Foreigners Getting Married in Thailand
January 5, 2008
Question: Are there any distinct advantages to marrying in Thailand vs marriage in the USA?
This answer is only in reference to legal marriages which are carried out at the local Amphur’s in Thailand. This does not concern the traditional Thai wedding ceremony which you will also have back in your Thai fiancee’s hometown. The traditional Thai wedding is not legally recognized in Thailand or anywhere else.
Answer: Thai marriages are recognized as legal in the U.S. so there is not much difference between getting married in Thailand and getting married in the U.S. I can think of one advantage and two disadvantages to getting married in Thailand.
Advantage: If you end up getting divorced you’ll be going by Thai laws which require splitting of assets, but only those that have been gained since the marriage. Any assets you had prior to the marriage are not included. In addition, I have never heard nor read of any assets outside of Thailand being garnered. So, if you have your assets outside Thailand there is little chance they will be at risk if you get divorced.
Disadvantages: The process for getting married requires a bit of paperwork and probably about 2 days of running around Bangkok to get these documents, translations and approvals. I should probably write another post sometime detailing what is required for American citizens to get married in Thailand. The second disadvantage is if you want to get divorced you will have to return to Thailand to do so. Of course if you live in Thailand this isn’t a problem at all.
If any readers have additional insight to getting married in Thailand please let us know. I’d also like to hear if you can think of additional advantages/disadvantages to getting married in Thailand vs your home country.
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It really depends on where you and your wife is going to be located. If you are planning to stay in Thailand after you get married, it’s really not that much different between getting married in Thailand or the U.S.
However, should you and your love one decide to go live in the U.S. after getting married in Thailand, I will pray and wish for the best of luck for your wife to get a visa to go to the U.S. The U.S. embassy in Thailand does not look upon so kindly on the marriage abroad. Mostly because they want to take time to make sure that the marriage is for real. So, after you get married in Thailand, it will take years until you can get your bride to the U.S. with countless legal fees, paper work, and headache.
A best bet for you is to have your fiance apply for a fiance visa at the U.S. embassy, which still take 7+ months to get. Once she gets the visa, she can come to the U.S. and has 3 months to get married in the U.S. After the wedding, you can then apply for a green card (which takes about 6-9 months to get) for her. If you file the application for work and travel permits, she can work and travel during the time that she is waiting for her conditional green card (This process takes around 90 days.) Please note that the first green card that she will get is a CONDITIONAL green card. Meaning that at the 2-year anniversary of filing paper, you (as a U.S. resident) must file a request to remove this “condition” so that your wife will have a permenant residency. If you failed to do so, she will lose her resident status. You should talk to your legal advisor to make sure that everything will be going smoothly.
Good luck and congratulation.
Kaew - Thanks for that great explanation. It’s exactly right although I can say that Golf and I got married in Thailand and we had no problem getting her visa. It took 5 months from the date of filing to get her visa, no problems at all. Otherwise everything is spot on and great information.
Hi i am Himanshu & i want to get married in Thailand with my girl friend witch is Thai (Phuket) it self.
I m from India. So what doccument i need from hear (India) to go and get merried her their.
Please let me know.
Himanshu,
Welcome to Thailand Musings and thanks for the comment. Honestly I am not familiar with the laws of India and you will need to confirm with your embassy, but in general the requirements for getting married in Thailand are as follows:
1. First go to your embassy within Thailand and sign an affidavit claiming your non-married status in your home country and have it notarized by your local embassy representative. Notarization is usually around $30 USD–it depends on the country.
2. Have the affidavit translated into the Thai language so that it’s recognized by the Thai government. Translation work fees vary. It’s best to shop around.
3. Mail or bring the original and translated affidavit to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs to have it verified. Cost to verify the affidavit is around $15 USD.
4. Bring the affidavit signed by the Ministry to any local amphur, or local government office. For a small fee they will recognize the marriage and give you a very nice certificate that is definitely worth framing!
Congratulations and good luck to both you and your bride! Mee tae kwam sook kwam jareon. Ngeon tongg lai ma tay ma. Mee look hua pbee tai phee na ja!