What documents are required to register my American marriage in Thailand?

You do need it from your home country if you married you wife there..First stop is a visit to MOFA..Thai Minster of Foreign Affairs..They are separate from Immigration.Must have your wedding certified by your own countrys MOFA...then approved by Thai embassy again..in your own Country...Took me about 2 months ...Can..Must use DHL etc for sending and receiving..said documentation..sanuk..and Ck dee k..

Having recently been through this process this is what I did. We were married in the UK. I had our UK marriage cert apostilled and attested by the Thai embassy in the UK. In Thailand I then had the attested marriage cert translated and stamped by the Consular of foreign affairs at Chaeng Wattana in Bangkok. You have to take the translated cert and original to the Consulate and they will ask you to come back 3 days later to collect said document. You can then take these docs to your local Amphur and get them to list the marriage. This is usually done within an hour or so.

I doing the same to get into my wife’s family Blue Book. The U.S. embassy in BKK will certify the marriage certificate and my passport - then I have to have them both translated.

1. you will need a certified copy of your passport and marriage license from the US embassy. Meaning they make a photocopy. Put their embossed stamp on it and you have to pay $50USD per page. You need an appointment it takes months in advance. 2. Then take that to get a translation from a certified translator. 3. Then you will take your official translation to Ministry of Foreign Affairs (requires an appointment, usually weeks in advance) for them to stamp it and legalize it (the term may be something else instead of “legalize”). They will always find some small error or punctuation they don’t like so expect to have to take it back to the translator to get it fixed and return. 4. Once you get the MFA approved paperwork back then you should be able to go to any city hall (amphur) to register your marriage. Talk to your wife’s local amphur first to ask what exactly do they want. Some want the official copy and translation of your passport some don’t. If you don’t know then just get it to be safe.

Usa has embassy in Bangkok

If your wife would like me to explain She can DM me.

You will need a translated and certified copy of your marriage certificate to register your marriage at the local Amphur where you live.. this involves having the original overseas marriage certificate certified by your country's embassy here in Thailand.. as well as the translated copy being certified by the Thai MoFA.. we simplified the process by engaging an agent to handle it.. since this avoided us having to fly to Bangkok where all of the embassies and the MoFA are located.. took about 3-weeks to conclude and cost us around 5,000 baht.. the one and only time I've used an agent and considered it money well spent.. they also provided a certified copy of my translated passport in case i need it in future, at no extra cost.. once you have both the English and Thai certified marriage certificates you can register your marriage at the Amphur and obtain a 'Kor For 22' (ask them for 3 stamped originals) which you need to apply for a non-o marriage visa at immigration.. the Amphur will most likely try to retain your original certified marriage docs.. but i fought this since I knew i'd very likely need them again (for other business) and they eventually conceded.. taking copies for themselves and returning the originals.. though they considered it a concession on their part.. I simply told them it would cost them 5,000 baht to keep them since i'd have to pay again for new copies and that did the trick!

Ps. Once you have the KR22 you can go to the Municipality and apply for a 'Yellow Book' for the marital home.. assuming your wife has the Blue Book for it.. and can then return to the Amphur to apply for a Pink Foreigner ID Card.. then you are good to go whenever immigration or other agencies (like the LTO) want proof of ID or proof of address issued by a Thai authority!

@Ken ******

"Some people say I need certification from my home country embassy which since I'm in Thailand isn't possible." . . . . . . of course it is possible.😂 There is an U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, and that's where you can get your marriage documents translated and legalized

Advice he’s after from people on this site so he can have a general picture of opinions,otherwise what are we here for

get your original marriage documents translated and legalized by the US Embassy in Bangkok. The embassy will be able to tell you which translation office is good to use, and if their legalization would need a "co-legalization" by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs. With these documents you visit an Amphur and get your marriage registered and acknowldeged inside Thailand. For an application to a "1-year Extension of Stay Permit" you will then need either a freshly printed "Kor Ror 22" or "Kor Ror 2" from the Amphur, the document to show on Immigration

You need your marriage certificate by your state and then certificate by the US State Department. Then certificate by Thailand and translated. Then you can register your marriage at the ambulate in Thailand.

My wife is thai and we got married in the US and we have done this with our marriage license. When we go back to Thailand we will get official translation done so we can register our marriage in Thailand.

We did this with several copies of the marriage license because I was told she may need them for changing her ID card, drivers license, Pass Port house papers, and name change.

Get it translated in Thailand. They will know what to do.....

The US Embassy or the consulate in Thailand will not certify a copy of your marriage certificate. What I had to do was create an affidavit giving the details of your marriage, the where, when and so on of your marriage. take the affidavit to the US embassy or consulate have them notarize it then have it translated. Tell the company that does the translation to send the notarized affidavit to the ministry of foreign affairs to get their stamp. When the affidavit is returned to you,  you will have to go to the Amphur where you live and you will have to get a family certificate showing your wife is free to marry. After that, the Amphur Office will record your marriage. It’s been a few years so I don’t think I left out the important things, but all of your directions should come from the district office. 

I had to go with a retirement visa because I did not get my new york marriage certificate " apostiled" meaning g the NY secretary of state, state dept in Washington DC, and usa thai consulate did not stamp it as a legit marriage. it's not expensive, UPS will do part 1 and 2 for you, you just have to go to thai embassy.

This is a fairly involved process. The first step is to have the marriage certificate authenticated by the state in which you were married. Then it needs to be authenticated by the US State Department. Then it needs to be authenticated by the Thai Embassy in Washington D.C. Once this has all been completed, your marriage certificate and all of the certifications above need to be "officially translated" and then be "legalized" at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok.

Once all of that has been completed you will be able to use your US marriage certificate as a legal document in Thailand. You and your wife can then register the marriage and your wife can request a change of marital status/name change or anything else that is needed at your local amphur.

When I did this a couple of years ago, I used an agent in the US for all of the certifications, then an agent in Bangkok for the translation and certification of the document at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I was also required to get a certification of my passport at the American Embassy before the amphur would issue the Khor Ror 22.

Total time for the US side of things was about 12 weeks and cost around $450 USD including all government fees and shipping. Total time on the Thailand side was about 3 weeks and cost around $160 USD for the translation and MoFA service.

Also, I did all of this from Thailand. The agency I used in the states did all of the legwork and sent the marriage certificate here via FedEx.

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Why don’t you check the website of the U.S. Embassy in Thailand? It is all explained in there in detail.

After getting your marriage certificate translated, it has to be certified as being an accurate translation by the ministry of foreign affairs. Then you take it to your local amphur/district office to be registered.

@Ken ******

only way is to LOOK at the US Embassy website

No, you have to have a certified copy of your marriage license, look into apostille services, it's similar. If you can't go back to the US, they will ship your license back and forth for you so you can get the right version, then get it translated into Thai and THEN you can register your marriage in Thailand. The embassy cannot do this, you need the certified license from your home state. It's very annoying but that's how it is done if you have already left the US and cannot do this in person.

Your Thai spouse should be able to find out easily how you do this

Does your home country not have an embassy in Thailand?

The US embassy in Bangkok seems like it would be what they are referencing.

Immigration can't answer you because they have nothing to do with it. You register your marriage at an Amphur office not at an immigration office.

And your statement about your home country embassy makes no sense. The ONLY place you would find your home country embassy would be outside of your home country because there are no embassies of your country inside of your country.