[phutoie2]

I have been married for 2 years now to a Thai national and live in Thailand on the basis of retirement extension of non-immigrant 'O' visa. My wife now has the same surname as myself and it was a marriage registered at the district offices in Don Mueng, and we have the marriage certificates etc.
Is this marriage recognized as legal within the United Kingdom (GB & NI) and if so, am I required to register it with the authorities in the UK?.
My main reason for asking is that it may have implications on my HM Forces pension. For those who know about these matters its AFPS.-75

[jitagon]

phutoie2, on 2008-11-06 05:30:37, said:

I have been married for 2 years now to a Thai national and live in Thailand on the basis of retirement extension of non-immigrant 'O' visa. My wife now has the same surname as myself and it was a marriage registered at the district offices in Don Mueng, and we have the marriage certificates etc.
Is this marriage recognized as legal within the United Kingdom (GB & NI) and if so, am I required to register it with the authorities in the UK?.
My main reason for asking is that it may have implications on my HM Forces pension. For those who know about these matters its AFPS.-75

Any marriage registered in Thailand at any Amphur registration office is legally recognised in the uk, with no need to re-register within the uk.

Village shindigs with exchanging of pieces of string and a spitroast pig washed down with lashings of Chang and Laokao, are not.

[joskydive]

You only have to register your marriage with the British Embassy to confirm it, giving them a copy of your marriage certificate, Thai ID, etc., Should anything happen to you then, she is eligible to recieve any assets that you have in the UK (if you haven't made a Will) and pensions which extend to family. i.e. Widows Pension.

If you don't do this, she may have some problems confirming her eligability.

[Mario2008]

Your marriage is legal in both Thailand and the UK. You are not required to register it, but it would make things easier if anything happens to you, as your wife will have less trouble proving that you were married.

[Nomad97]

phutoie2

I am in a similar position as yourself. I am in receipt of an Armed Forces Pension (and a company pension too). I am too young for the UK Old Age pension though I will receive this also in a few years time. Shortly after I was married I wrote to each of my pension providers, including the Inland Revenue, and explained that I had married, and forwarded copies of Thai marriage certificate. Each pension provider acknowledged the correspondence and accept that I am legally married and have a Thai wife. Both my exisiting pensions provide Widow's benefits and my wife should receive 50% of my exisiting pension from each provider when I die. I certainly recommend registering your marriage with your pension provider(s) - it should make things a lot easier for your wife should you die before her.

[Dave the Dude]

Nomad97, on 2008-11-06 14:03:33, said:

I am in a similar position as yourself. I am in receipt of an Armed Forces Pension (and a company pension too). I am too young for the UK Old Age pension though I will receive this also in a few years time. Shortly after I was married I wrote to each of my pension providers, including the Inland Revenue, and explained that I had married, and forwarded copies of Thai marriage certificate. Each pension provider acknowledged the correspondence and accept that I am legally married and have a Thai wife. Both my exisiting pensions provide Widow's benefits and my wife should receive 50% of my exisiting pension from each provider when I die. I certainly recommend registering your marriage with your pension provider(s) - it should make things a lot easier for your wife should you die before her.

Hi
Fully agree with the above and would add that my Private Pension provider insisted on having a translated,certified&notorised copy of my Marriage Cert before my wife's status could be registerted.
Just thought I'd mention it incase anyone is intending to post a Thai Marriage Cert to the UK. Worth checking requirements first.

Dave

[Nomad97]

Dave the Dude, on 2008-11-06 14:11:55, said:

Nomad97, on 2008-11-06 14:03:33, said:

I am in a similar position as yourself. I am in receipt of an Armed Forces Pension (and a company pension too). I am too young for the UK Old Age pension though I will receive this also in a few years time. Shortly after I was married I wrote to each of my pension providers, including the Inland Revenue, and explained that I had married, and forwarded copies of Thai marriage certificate. Each pension provider acknowledged the correspondence and accept that I am legally married and have a Thai wife. Both my exisiting pensions provide Widow's benefits and my wife should receive 50% of my exisiting pension from each provider when I die. I certainly recommend registering your marriage with your pension provider(s) - it should make things a lot easier for your wife should you die before her.

Hi
Fully agree with the above and would add that my Private Pension provider insisted on having a translated,certified&notorised copy of my Marriage Cert before my wife's status could be registerted.
Just thought I'd mention it incase anyone is intending to post a Thai Marriage Cert to the UK. Worth checking requirements first.

Dave

Dave,

I forgot to say that I also forwarded the Certified True Copies (in English) that had been notarised by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Chaeng Wattana, Bangkok).

Nomad97

[phutoie2]

Thanks for the replies all, I have already spoken to Xafinity Paymaster who look after the UK armed forces pensions and informed them of my marriage and have e-mailed the Joint services Pensions admin in Glasgow and they have both accepted my marriage and without requirements of proof etc!.
My annual visit to Suan Plu is in May so I will inform consulate of the marriage too. I have registered with the UK consulate when I first came to live in Thailand.

Nomad97, if you were not aware already, Paymaster will now pay your Forces pension into your Thai bank account, I have received their letter last week. Its 2.60 GBP per transaction and takes about 3 days to clear, something to consider, however with Nationwide building society I have free ATM withdrawals, plus a stinking exchange rate at the moment is starting to be painful!!!

[mariner29]

Did you make an affirmation to marry at the embassy etc ?

[jitagon]

mariner29, on 2008-11-07 03:28:53, said:

Did you make an affirmation to marry at the embassy etc ?

You have to have the Affirmation - or they won't let you get married at the Amphur. duh.

[Mossfinn]

jitagon, on 2008-11-07 11:54:02, said:

mariner29, on 2008-11-07 03:28:53, said:

Did you make an affirmation to marry at the embassy etc ?

You have to have the Affirmation - or they won't let you get married at the Amphur. duh.

Just to help Mariner out here, are you sure everybody needs an Affirmation to Marry?

Moss

[Mario2008]

Yes, a foreigner needs an affirmation to get married. No affirmation, no marriage.

[Mossfinn]

Mario2008, on 2008-11-08 08:34:30, said:

Yes, a foreigner needs an affirmation to get married. No affirmation, no marriage.

Hi Mario,

My question was directed at Thai Females in particular, although as ever, I hadn't made it clear, and it is my understanding that every case does not require the A to M.

Moss

[mariner29]

[benjamat]

In the end there is what you have to do, and then there is what is sensible to do.

Everyone will have had to go to the BE before marriage to get affirmation.

It is a good idea to go after wedding and register in order to anticipate any problems later.

Just remember that pensions are little different than insurances in many ways. If they can they will always look for reasons to not pay. I would certainly tell all the institutions involved and get them to confirm eligibility in writing.

Good Luck

This post has been edited by benjamat: 2008-11-08 21:33

[7by7]

benjamat, on 2008-11-08 21:32:44, said:

It is a good idea to go after wedding and register in order to anticipate any problems later.

You cannot register your Thai marrige at the British embassy.

What you can do at the embassy is lodge a copy of your Thai marriage certificate at the General Register Office in London. This may be useful if at some time in the future you are in the UK and lose your certificate and want a copy. It may also be useful to your desendents in the UK who may wish to trace family records.

That's it.

Doubt the above? Read what the embassy itself has to say

Quote

Consular Section can arrange for your marriage certificate to be deposited with the General Register Office (GRO) in the United Kingdom. This not a legal obligation and has no bearing on the validity or otherwise of the marriage. It simply means that you are able to obtain a certified copy of your marriage certificate directly from the GRO should you need to do so in the future. Please ask us for further details if you wish do this
Source

This post has been edited by 7by7: 2008-11-09 00:15