@Michael *****

This can all be done by a translation agent in Thailand.. but pick one who is familiar with the process for the country where the marriage was solemnized.. they will deal with all the administrative aspects of getting your original marriage certificate authenticated by the relevant Embassy.. and then getting it translated and certified (stamped) by the MoFA here in Thailand.. we paid just over 5,000 baht for this service.. which was very reasonable in light of the significant saving of time and energy.. not to mention flights down to Bangkok and accommodation etc!

@Greg **********

If the marriage was solemnized in Thailand as the OA states.. then i believe the marriage registration document issued by the Amphur is a Kor Ror 2.. however, overseas marriages will indeed be certified with a Kor Ror 22 as you say 👍

@Pierre ********

You also state you will arrive on a 'non-o' and then intend to apply for a marriage visa.. if you have applied for an initial non-o in Canada and it has been granted already.. then it should have been based upon marriage to a Thai.. and the Embassy in Canada would surely have needed your Thai marriage certificate to process your application.. which is slightly confusing.. that initial 90-day 'visa' is the prelude to an application to extend it for the full 12-month 'visa.. ie. once you reach Thailand.. but you will still need the same marriage docs to do that.. but if you've applied (in Canada) on a different basis (such as retirement) you cannot extend it based upon a different reason.. after entering the country you would have to go through the process of converting the initial visa purpose first.. ie. prior to extending it.. which is another layer of bureaucracy and fees to contend with.. I'd recommend you have a marriage based visa in place before you travel, if there is sufficient time to do it.. makes your life easier on day 1.. such as opening bank accounts and applying for a yellow book etc.. especially important in the current climate if you have a bank account with BB and are intending to use that to season your funds.. since they are making life difficult for expats who haven't had the funds on deposit for at least 4-months before requesting a balance certificate!

@Pierre ********

I would contact the gov't authorities in Canada that are holding your original documents and see if there is any way of retrieving them.. if that is a wild goose chase you will need to apply for a replacement marriage certificate from the Thai Embassy in Canada.. presumably you have a photocopy of it or at least a digital copy.. which will contain all the relevant information.. which they will need to trace your marriage and fulfil such a request.. you should get your Thai version of the marriage certificate which removes the need for a translation of course.. and that will save you much time and money when you get to Thailand.. though you should check you won't need an English language version as well for immigration.. worst scenario is you get here and start the process of obtaining a replacement marriage certificate from the Amphur in the district where you got married.. and since your marriage will already be registered with them you can get a new KR22 (might be KR2 for a Thai marriage) at the same time.. and then you will be equipped to tackle the non-o application.. just bear in mind there might be a minimum waiting period if you are getting replacements from the Amphur in Thailand.. eg. it could be a same day service or a 7-day service.. and you need to factor that in to your calculations.

@John *********

Agreed.. just extended my non-o married visa at CM immigration today.. was told if i travel out of country during the under consideration period i MUST return by the date provided to get the full 12-month extension stamped in my passport.. otherwise i prejudice the process and they consider this latest application null and void.. meaning the existing 'visa' is considered expired and when i re-enter the country I'd be stamped in on a 60-day visa exemption stamp.. then I'd have to make an application for a new non-o.. ie. starting all over again with an initial 90-day 'visa' etc, etc.. personally, I'd never travel overseas during an under consideration period, unless it was a real emergency of course!

I will focus on your marriage certificate here.. since imo this is possibly the most difficult aspect to get right.. because it involves several steps.....

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 (or sometimes it's a service performed by the Consulate) of the country where your marriage took place.. for most people that's likely to be their home country.. so you may be able to do this in Canada before you leave for Thailand.. however, you could have had a vacation style wedding, which would need to involve a foreign Embassy instead.. but if you are already in Thailand with a home country marriage certificate then things are slightly different.. first step, your overseas marriage certificate has to be authenticated by the relevant country Embassy in Bangkok.. once you have this you can move on to the second step.. which is getting a copy of the original (now already Embassy certified) marriage certificate translated into Thai and getting that translated copy certified by the (Thailand) Ministry of Foreign Affairs (also in Bangkok) .. only then will you have the correct documents to be able to register your marriage at your local Amphur in Thailand.. which is necessary to obtain a Kor Ror 22 (another certificate) from them.. which is a document you will need to support your non-o married visa application at Immigration.. given the complexities and inconvenience involved in this process I'd say it's probably best to engage 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.. so we found an agent that specialises in translation services that could do everything for us and produce the certified marriage documents I've outlined here.. this process took them around 2 weeks from start to finish and we agreed to attend the final document collection at the International Convention Center in CM to reduce the wait by a few days.. otherwise it would have been a 3-week wait.. the fee was just over 5,000 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 later.. be aware that your Amphur may try to retain the original certified copies 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 you won't want to have to repeat this exercise and incur further unnecessary 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, agreed to pay an agent the necessary fee to produce another set for me.. and after deliberation and consultation with superiors they backed down and simply took copies which they had us certify as genuine copies!

@Martin *********

That was not the explanation i was given at all.. they said travelling removes ability to do early/late online.. if i did it online on the exact reporting date it would have been accepted.. whereas i tried early and it failed!

I had been doing my 90-day reports online without any problems.. then i suddenly faced repeated rejections on the next one.. which i couldn't understand.. so i went to do it in person and enquired about this issue.. i was told that if i had recently travelled out of the country and returned.. thereby re-setting my reporting date.. the system would only let me do it online on the exact day it was due.. and i could only do it early or late if i did it 'in person'.. which was the reason for my online submissions being rejected.. however, i was told that after that one i could revert to early or late reporting using the online system again.. or that i should just stick to doing it on the exact date!

Get the 90-day non-o visa based on retirement in your home country.. ie. before you travel.. and then extend it in country.. then bolt on a multiple entry 're-entry' permit to solve your travel needs.. this approach will also avoid any difficulties at immigration that could arise if you try to enter on another visa exempt stamp.. given the many instances of immigration tightening up on this being floated in these forums!

@Stuart **********

I only paid for the translation and certification of the overseas marriage certificate.. i handled the visa application myself.. but needed this to get the KR22 from the Amphur.. before i could finalise my documentation 😉