Marriage Registration in Phuket for Foreigners: 4 Steps

A foreigner marries in Phuket in four steps. Get a marital status certificate from your embassy. Have it translated into Thai and legalised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which has a Phuket service point. Register at any district office with 2 witnesses. Registering inside the office is free.

By Vincent Nguyen and team

Marriage registration in Phuket has four steps. Your embassy confirms you are free to marry. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs translates and legalises that paper. A district office registers the marriage.

The four steps at a glance

Counting backwards from the wedding date

The embassy paper is tied to one month and one province, so the ceremony date drives everything else, and it pays to count backwards from it. We recommend fixing the wedding month and the district office first. The order below follows the UK embassy’s rules, and other embassies set their own, so check yours before you copy the dates.

1. Name the wedding month and Phuket as the province in your application.
2. Apply no more than 3 months before the wedding.
3. Book the embassy appointment at least 7 days after you apply.
4. After that appointment, book the legalisation slot online. The Ministry translates and legalises the affirmation and the passport copy.
5. On the day, take both papers to the district office, with 2 witnesses.

The pages we hold give no official processing time for translation or legalisation, so ask for it when you book instead of guessing.

The embassy paper

The Thai registry lists a certificate of marital status for a person of another nationality among the documents.

The UK embassy is one worked example. In most provinces a British national needs a marital status affirmation and a certified passport copy. Ask the person conducting your ceremony, or the venue, whether you need it.

• Apply online and pay £50 for the affirmation and £25 for the certified passport copy, £75 in total.
• Book the embassy appointment for at least 7 days after you apply.
• Your partner does not need to attend the appointment.
• The affirmation is valid only for the month and province you state in the application.
• Apply no more than 3 months before the wedding.

If your partner is Thai, your partner contacts the local district office. A partner of another nationality asks their own embassy what documents that nationality needs.

If you were married before

The UK application asks for proof that any previous marriage or civil partnership has ended. Thai rules add two limits.

• A person who already has a spouse cannot marry again.
• A woman whose marriage ended waits not less than 310 days before remarrying, except in cases listed in section 1453.

Translation and legalisation

The Ministry takes a foreigner’s single-status paper in one of two forms. It is either issued by your embassy in Thailand, or issued by your home authorities and certified by your home foreign ministry and the Thai embassy there.

The Thai translation must be certified by the Department of Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The translator signs to certify the translation. After your embassy appointment the affirmation and passport copy are translated into Thai and legalised by the Ministry.

For a foreign spouse the supporting copies (passport, visa page, permitted-stay page) are certified as true copies on every page. Your permitted stay in Thailand must not have expired.

Where to legalise in Phuket

The Ministry has legalisation offices in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Phuket and Ubon Ratchathani. Book the appointment online on the Ministry website.

• Address: Central Phuket Festival, floor B, Wichit, Mueang, Phuket.
• Opening time: 09:00 - 15:30.
• Phones: 085-911-4193 and 076-222-080 to 81.

Allow time between the embassy appointment and the wedding for this step. Check with the receiving authority which kind of legalisation it wants before you book.

Register at the district office

Marriages are registered at any district registration office, regardless of either party’s domicile. The UK guidance adds that the district office must be in the province named on your affirmation. Name Phuket as the province when you apply.

Bring your affirmation and a certified copy of your passport on the agreed date. The registry asks for your passport as ID. The district office, called an amphoe or khet, confirms the local requirements and documents.

• Both persons are at least 18; a court may allow it earlier for good cause.
• A minor needs consent from the person legally entitled to give it.
• 2 witnesses attend.

What it costs

Registering a marriage inside the registry office is free. Outside the office the fee is THB 200 per copy. A copy of a record costs THB 10.

Beach and venue weddings

For a fee the registrar can marry you at your chosen venue. A religious ceremony alone is not valid.

Same-sex couples

Applications to register same-sex marriages have been accepted from 23 January 2025.

The certificates

The registrar conducts the ceremony and gives you 2 identical marriage certificates in Thai. Keep a copy, and consider an English translation if you will use it outside Thailand.

To use the certificate abroad, the Ministry legalises the original Kor Ror 3 marriage certificate with a copy. An English version can be requested from the district office.

The Kor Ror 2 marriage registration is the evidence of marriage Immigration asks for in a Thai-spouse extension. Take the papers to Phuket Immigration at 482 Phuket Rd., Talad Yai, Mueang, Phuket 83000. Details: Non-O visa for a Thai spouse.

Next in this journey

• Non-O visa for a Thai spouse
• Phuket Immigration Office
• Ninety-day report in Phuket

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Not confirmed: Fees and waiting time for legalisation and certified translation are not confirmed. Embassy names, prices and appointment rules for non-British nationals are not confirmed. Ask your own embassy before you book.

General information checked against the sources listed above, not legal advice for your situation. Rules and office practice change; confirm with the immigration office or a licensed adviser before you act. See how guides are checked.

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