized by the Thai govt. The "free to marry" form asks if you are single or divorced, and if divorced you must provide certified divorce documents, I have already acquired these documents twice during our immigration process, do I provide again to prove I am "free to marry" a woman I am already legally married to??? We have found a reputable company that providing I make a appt. at U.S. embassy, 7:00am, for stamped "free to marry " form they will translate, take to Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then to local Amphur, than back to Ministry of Foreign Affairs all in one day, finished. We know copy of my passport, her national I.D. and house book, we would greatly appreciate any responses regarding other requirements or information on this process. thank you...stevie and songsang

[Boiler 43,433]

My first thought is why?

[steve n songsang 45]

A check of requirements for a retirement visa to Thailand versus requirements for a non-immigrant renewable one year visa married to a Thai national should answer your question. Since we have a house there and I spend 3 months a year there and will retire in 5 years we found it to be a valid question....thx for your input.

[AaronLV 12]

A check of requirements for a retirement visa to Thailand versus requirements for a non-immigrant renewable one year visa married to a Thai national should answer your question. Since we have a house there and I spend 3 months a year there and will retire in 5 years we found it to be a valid question....thx for your input.

I did this several years ago after being married for 3 years with a marriage cert from the states. I had to get the free to marry cert from the consulate in Chiang Mai, have it translated and stamped for the MFA. When we went to the Amphur office they took all our information from our US cert and used it on the Thai one so it has all the same information. Took us 2 days to complete the process, the service I used charged us a nice sum of money to get 1 day turn around on the MFA stamp. We needed if for getting our Son's birth certificate at the time.

You can get a Non-O visa without having the marriage registered in Thailand, which you get at an embassy or consulate outside of Thailand. You need the marriage registered here when you apply for an extension of stay based on Marriage.

If you are of retirement age and aren't planning on working while you are living in Thailand, I would recommend doing the extension based on retirement instead of marriage, less hoops to jump through, much more straight forward, less paperwork, and headache. As long as you have thee 800K in the bank or 65K per month income it is much easier to do then the marriage extension.

[steve n songsang 45]

Thank you very much AaronLV!