Happy travels,

@T**

!

@Tod ********

- Just to close the loop on this... I completed a family affidavit (the marriage declaration section), got it notarized at the US Embassy in Bangkok, and that satisfied the Hua Hin Immigration Officer. They didn't care one whit about my original marriage cert from North Carolina, just the affidavit. Of course, I had all the other extension documentation in order even before.

I could have saved a trip to Bangkok if I had understood the marriage declaration requirement because I had to get the income affidavit done anyway. I could have covered both items with one trip and one appointment. A note for others, though: you can get more than one document notarized with one appointment, but the Embassy does charge a separate notary fee for each document.

The immigration office kept a copy of my notarized family affidavit for their file, but they returned the original. They said it will serve every purpose from now on.

Will do!

Thanks,

@T**

. When I got home yesterday I went online and found the Embassy's disclaimer about vital record authentication. I went on to find the generic affidavit form, completed the marriage section, and made my appointment for next week. I think I'm all ready to go now.

@Tod ********

- Thanks for your advice! It's always a pleasure.

I assumed that the guy on the other side of the desk was an immigration officer...I was at the Hua Hin Immigration Office just north of the palace.

My wife is a native of Brazil, but is also here on her US passport. We presented a marriage cert copy in the US for our original O-A visas, and a couple of times here for residence registration. The translation was recommended by the agent in Hua Hin.

New concept: border diving

Something that others have mentioned before, and I found this, too, is that there may be an unofficial "fee" associated with the residency cert. This is basically a contribution to the tea fund because nobody has ever reported getting a receipt. My "fee" was 500 baht. Even at that it's less hassle and much cheaper than the fee for the notary service at the embassy.

I recently got a residency cert from the Immigration Office in Hua Hin. I needed the completed form, a passport-style photo, copies of all relevant pages of my passport, and my lease. The process was painless, and took about 30 minutes in all.

I took my driver's license in Bangkok before moving to Prachuap, and they accepted my US Embassy notarized statement as proof of address.