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Significance of nationality of a foreigner in Thai marriage certificate for immigration


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I have a dual nationality. While in Thailand on a retirement extension I got married to a foreign woman. As far as I can see our Thai marriage certificate states my passport number but not my nationality.  Due to some unfortunate circumstances last time I had to enter Thailand on a passport that is different from the one used to register our marriage and which does not have my retirement extension either.
My wife has got a dependent visa tied to my retirement extension. We are both now in Thailand and my retirement extension, in the other passport, and her dependent visa will soon expire. I talked to a local immigration agent and she said that she can get me a new non-immigrant visa for retirement in the passport which I used to enter Thailand last time. However, she is unable to get a dependent visa for my wife because, according to the agent, I got married on a different passport. I mentioned to the agent that there is no information in the marriage certificate about my nationality and my passport number could change simply due to reissuing. She said that the immigration would find out that information. She suggested to register a new marriage to my wife using the passport with the entry stamp. This seems a bit ridiculous to me - get married twice to the same person. Is she right and Thai marriage certificate is only valid for one nationality of the spouses? Suggestions of possible solutions to our problem are welcome.

 

Edited by pandora501
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22 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

I think the agent is just making problems for no reason. Immigration does not care about what passport was used when you got married. I have gotten 2 new passports since I go married and nobody has said a word about it.

There should be a stamp on the back of your marriage certificate that has your passport numbers on ti.

But you are using on one nationality - expect he can obtain retirement on the new nationality but when wife presents Thai marriage paperwork for dependent with a husband of another nationality there might be issues.  Obviously the suggestion to marry again wold have to be proceeded by a divorce.  Add his unknown date entry on the non extension passport and the covid rules and it does appear to be a bit of a stew.  

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9 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Get another agent.

This. She's advising you to register a new marriage with your wife without ever having terminated the current marriage, which is illegal, so I wouldn't trust anything she says.

 

You marry a person, not a passport; people change passports, nationalities, and names  all the time after getting married, and none of those things invalidates the spousal relationship - even in Thailand. In the unlikely event that there are any questions, you show both of your passports and say, "see, same name, same date and place of birth, photo of the same person" and there should be no problem.

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46 minutes ago, khunjeff said:

This. She's advising you to register a new marriage with your wife without ever having terminated the current marriage, which is illegal, so I wouldn't trust anything she says.

 

You marry a person, not a passport; people change passports, nationalities, and names  all the time after getting married, and none of those things invalidates the spousal relationship - even in Thailand. In the unlikely event that there are any questions, you show both of your passports and say, "see, same name, same date and place of birth, photo of the same person" and there should be no problem.

A bit of a problem there. Since she got the extension based on his retirement extension, once he entered Thailand on a tourist visa or visa exempt, her extension is technically voided

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31 minutes ago, LukKrueng said:

A bit of a problem there. Since she got the extension based on his retirement extension, once he entered Thailand on a tourist visa or visa exempt, her extension is technically voided

Good catch - he does indeed seem to say that she is still on her dependent extension, though it's not clear whether she simply never left Thailand when he did, or re-entered and was stamped in on her extension (since of course Immigration wouldn't have known that her husband had switched passports and entered as a tourist). This is potentially a bigger issue than the "nationality on marriage certificate" thing, which might explain why he believes an agent is needed.

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3 hours ago, khunjeff said:

Good catch - he does indeed seem to say that she is still on her dependent extension, though it's not clear whether she simply never left Thailand when he did, or re-entered and was stamped in on her extension (since of course Immigration wouldn't have known that her husband had switched passports and entered as a tourist). This is potentially a bigger issue than the "nationality on marriage certificate" thing, which might explain why he believes an agent is needed.

Yes, certainly this could be an issue and that is why I'm using an agent.  Returning to the question of my nationality recorded in the marriage certificate.  Is it possible to visit the same amphur registration office, show them both of my passports, and ask them for a letter stating that they've seen both of my passports and that I'm the same person whose marriage was registered at their office?

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9 hours ago, pandora501 said:

Is it possible to visit the same amphur registration office, show them both of my passports, and ask them for a letter stating that they've seen both of my passports and that I'm the same person whose marriage was registered at their office?

They could amend your Kor Ror 2 marriage registry to add your other nationality to it at the Amphoe where your registered you marriage.

Or they might write letter saying that it does not matter what nationality is shown on the marriage certificate or registry does not affect the status of your marriage.

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IF he has both passports then why not walk across at Nong Kai (or where ever), stamp out the wrong passport and walk back across and stamp in with the correct passport? You're technically leaving Thailand and may incur the quarantine but it solves the stamp/passport issue for both.

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20 minutes ago, mrwebb8825 said:

IF he has both passports then why not walk across at Nong Kai (or where ever), stamp out the wrong passport and walk back across and stamp in with the correct passport? You're technically leaving Thailand and may incur the quarantine but it solves the stamp/passport issue for both.

That would not work even in normal times (all border crossings are closed now). Immigration on both sides of the crossing check for departure and entry stamp when trying to enter in the same passport used to leave.

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5 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

They could amend your Kor Ror 2 marriage registry to add your other nationality to it at the Amphoe where your registered you marriage.

Or they might write letter saying that it does not matter what nationality is shown on the marriage certificate or registry does not affect the status of your marriage.

I've contacted the agent who did our marriage registration in Bangkok. She replied that a Thai marriage registry would not issue any such letters or amend registry records because my situation is highly irregular in Thailand where citizens cannot legally have dual nationality. She suggests that I should try a Thai notary lawyer "to certify a sworn statement or an embassy signed one stating you are a legal dual citizen and also you are one and the same people. Also stating the facts and details of your wedding."
While I could certainly try this with a local lawyer I'm not sure if an embassy would issue any such letter (unless perhaps a statutory declaration would do?). And which one to go to, the one which represents my marriage nationality or the other one?


 

 

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2 hours ago, pandora501 said:

I've contacted the agent who did our marriage registration in Bangkok. She replied that a Thai marriage registry would not issue any such letters or amend registry records because my situation is highly irregular in Thailand where citizens cannot legally have dual nationality.

That is not correct. The Thai Nationality Act does not forbid dual nationalities.

Has have you or the agent asked immigration about it or is the agent just voicing their opinion.

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1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

That is not correct. The Thai Nationality Act does not forbid dual nationalities.

Has have you or the agent asked immigration about it or is the agent just voicing their opinion.

It was just the marriage agent expressing her opinion about getting a letter from the marriage registry regarding my dual nationality. Do you think I should try to contact the registry directly? My impression was that the staff there did not speak English as the agent provided an interpreter.

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On 8/3/2020 at 11:33 PM, pandora501 said:

However, she is unable to get a dependent visa for my wife because, according to the agent, I got married on a different passport. I mentioned to the agent that there is no information in the marriage certificate about my nationality and my passport number could change simply due to reissuing. She said that the immigration would find out that information.

As I asked earlier nobody as asked immigration and the above what you wrote in first post.

Tell her to ask immigration. Immigration does not check to find out if you nationality matches the marriage registry.

 

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On 8/4/2020 at 7:29 AM, ubonjoe said:

I think the agent is just making problems for no reason. Immigration does not care about what passport was used when you got married. I have gotten 2 new passports since I go married and nobody has said a word about it.

There should be a stamp on the back of your marriage certificate that has your passport numbers on ti.

I can confirm that what passport you had when you were married is irrelevant. I am married to a non-Thai and all they need to see is a copy of the Marriage certificate. Over the past 10 years we both had several passport changes

 

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So suppose I managed to get a new non-immigrant visa and then a retirement extension in the passport used to enter Thailand last time on a visa waiver. My wife then goes to immigration to apply for a dependent visa extension. Wouldn't immigration question why her current extension is linked to my other non-immigrant visa and retirement extension in another passport? I guess it is just a matter of trying and seeing what will happen.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Here is an update on my situation. I managed to convert through an agent my expired visa waiver to a new 3m non-immigrant O visa for retirement in the passport used to enter Thailand last time. I then went to Jomtien immigration to ask if my wife, as a dependent, could extend her stay up to the expiry date on this new visa. After a lot of discussions among the staff they told me that her extension is not possible. According to them my wife's non-immigrant dependent visa is linked to my retirement extension in the other passport. So she either has to get a new dependent visa outside Thailand, which would relate to my new retirement visa or I have to leave and re-enter Thailand on the passport with the old non-immigrant visa for retirement. They also pointed to the back side of my Thai marriage certificate where a different passport number was stated. They said it should correspond to the passport where the visa is which will be relied upon by my wife when extending her dependent visa. However, that was not the main problem. The core issue was that my wife's dependent visa had to be linked in the immigration computer system to only one nationality of her husband. They did not suggest any possibility of a special consideration.
I then went to an agent next door and a guy there told me he could extend my wife's visa for 20K. He understood that I had two nationalities and the problem of entering Thailand on the wrong passport, but seemed confident that it could be overcome.

Edited by pandora501
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