Legalisation of UK wedding certificate

[Mr-Dylan]

I married my Thai wife in the UK several years ago. I recently retired and moved to Surin with my wife, entering Thailand on a single entry non immigrant O visa.I obtained the 90 stamp on entry and hoped to extend it to 12 months based on our marriage, 
i was told that I needed to register our marriage here in Thailand and to do this I needed to have our wedding certificate verified at the British embassy and have a certified translated copy made. This is then stamped by the MFA  in Bangkok and can be used to register our marriage at the local amphur offce, I made an appointment with the embassy and travelled down to Bangkok a  to authenticate the wedding certificate, only to be told  that they no longer provide this service. 
The embassy gave me a sheet of paper with instructions and website address. The wedding certificate now needs to be legalised at a UK Gov office in Milton Keynes., then sent by courier to the Thai embassy in London. it should then somehow be sent to the MFA in Bangkok translated and stamped. 
I've done the first part and posted the certificate and form obtained here-  https://www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised  . The fee is £30 for the legalisation and £5.50 for the courier. 
I'm not sure what the next step will be as the Thai embassy will only except cash or PO orders to process any paper work . I've emalied them, but they've not replied yet. I'm also not sure how the legalised document is returned to me in Thailand.  

Any help would be appreciated.

[ubonjoe]

The UK embassy has certainly made an easy process difficult. Previously you could of done a self certification by doing a statement that it is true and correct but they decided to force people to do it the hard way as you have found out.

The easy way may be to have the marriage certificate sent to a friend or family member after it is legalized and have them send it to the embassy. Then the embassy could send it to them and then they could send it to you.

[brewsterbudgen]

I'm in a similar position myself.  As I'm currently in the UK (we got married here on Tuesday) I plan to send the marriage certificate to the UK Legalisation Office from here, and include the prepaid envelope for them to send it on to the Thai Embassy, with another prepaid envelope for the Thai Embassy to return it to my sister's address in the UK.  I will have returned to Thailand by then.  My sister will then have to send it to me in Thailand.

 

One thing I find strange is the advice to "notify the Thai Embassy" that the documents will be send.  As all emails tend to go unanswered and getting through on the phone is difficult, how is one supposed to do this, and is it really necessary?

Edited August 11, 2016 by brewsterbudgen

[Mr-Dylan]

I emailed the GOV office in Milton Keynes to ask if they had recieved our wedding certificate. However, they use a automated answering service,so you can't make any enquiries so to the progress of your application.

Thanks Brewster, I also have  to ask my sister to post the documents to me. Depending that is om wherther thay arrived at MK in th efirst palce. 
Really very fustrating as I've had to extend my visa by another 60 days in the mean time. I may just apply for a retirement visa instead and save the hassle.

 

 

[pete9535]

I am also attempting to have our UK marriage certificate legalised by sending it back to UK. It is a quagmire of bureaucracy. The information provided by the UK Embassy in Bangkok is incomplete and slightly misleading. I phoned the consular service in Milton Keynes who told me that all they do is legalise the document and will only forward the document to the Thai embassy in London if that address is put on the application form as a Return Address. Once they have done that they bear no further responsibility. They also told me that the information provided by their colleagues in Bangkok is incorrect.
I then phoned the Thai embassy in London who informed me that once they have processed the document I would have to collect it as they will not post it anywhere. When I explained that I live in Thailand they suggested I contract a courier to pick it up for me and send back to Thailand. 
I then asked about the fee. A postal order or cash. Again I explained I live in Thailand and cannot get a postal order so they suggested that I send a £10 note in an envelope. I am now trying to get hold of a courier service in UK who will pay the £10 fee, collect the document and send it back to Thailand.
Obviously this process has not been ironed out yet and to be honest the lady I spoke to in the Thai embassy in London didn't really know and had to keep asking someone else who appeared to be making up as they were talking to me.
If anyone else has succeeded please let me know?

[pete9535]

Update to my last:

The Thai embassy in London suggested two courier companies; CDN and Blair. They both provide an end-to-end service to get your document from Thailand through Milton Keynes, through the Thai embassy and back to Thailand. They cover the fees and charge £122 and £154 respectively.

A bit expensive for me so I'll use UPS or DHL for a pick-up.

[Mr-Dylan]

I finally received an email from Milton Keynes on August 30th stating that they had sent my legalised wedding certificate to the Royal Thai embassy on August 22nd. So it sat on someone's desk for 8 days unprocessed. 
I then asked my sister in the UK to send a £10 PO to the RTE  to pay their fee. In the meantime I emailed the RTE., but received no replies. Eventually after several attempts I got through on the phone to someone at the embassy this week. I was informed that they did indeed have my legalised certificate and £10 PO. However, my sister had not enclosed a stamped addressed envelope, so it sat on the desk another few days, until an SAE arrived. My sister received my documents today Sept 10th, and will post them to me in Surin.
The next step is to get them translated and sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok. I'll up-date its progress.

[brewsterbudgen]

I finally got my legalised certificate back from Milton Keynes via the Thai Embassy.  Posted it (in the UK) on 16 August and received it back on 9 September.  Not exactly an express service.

 

Now I need to get it posted to me in Thailand and then translated and confirmed by the MOFA.  Can this done by post or does it require a visit to Chaengwattana?

[ubonjoe]

43 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

I finally got my legalised certificate back from Milton Keynes via the Thai Embassy.  Posted it (in the UK) on 16 August and received it back on 9 September.  Not exactly an express service.

 

Now I need to get it posted to me in Thailand and then translated and confirmed by the MOFA.  Can this done by post or does it require a visit to Chaengwattana?

In your case it will not need to be translated since it is in English which will be accepted at immigration for your wife's extension application.

The OP needs the translation because he is registering his marriage at an Amphoe.

[brewsterbudgen]

Thanks Joe.  I hadn't realised that; definitely a big time saver if I can submit it in English. Does this also mean I don't need the authorisation from the MOFA?  

[ubonjoe]

7 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

Thanks Joe.  I hadn't realised that; definitely a big time saver if I can submit it in English. Does this also mean I don't need the authorisation from the MOFA?  

You will not need anything from the MOFA.

[Mr-Dylan]

I finally received my legalised marriage certificate back from the UK GOV office via the Thai embassy last month. I had it sent to my sister's address in the UK, and she the posted it to me here in Thailand. The document has stamps and stickers on from UK GOV and a Thai embassy stamp on the reverse side. You must have the both sides translated into Thai by a bona fide translator before it is submitted to the MOFA in Bangkok.
I went  to the MOFA office in person, which is located near to Lak Si train station in Bangkok. In the MOFA building there are many translation services on offer, but choose one that is recommended by the MOFA, otherwise they may reject the translation and you'll have to have it re-done. There's one on the first floor near the escalator. The translation took 2 hours to complete at a cost of 500 baht a side = 1000 baht. The MOFA takes 2 days to verify the document and charge 400 baht. However the translator offered to submit the document, collect it for me and post it to my address  in Surin for 700 baht. Saves a couple of nights in a Bangkok hotel. I received the MOFA verified, translated marriage certificate by EMS a few days later.
I took the certificate to the local amphur to register our marriage. The office manger also asked for a translated copies of my birth certificate, ID page of my passport and a UK criminal record check - all stamped by the UK embassy. A bureaucratic nightmare. We may get legally divorced and re-marry in Thailand to save the hassle.

[ubonjoe]

3 minutes ago, Mr-Dylan said:

I took the certificate to the local amphur to register our marriage. The office manger also asked for a translated copies of my birth certificate, ID page of my passport and a UK criminal record check - all stamped by the UK embassy. A bureaucratic nightmare. We may get legally divorced and re-marry in Thailand to save the hassle.

Perhaps try doing it at a different Amphoe.

There is certainly no requirement for the criminal record check  About the same for your birth certificate.

[bert bloggs]

On 8/18/2018 at 8:19 AM, richiejom said:

Sorry to bump an old thread but I feel it necessary to warn other people. Me and my wife are also in this situation where we need our UK marriage certificate legalized and sent back and we got it through Milton Keynes and as far as the Thai Embassy and thats where the nightmare began

 

Called the RTE in London and after long waits on the phone got through to someone, they don't seem very familiar with this process and I read on this thread Pete9535 says he was going to use DHL/Fedex but I tried that and they refused DHL on the phone/I got mixed answers

 

Firstly I told them DHL were going to pick it up and 2 staff members didn't have an issue with it and told me to email them the DHL stickers to an email I had to request. Thought it was sorted but I have email tracking and see she didn't bother opening it, called back and she said the DHL man came but tried to say she didn't get my email(maybe true who knows)

 

Anyhow, then I got a bizarre story that her friend is flying to Thailand tonight and they will bring it and post it to me via EMS when they get here... before I could ask how long it will take I was forced off the line and she hung up.  The whole time I was trying to call I got the impression I was a problem for them, meanwhile my wife was listening and I speak Thai as well(she said they were gossiping about us)

 

Now we have no idea whos got our documents and how long they will take to reach us.... what I should have done is put a self addressed envelope for my elderly parents who live far from the embassy.  I'm probably going to have to extend my current visa here now, I hope it arrives within a week, I don't have any tracking and I daren't call back again Monday after calling so many times Friday...

 

Called Hull Consulate after all that just for someone to speak to and got a British woman, she thought it was bizarre because I have no idea who's got my document also but said give it until the end of next week before calling them again

hi

just read your post from last year ,i intend going for a marriage visa ,but like you have a British marriage cert ,well there is an office in Belfast (instead of Milton Keynes) and i am there in a couple of weeks , the next bit is the Thai embassy in London , i can send it there ,how did it turn out for you ,and i have a friend lives near there could i get him to send it do you think?

any thoughts welcome

thanks