Marriage and civil partnership

Obtaining an “Affidavit Letter” at the Embassy of Ireland

In order to get married in Thailand, you will need to present an “Affidavit Letter” to the Registrar. The Embassy will issue this letter alongside your Freedom to Marry certificate; you must attend the Embassy in person to pick up these documents.

Have the affidavit translated into Thai

Once the affidavit has been signed, you will need to have it translated into Thai. Please note that the Embassy does not provide a translation service.

Have the affidavit authenticated and translation certified

All Thai Registrars will require authentication of the Irish Diplomat’s signature and certification of the Thai translation. This must be obtained from:

The Legalisation and Naturalisation Division,
Department of Consular Affairs,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
123 ChaengWattana Road,
Laksi District,
Bangkok

OR

Khlong Toei MRT station (Metro Mall),
Rama 4 Road,
Khlong Toei,
Bangkok,

Tel. 02-575-1056, 02-981-7171.

Submit the document to the Registrar

The affirmation and translation are then ready for submission to the registrar, who, if satisfied, will register the marriage and issue a Thai marriage certificate.

If your marriage registration is taking place in Bangkok, you may require a certified copy of your passport (fee 1,500 THB).

If it is taking place outside of Bangkok you should check the requirements directly with the registration office at which you intend to register your marriage for their latest requirements before lodging your application.

Online questionnaire

To apply for a Certificate of Freedom to Marry, you must complete an online questionnaire about yourself and your upcoming marriage or civil partnership.

Statutory declaration

Based on this questionnaire, you’ll be presented with one or more statutory declarations to complete and a checklist of supporting documentation you'll need to submit with your application.

You need to:

• Print and sign your questionnaire.
• Print out a copy of each statutory declaration.
• Print out your checklist.
• Complete the declarations and have them witnessed.
• Post them to us with your supporting documentation, signed questionnaire and fee.
• Print off or save each form right after your online questionnaire, as you won't be able to retrieve them later.

Submit your application a minimum of four months before the date of your marriage or civil partnership.

Your witnessed statutory declaration(s) cannot be dated more than six months before the date of your marriage.

Your application is not complete until we get hard copies of your questionnaire, statutory declaration(s), and all supporting documentation.

Your statutory declaration must be witnessed before you can submit it.

Who can be a witness?

Your witness must:

• Know you personally
• Know a third party personally who can identify you
• Be able to verify your identity through your official documents (e.g. a passport)

Applying in Ireland

Your witness can be:

• A notary public
• A Commissioner for Oaths
• A solicitor

Applying abroad

Your witness can be:

• A notary public
• A Commissioner for Oaths or someone authorised to administer oaths or declarations

Your witness needs to:

• Witness you completing and signing your Statutory Declaration(s)
• Complete and sign the relevant part of your Statutory Declaration(s)

Remember...

It’s against the law to make a Statutory Declaration that you know is false or misleading in any way.

Your checklist will tell you exactly what supporting documentation you'll need for your application, which may include:

• Your original long-form birth certificate
• A court order, if you are under 18 years
• Marriage and Death certificate of your previous spouse, if widowed
• Petition and final decree of your divorce, if divorced
• A photocopy of your current Irish passport
• Your original naturalisation certification, if naturalised

Translating your documents

You'll need to submit certified translations of any of these documents, if the originals are in a language other than English or Irish.

Getting replacement documents

We need original documents (except for the photocopy of your passport) to process your application.

Getting your documents back

We will return all your original documents to you after we inspect them.

Remember...

If you haven't included all the necessary documents, your application will be returned to you.

We strongly encourage you to gather all the required documents prior to completing the online form – incomplete applications will not be accepted.

Begin your online Certificate of Freedom to Marry application