Notarial and documentary services guide for Thailand

Overview

The British Embassy Bangkok can provide a range of notarial and documentary services for British nationals in Thailand.

Where local notaries can provide services, the British embassy will not provide them. In many cases local notaries or lawyers can provide services more cheaply, quickly and conveniently.

You must make an appointment for each service that requires your personal attendance. Please use the links after each service to make an appointment.

Before booking, make sure you have selected the correct service and that the document will be accepted by the relevant authority. This could be the local district (Amphur), registry office, tax authorities, immigration office, ministries or another authority either in Thailand, the UK or a third country.

Services we provide in Thailand

Consular staff in Thailand can:

• administer an oath, affirmation or affidavit
• witness a signature
• make a certified copy of a document
• unite documents
• letter confirming pension/income for retirement visa in Thailand
• legalisation

For information about documents relating to marriage, such as a certificate of no impediment (CNI) and affirmations or affidavits of marital status, please see getting married abroad.

If you can’t find the service you are looking for on this page, please see other services provided by the British Embassy in Thailand.

What to bring to your appointment

See the individual services below for details of supporting documents to bring. Make sure you have acceptable proof of address and identity, and payment for any fees. See the full list of consular fees.

Payment

We accept payment by Visa, MasterCard, or cash in the local currency (Thai Baht) on the day of the appointment. Consular fees

Proof of address and identity

For all appointments for notarial services you will need to bring acceptable proof of your identity and address.

We accept passports or national identity cards as proof of identity.

We accept driver’s licence, utility bills, postal mail showing your name and local address or house registration as proof of your address.

Administer an oath, affirmation or affidavit

This service is for people who need to swear an oath, make an affirmation or make an affidavit in front of a consular officer. You may need to make an affirmation of marital status in order to get married in Thailand. If both parties are British Nationals then each must make an affirmation. Same sex marriages/civil partnerships are not recognised in Thailand. Therefore we cannot process documentation for a same sex marriage even if the marriage is proposed to take place in a third country. See getting married abroad to find out what you need to do.

The Embassy will not draft documents for you. First check with the Embassy what format they need and then have the document drawn up or checked by a professional.

What you will need to bring with you:

• The oath, affirmation or affidavit that you will swear or affirm
• Proof of identity/address – see what we will accept as proof
• The correct fee – see the list of fees and payment options

Book an appointment for an oath, affirmation or affidavit in Bangkok

Witness a signature

This service is for customers who need to sign a document and have their signature witnessed by a consular officer. The document must be prepared before your appointment as we will not draft documents for you. We do not handle wills or probate, or witness deed polls, or Powers of Attorney.

Please do not sign the document before your appointment.

The fee is charged per our signature by the consular officer.

What you will need to bring with you:

• The document that you will sign before a witness
• Proof of identity/address – see what we will accept as proof
• The correct fee – see the list of fees and payment options

Book an appointment for witnessing a signature in Bangkok

Make a certified copy of a document

This service is for customers who need certified photocopies of British passports, Home Office registration/naturalisation certificates, UK educational documents (only those that have been issued in the UK by a recognised institution and are listed on the Legalisation Office website, British driving licences and British divorce decrees.

Please note

• the fee is determined by the number of pages requiring certification
• we are unable to certify photocopies of British marriage, birth and death certificates as these should be applied for through the General Register Office

What you will need to bring with you:

• The document to be copied
• Proof of identity/address – see what we will accept as proof
• The correct fee – see the list of fees and payment options

Book an appointment for certified copies in Bangkok

Unite documents

This service joins the above mentioned documents together using ribbon and a seal and is usually only needed for legal reasons. What you will need to bring with you:

• The documents to be united
• Proof of identity/address – see what we will accept as proof
• The correct fee – see the list of fees and payment options

Book an appointment to unite documents in Bangkok

Other services we provide

The following services are only accepted via postal application

Consular letter confirming pension/income for retirement visa in Thailand

Information about the procedure to be followed to obtain the letter

Legalising a signature or seal

We can legalise certain signatures from the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs and signatures on FCO legalisation certificates (Apostille) and UK Notaries Public.

If you are required to have the signature of the Apostille attached to a document such as British birth, marriage or death certificate legalised for use in Thailand, you can obtain this service via postal application.

What you will need to mail us:

• The document
• Copies of proof of identity/address – see what we will accept as proof
• The correct fee for the service and the fee for express mail return postage – see the list of fees paid by money order. Please ensure the money order for the correct fee is payable to the British Embassy to be cashed at Nana Post Office Bangkok 10112.

We will complete this service within 5 working days and post the document back to you.

Services provided elsewhere

We no longer provide life certificates for British nationals claiming a British pension abroad. Please refer to the list of people working in a recognised profession who can do this for you.

Data protection

The Foreign & Commonwealth Office holds and uses data for purposes notified to the Information Commissioner under the Data Protection Act 1998. Such personal data may be disclosed to other UK government departments and public authorities.

Disclaimer

This information is provided as a general guide and is based upon information provided to the embassy / consulate by the relevant authorities and may be subject to change at any time with little or no notice. Accordingly the FCO and the British embassy / consulate will not be liable for any inaccuracies in this information. For all notarial and legalisation services it is the responsibility of the customer to ascertain the precise requirements of the person requesting the notarial or legalisation service and to satisfy themselves that the service provided by the embassy/consulate will be accepted.