Marriage, Divorce and Status Certificates

Typically the hospital certificate of birth, Thai ID cards of the informant and the parents, the house register the child will be added to, and the parents' marriage certificate if any. Where the father is a foreign national, the passport plus a certified translation is requested. Requirements vary by office, so call the office you will visit before travelling.

Yes. The law lets spouses agree to use either spouse's surname or to keep their own. To take a foreign spouse's surname, present the marriage certificate or marriage register with a certified translation at the registration office for recording, then update the ID card and passport in that order.

Present the divorce certificate or the final judgment at the registration office to revert to your former surname, then update the house register, ID card and passport. If the divorce took place abroad, the foreign judgment or divorce record must first be legalised and recorded as a change of family status in Thailand.

Kor Ror 2 is the marriage register recording the full particulars and held by the registration office; Kor Ror 3 is the marriage certificate handed to the couple. Foreign embassies usually want a certified copy of Kor Ror 2 because it carries more detail, so for a spouse visa obtain certified copies of both with certified translations.

It should be. Your status in the Thai civil registration database does not update automatically. The foreign marriage record or divorce judgment must be legalised in sequence (issuing-country authority, the relevant embassy, then the Department of Consular Affairs) and then recorded as a change of family status at the registration office.

Registration of legitimation (Kor Ror 11) requires the consent of both the child and the mother given before the registrar. Where the child is too young to consent, or the mother does not or cannot consent, the father must petition the court and then register the court order at the registration office.

The marriage is already valid where it was celebrated, but the Thai civil registry will not show it until you record a family status entry (Kor Ror 22) at a Thai district office. Recording it matters for inheritance rights, property transactions, dependant visas, and any future single-status certificate.

Normally the foreign marriage certificate legalized by the issuing country and the Thai embassy — or, from 28 February 2027, carrying an Apostille — plus a Thai translation certified by the Department of Consular Affairs, the Thai spouse's ID card and house book, and the foreign spouse's passport. Call the district office first, as some ask for witnesses.

Not automatically. The legalized and translated divorce decree or certificate must be recorded as a family status entry at a district office. Where the divorce came from a foreign court judgment, the registrar may require a Thai court order recognising it first, so have a lawyer review the file before filing.

Take the foreign court order or decree, authenticated under that country's system, have it translated and the translation certified by the Department of Consular Affairs, then file it with the district registrar to record the family status. This recording is required before remarrying in Thailand, and the registrar may request further documents case by case.

File a request with the district office where the marriage was registered for a registrar-certified copy of the Kor Ror 4 record, using your ID card or passport. If the marriage was registered at a Thai embassy abroad, request it through the Department of Consular Affairs, then have it translated and the translation certified before further use.

It records a marriage or divorce that occurred under foreign law into the Thai registry. File it at the district office with the authenticated foreign document and a certified translation. It is required before remarrying in Thailand, changing your title, or exercising property and inheritance rights.

It is normally obtained from the district registrar where the applicant is domiciled, usually with two witnesses under that office's rules. It is then translated into the language the destination requires and the translation legalised at the Department of Consular Affairs. Many countries require issue within three or six months of filing, so request it close to the filing date.