Royal Thai Consulate General Los Angeles, much fun we had today running back and forth between the Consulate and the full-service Thai legal office across the street!
I had the full story over in my own corner which I am not going into here. But since I’ve gone through a mini hell today to get legal paperworks done at the Consulate, I think I should share my experience so any Thai wife who got married in the U.S. would know what to expect if she needs to get a new passport. Hopefully, my experience today would save you ladies some time.
Oh yeah, hubbies. This would be the time to get your wife to read Thai-Blogs. 😉
I haven’t changed my name and status in Thailand since I got married years ago. My household registry (Sammanoh kruah) and Thai ID still had me as a Miss MaidenName.
I did however had the temporary name change made on my passport which enabled me to travel with my green card.
Now, Thai government required that everyone upgrades to the ePassport. I can no longer extend the life of my beloved passport. I just pray that they’d let me keep it. For crying out lout, it’s my first ever passport with my picture as a 7-year-old on there bound to a newer current one! But I digress.
Thai ID card or actual household registry is required to issue the ePassport. My passport will have whatever name it is on that document. If I want my passport to reflect my current name, I will have to change the paperwork back home.
That leads to the legalization paperworks. I went through a lot of hassle today so you don’t have to when it’s your turn. So, if you are a Thai woman who got married in the US and needs someone to update your information for you back home, here’s a list of what you will need.
Oh, and before going further, across the street from the LA Consulate is a company that does everything the Thai Consulate would require like making copies, notarizing signatures, translation, passport photo etc. Most of the things to get rolling with this process you can get done ahead, but some you may just need their help.
You will be submitting 3 sets of documents: Power of Attorney document to authorize someone in Thailand to do your biddings regarding your name change, Authentification of your marriage certificate, and Last Name Agreement which essentially letting them know that yes you will now take your husband name and he agrees to that.
What you will need to bring:
1. 3 copies of your current passports or Thai ID cards.
2. 2 copies of your husband’s passport.
3. $45 money order. $15 each for 3 forms you are going to submit.
4. 2 legalization request forms (แบบฟอร์มคำร้องนิติกรณ). One for the Power of Attorney document and one for authentication of English document. Fill everything out with your Thai name.
5. Power of Attorney form (แบบฟอร์มหนังสือมอบอำนาจ – มอบอำนาจทั่วไปใช้กับ ธนาคาร อำเภอ ฯลฯ). This one is to authorize someone in Thailand to do your biddings about changing your name. DON’T sign it until they tell you to at the Consulate.
6. Last Name Agreement บันทึกข้อตกลงในการใช้ชื่อสกุล. You will need to notarize your husband’s signature for this form. But because the “witness” slot is in Thai, you may want to check with your notary to make sure that he/she can notarize the document. If not, you will have to find a Thai notary. (I use the people across from the Consulate). You will fill this out entirely in Thai except for your husband’s name and signature. The first person to go in there will be your husband. Just put the City you’re in in “Amphor” and state in “Jangwat”. The second spot will be you.
7. Legal translation of your marriage certificate into Thai plus one copy of the entire documents which are a copy of the certificate, the translation and a certification letter from the translator. I also had this one done at the place across from the Consulate.
Once you get all these paperworks back, you can send home the Power of Attorney paper and the marriage certificate translation. Folks over there can take care of it from that point. When that’s done, you can go on with the ePassport process.
The Royal Consulate website does have most of the information but it doesn’t really tell you what ALL you will need to get where you need to go. Hence my running around today! But now that I did it, you wouldn’t have to. 🙂
Oh, and the ePassport process? That will be coming up very soon. Stay tuned!
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