Mabuhay! So you’ve chosen to get married in Thailand with your lovely Filipina bride. The good news is Filipinos can get married in Thailand hassle free, though the Philippine embassy in Bangkok requires documents from the Philippines before it issues the Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage – a marriage document required by Thai law from a foreigner that she may be able to register marriage in Thailand.

The Filipino fiancé has to collect the Certificate of No Marriage or CENOMAR from the National Statistics office in Manila and then original Birth Certificate also from NSO. These documents are to be sent to the Department of Foreign Affairs for legalization or the red-ribbon process as it’s colloquially called in the Philippines. Once in Bangkok, the Filipino bride has to visit the Philippine embassy in Thonglor to apply for the LCCM. The embassy no longer imposes the 10-day marriage ban so the certificate is available for pick up the next business day. The processing fee is THB 1,125.

When the LCCM has finally been obtained, it has to be translated into Thai and be legalized at the Ministry of foreign Affairs before the marriage registration at the district office. Currently, the legalization period for documents takes 3 days so you have to anticipate this waiting period. When the documents are finally ready, you may proceed to the nearest district office to do the actual marriage registration which can be accomplished in less than an hour. Both husband and wife will be issued Marriage certificates in Thai which need to be translated into English and legalized at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs so that they can be used overseas.

Marrying your Filipino fiancé in Thailand is a good option as Thai marriage is recognized world wide. Also, marriage ceremony is a separate entity and has nothing to do with the legality to the marriage unlike in the Philippines. Hence, you can skip it and proceed with the marriage registration right away.