Getting married in Bangkok, mixed marriage; nationality and religion...

**bad_azz** · 08-08-12, 11:26

@Sky... Alia is right

I am Mrs Squirrel now

@ Anette: I love chopped nuts too ...

**kingwilly** · 08-08-12, 12:30

There's a strange gripping, tightening feeling I get that warns me that this thread is descending into a bunch of OUCH stories...

**bad_azz** · 08-08-12, 13:09

Nope- Willy... to take it back on track, let's save the ouch details for the Bangkok branch of the Indonesian government.

This morning we went to submit the documents to register the marriage.
There it is on the wall in black and white-

Fees: registering marriage = $20 US.

NOT so.. nope - today's special price $30 US.

Being a smug old hand at these things I had the required amount of dollars on me.
I also left the place with a proper receipt for the cash.
If I could be arsed I would check all this out and possibly protest ... however it has been a trial to get so far ... so my political decision for the sake of peace and harmony within our new Squirriel nest was to say fk it and head for the bar.

The score so far
Squirrels 0 - 3 Indonesian Embassy

Tomorrow is the end game... we get to collect all the documents including my shiny new SosBud...

What could possibly go wrong now?

**Jaime C** · 08-08-12, 15:29

Oh, don't tempt the gods with your last sentence, B_A!

**kingwilly** · 08-08-12, 18:06

yeah..... agreed.

good luck or break a leg or whatever dear!

**bad_azz** · 08-08-12, 18:45

It was sarcasm...

**kingwilly** · 08-08-12, 19:00

oh, really?

ya know dem gods hate sarcasm too?

**bad_azz** · 17-08-12, 12:55

So to summarise...
processing a SosBud in Bangkok is easy... just be sure to submit an exit ticket along with the usual documents- fee $45 US
Submit documents on Monday before 11-45 am and collect Wednesday between 2 and 3 pm.
(adjust days accordingly )
If husband sponsoring wife a copy of marriage certificate is needed also.
Oh and be sure to say it is for a Sosbud with a view to extending it... they will highlight the SosBud part then to be sure it is the correct visa and not a 'tourist' visa.

Getting married- well easy enough if one remembers that one has to submit the original of the parental permission document for the Indonesian partner at the Indonesian Embassy - along with all the other required documents.
Submitting documents can only be done between 9-00 am and 11-45 am... collecting documents can only be done between 2pm and 3pm

Ministry of Foreign Affairs - this is a fair way out of the city- expect travel to take around 1 hour each way.
It opens at 8-00 am. They do have the express service and it costs double the regular price- documents submitted for express service have to be in before 12 (midday)
The regular service takes 2 days - so if submitting documents on a Monday - you collect them on Wednesday.

- not knowing where to find and amphur/ ket (despite asking and also trying to find something in the yellow pages - we decided to use an agent... the cost is approx £60 -£80.
For this we got whisked away from MOFA back to a ket in the city (suffering an hour and 20 minutes of loud gangsta rap music in the car... almost turned to prayer for it to end) - we had a translator and witnesses provided and we basically answered a few questions (how long have we known each other, did I want to take my husbands surname... etc).
We signed some papers -were told "congratulations you are now married, do you want to pay 300 baht for a presentation folder for your certificates?" and that was it- shoved back in the car - driver still playing gangsta rap at full volume and whisked back up to MOFA to complete the documents there - also had to get some more translations for the Indonesian embassy - that translation cost was extra to what we had already paid.
A few more trips to Indonesian embassy and all in the bag.
I am back home now in the very lovely Bandung.
If anyone does go to Bangkok... be sure to fit in a trip to the Tiger Temple... this is not the cheapest trip but it is worth every penny - you get up close and personal to the tigers.
I also got to bottle feed a leopard cub.
sweet

**bad_azz** · 21-08-12, 14:50

In a bid to be organised for the visit to the Catatan Sipil, to register the marriage here in Indonesia, we packed all the documents into a rucksack, left it in the office and sat out in the garden- totally oblivious to what the (ahem - not) sleeping puppy was doing.
It appears that he decided it was fun to dig in the rucksack and has devoured half of the paperwork... I swear if I have to go back to Bangkok and repeat all the embassy/ ministry carousel I will consider canine-icide (is that a word).
2 hours and a roll of Sellotape later I have something that might be acceptable ... luckily most of the stamps and seals on the translations are intact and also luckily I did have photocopies of the documents (from before they got authorised in the Indonesian Embassy).

Please; somebody tell me that the Catatan Sipil is going to be human and understanding about this and not be anal and make me go back to Bangkok...

**Puspawarna** · 21-08-12, 15:38

WaaAAAAAAiiiiLLLLLLL.......

I'm so sorry, bad_azz. Now, please forgive me while I laugh. I really, truly, genuinely feel terrible for you. But that's aboslutely hilarious.

Oops. I mean, "You poor dear, that's absolutely hilarious."