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Answereda year ago

What should I do to get my Overseas Marriage certificate translated and legalized in Thailand?

Ivan ******
asked Aug 6, 2025
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Dilemma now, the District office in Samui (applying for kor 22) asked me to get my Overseas Marriage certificate translated in the ministry of foreign affairs in bangkok. But I called them and they said they don't do translation and asked me to find myself and they only do the legalization of the translated copy, need help!
Answer summary
To get your Overseas Marriage Certificate translated and legalized for use in Thailand, you must first handle the translation yourself. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in Bangkok does not provide translation services but will certify a document that has already been translated. You can find local translation services, such as Express Translation or Sawasdee Translation, which can ensure accurate translations and handle the submission for MFA certification. It's important to choose a competent translator to avoid issues with document validity. For those married overseas, ensure the original marriage certificate is also certified by the corresponding embassy before moving on to the translation and MFA certification.
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Ally ************
Ally ************
If you were married overseas.. meaning not in Thailand.. then the first step is to get a copy of the original marriage certificate certified by the Embassy of the country where your marriage took place.. for most people that's their home country.. but you could have had a vacation style wedding of course.. so, if you're British and got married in England the British Embassy in Bangkok would need to authenticate it in this manner.. the second step is to take this, along with a translated copy (in Thai) to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok for certification by them.. but you need to complete the first step before you can move on to the second step.. and given the complexities and inconvenience involved it's best to use an agent who knows the ropes and can expedite this for you.. we are in CM and didn't want to waste our time and energy traveling to Bangkok in person either.. so found an agent that could do everything and produce the requisite documents..which took around 2
***
weeks from start to finish and needed us to attend the final document collection at the International Convention Center in CM to reduce the wait by a few days.. the fee was just over 5k baht in total.. and they threw in a translated copy of my passport for good measure.. which wasn't needed by the Amphur to register the marriage but i guess it might come in useful sometime.. but be aware that the Amphur may try to retain the original certified copies.. ie. instead of simply taking copies of them for their records.. which is outrageous imo since you may need to use them elsewhere in the future.. and don't want to have a repeat of the hassle and further expense.. i pushed back hard and told our Amphur they could only keep them if they gave me a legal undertaking to return them if i needed them.. or alternatively, agree to pay an agent the necessary fee to produce another set for me.. and after deliberation and consultation with superiors they backed down and took copies for themselves!
Bri ****
Bri ****
I used this one . All went well , they also sent the paperwork to where I'm staying.
Peter ****************
Peter ****************
Maybe better to go to the Department of Consular Affairs on Chaeng Watthana Road 🤷‍♂️
Wade *********
Wade *********
I used Sawasdee Translation for both certified translation & MFA Legalization for my Thai Citizenship Process. They also had options to expedite it as well and they delivered on there promise. NOTE: Be extremely careful who you hire regarding translation. If 1 word or something is off and translates bad then Ministry of Affairs will kick it back and you'll have to redo the translation correctly. You need to choose a competent translator and someone with good relationship with MFA. I provided there business location below:

*****************************************
Muji *****
Muji *****
I live in Bangkok.

I can help with document translation and certification.
Michael ********
Michael ********
Michael ********
Michael ********
I used Express translation in Bangkok to do translation and submission of documents. Very efficient, made sure name was done correctly which is important if you have any other goverment paperwork later on
Jeremy ********
Jeremy ********
Just ask them who they recommend
Colin **********
Colin **********
There are translate offices at the MFA
Ivan ******
Ivan ******
OP
@Colin *********
you mean they have translated office around the MFA and not belong to MFA right?
Nongnuch ********
Nongnuch ********
@Ivan *****
The “normal”route for this is:

***use a translation service which is recommended by the Bangkok located Embassy of your country

***get an appointment at your embassy and have the documents and the translation “legalized”

***visit a branch of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and get them “co-legalized” (either main office in Bangkok and a legalization office in the 4th floor of the Central mall in Pattaya, or any of its subsidiaries in Ubon Ratchathani, Songkhla, Phuket and Chiang Mai)

*** for the main MfA office in Bangkok you need an appointment

*** with these “co-legalized” documents, you can get your marriage acknowledged and registered inside Thailand on your local Amphoe office
Colin **********
Colin **********
@Ivan *****
yes, there in their lobby, i think there independent, but ok for the MFA
Max *************
Max *************
@Colin *********
Yes, you're correct.
Brandon ************
Brandon ************
That's correct. You need to find your own agent/translation company, who will then take the translation to the MFA to get it certified.
Ivan ******
Ivan ******
OP
@Brandon ***********
are there any District office who doesn't need to have it translated? Bangkok is too far me to do the certification
Nongnuch ********
Nongnuch ********
@Ivan *****
always use a translation company which got a recommendation from your country's embassy. Because it is your embassy who has to first legalize everything, before you take it to the MfA. Sometimes the embassy website lists adresses of competent translation services.
Brandon ************
Brandon ************
@Ivan *****
you don't do it yourself. You find an agent to do it.

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