Getting married or registering a civil partnership abroad: Information based on your answers

Marriage in Thailand

Before you start

Contact the local district office (also known as an ‘amphur’, ‘amphoe’ or ‘khet’) where you want to get married to find out about local marriage laws, including what documents you’ll need.

Check the travel advice for Thailand before making any plans.

What you’ll need to do

To prove you can legally get married in most provinces, you’ll need to:

apply online for an affirmation of marital status
book an appointment to swear the affirmation at the British embassy in Bangkok
have a certified copy of your passport - if you do not have a certified copy already, you can get one when you swear your affirmation
get your affirmation and a certified copy of your passport translated into Thai, then ‘legalised’ (certified as genuine) by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Thailand

If you and your partner are British, you must apply for and swear an affirmation of marital status separately.

Apply for an affirmation of marital status

You can only apply for affirmation online and up to 3 months before you plan to register your marriage. This is because most local district offices will only accept affirmations dated within 3 months of your planned registration date.

It costs £50 per person. The embassy will print it for you on the day of your appointment.

To apply for an affirmation of marital status, you’ll need:

a photo of your UK passport
your partner’s passport or Thai ID number
your parents’ full names
name and address of 2 referees who do not live in Thailand
the province and date of marriage registration at the district office
a debit or credit card

You’ll be told if you need to provide any other documents. For example, if you’ve been married before you’ll need proof that the marriage is over.

When you apply for an affirmation, you can also apply to get a certified copy of your passport. It costs an extra £25 a copy.

Apply for the affirmation of marital status.

Swear your affirmation at the British embassy in Bangkok

You must swear your affirmation of marital status at the British embassy in Bangkok.

You’ll find out how to book an appointment and what documents to bring when you apply for the affirmation.

Translate and legalise your affirmation

After your appointment at the embassy, you need to get your affirmation and a certified copy of your passport both:

translated into Thai
‘legalised’ (certified as genuine) by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Thailand

Read the guidance on translating and legalising documents in Thailand for instructions.

Get married

Take your affirmation and a certified copy of your passport to the district office where you’re getting married. The district office must be in the province stated on your affirmation.

The registrar will then marry you and give you 2 identical marriage certificates in Thai.

You can also pay a fee for the registrar to marry you at your chosen wedding venue.

Religious ceremonies are not valid on their own. The registrar must marry you.

After you get married

Your marriage will be recognised in the UK if:

you follow the correct process according to the law in Thailand
it would be allowed under UK law

You do not need to register your marriage in the UK.

If your partner is not a British citizen, they can apply for British citizenship once they’ve lived in the UK for 3 years.