Sabai Dee,

I'm new to the forum and i hope some of you all can help me with my million and one questions. Firstly I'm after some information on the process on how to get married in Laos from start to finish, So where to start.

My Fiancee has a friend in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs who she has spoken to, now he tried to help her but basically he isn't that high up with the process and could only tell her that she needed to come back to the MOFA once we had completed all the paperwork. The help is appreciated and I am sure it will come in handy at some point later in the process but it wasn't that helpful for us just starting out.

So i called the Laos embassy in Canberra ( being an Aussie ) and they where no help either, basically telling me unless we where married in Australia and where looking to legally register the marriage with them there wasn't much they could help with.

So i looked up as many places online as i could from forums to embassy websites, also contacting some legal firms in Laos itself ( on the advice of fellow forumers here ) and came up with a list of required documents, the hardest part is not knowing where to get alot of them from or how to explain that to my fiancee.

Documents Required from a Lao Citizen

1 - Marriage application
OK so is this provided from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? is there a cost involved? Can anyone advise? My fiancee asked her friend at the MOFA and he said a form from them would cost her 7 million kip to be translated into English, im assuming this is the form he was talking about being the main document needed to complete the application, I'm also assuming that the 7 million would be for both Lao and English documents or is this a separate cost for both?

2 - Biographic information
What this? Where do we get it and how do i explain it to my fiancee?

3 - Residence Certificate
What this? Where do we get it and how do i explain it to my fiancee?

4 - Certificate of No Impediment
Where is this issued? How do i explain it to my fiancee?

5 - Medical Examination Certificate
Ok for the Australian Immigration Dept and our application for her to come to Australia she has to have a medical exam at the Australian Embassy in Vientiane, Is this examination certificate able to be used if translated or does it have to be from a Local Laos Hospital??

6 - Punishment record No. 3 (Valid for three months from the issue date)

Punishment Record No. 3 - This is the Lao citizen's police record.
A Lao citizen residing in Vientiane Capital can apply for this
document with the People's Court.

She is from Vang Vieng, is she able to get this from Vientiane at the above place or does she have to get it from Vang Vieng Peoples Court?? How do i explain what this is to my fiancee?


7 - Engagement certificate
When we decided to get married, we went to her families village and spoke to her parents, who in turn spoke to the Naiban and we had a party to make official that we wanted to marry ect. There was no mention of paperwork so who issues this? How do i tell my fiancee what this is?

8 - Copy of the family book, ID card, Passport
we already have these 3, We have Photocopies of her original Laos documents and she has just gotten all these translated into English for us, Will that be acceptable or do we have to have officially translated and issued/stamped copies?? If so where do we get these?

9 - 4 Photographs, Passport size
Easy enough

Is there anything missing that she will require for the application to be complete?


Documents Required from a Foreigner


1 - Marriage Application
As stated above the MOFA told her that the form is going to cost her 7 million kip for it to be translated into English for us, I am assuming that this is the form they where talking about, correct me if this is wrong and advise where this can be issued to us.

2 - Biographic Information
As above i have no idea on this, what is it? where can it be issued? what is acceptable?

3. Residence Certificate
Where can this be issued and what is acceptable?

4. Certificate of No Impediment
I understand this can be issued by the Australian Embassy in Vientiane?? I also assume this will have to be translated into Laotian??

5. Repatriation Guarantee and Financial Support
i understand what both of these are, my issue is what is acceptable? Is the Repatriation Guarantee an official form, If so wher can we get it? I also assume both of these will have to be in Laotian?? The Financial Support document i understand is basically just a Bank Statement?

6. Medical Examination
Easy - I assume a certificate issued by the Australian Embassy in Vientiane is acceptable, translated and certified of course

7. Police Record (Valid for three months from the issue date)
I know i can get one issued in Australia is this acceptable? translated of course, will it have to be certified after translation??

8. Certificate of Economic Status
I have no idea what this is, What is it and where can it be issued? Assume again it would need to be translated, what about certification??

9 - Copy of passport and ID card or drivers license
Easy - I already have copies and originals of these, what is acceptable? do they have to be certified copies if so where do we get that done? Translated again of course, do these have to be certified as well? where do we get this done?

10 - 6 Photographs, Passport size
Easy

11 - Embassy agreement
(Obtained from the Embassy in the form of a notarized document)
What is this for? what is it? Again does it have to be translated and certified? If so where can we get this done?



All the above are the only things i can officially find that are required.
But i have also been told that there are police interviews ( with the police chief of my fiancee's provincial area)

Now i found the below info on the US embassy in Laos website but it just lists a few places and not the order of what has to be done for the application.

After collecting all the needed documents, you should expect to
visit various government offices as follows. Each office may
require a fee.

Village Chief Office
Obtain the village chief's signature for
the Lao citizen's documents.

---- My fiancee's family is pretty good friends with the local Naiban and getting anything done from him would be easy and cost free, Its just not knowing which documents he can provide and what he needs to certify ----

District Administration Office
Present the complete application. This office will issue a recommendation for marriage.

District Police Headquarters
This office will conduct an interview about your relationship and will then issue an Interview
Report.

---- My fiancee is from Vang Vieng, Do we have it conduct this part of the process here or can we do it in Vientiane?? ---

Municipality Police Headquarters, Foreigner Control Unit
At this office you must inform the police officials that you intend to
get married. This office will report this information to the
Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

---- Again she is from Vang Vieng, Where would this be required ot be done?? ----

Consular Department of Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Present all of the documents for the acknowledgement stamps. There is a
fee for each page that must be stamped. Fees for Lao citizens and foreigners may be different. Normally, the officials will stamp only 5-6 important documents (not the whole application). The Consular Department will write a report for the Foreigner Control Department of the Ministry of Public Security.

Foreigner Control Department of Ministry of Public Security
This office will create two requests (for the Municipality
Administration office and Ministry of Foreign Affairs).

Municipality Administration office
After this office receives the request, you and your Lao partner
will schedule an appointment to sign the documents and finalize the
marriage certificate.

---- I'm assuming this is the last step in the application process and after the certificate is issued we can legally marry in my fiancee's village?? ----



Ok so where do i start???????

We are doing the paperwork ourselves as i spoke to a few agencies and legal firms in Laos and i really think it will be better to do it ourselves, we have the time and understand that this will be a tedious and drawn out process unless we are willing to slip some bribe money along the way. We are also thinking if it becomes to much to handle ourselves we can always get it done cheaper if we have done most of the leg work already.

So what is the order of doing the application??

Anyone have an idea on the costs involved (outside bribes) for any of the documents, certification and/or translations.

We have spoke about getting married in Thailand or Australia and registering it with the Laos embassy in Australia but have heard and read some horror stories about doing it this way ( also heard some successful ones as well ) and we want to do it the right way so as to not have any issues for her to go back and see her family and would prefer to ot have any issues myself going back to Laos at any point as well.

We are also in the process of doing the application to the Australian Immigration Dept as well but we will hold off on putting in the paperwork till we are further along or completed with the Laos side of things in case we run into complications. Thankfully the Australian side of things is much easier and less tedious, communication is also much easier.


I'm sorry for the long post and the many many questions, if there is anyone out there that can advise on parts of the above, or help me with the process of application it would be much appreciated. Its hard being back home in Australia with only limited opportunities to head over to Laos to handle the paperwork myself and although my fiancee has a decent level of English its very confusing to her sometimes explaining to her what is needed over the phone.


Khawp Jai Lai Lai

There's too many questions, and unfortunately I'm too busy to answer everything.

A biographic information is basically a short information about yourself. You and your girlfriend both need to provide this. Just describe in your own words about where you were born, where you live, what you do, etc. You can read sample biographic information of other people on the internet to give you some idea.

You can get a Residence Certificate from your council, or an official letter stating where you live will do.

Certificate of Economic Status is proof of income. A letter from your employer will do.

Your girlfriend will need to do the paperwork in Vang Vieng because that's where she lives. If someone lives in Luang Prabang, then they also need to do it in Luang Prabang.

Thanks Saovaluck, I don't expect someone or anyone to answer every question in reply, as long as i get some replies i will be happy. Its a hard process to go through and i appreciate everyones advice or reply, especially those who have been through it all before...

We used to have a few "falang" foreigners on here who married women in Laos, unfortunately they are no longer with us.

It is a time consuming process and money involved too, but that's what happens when you marry someone in a foreign country. Once it's over, you want to make the marriage last forever.

I married a Lao girl, almost 2 years ago.   I live in Canada so I'm not sure how similar our government requirements are, but I will try to answer some of your questions

4 - Certificate of No Impediment
Is a document that you would get from the Australian Embassy in Vientiane.   It's basically a document that says there is no legal reason you cannot marry.  Mine cost me $26 USD.

7 million kip sounds like a lot to translate that document.  You sure that doesn't include "tea money".  I seem to recall that most of the documents I had translated cost me about $20 USD each.

The best piece of advice I can give you is save every scrap of document you get, receipts from hotels, plane tickets, phone records.   My wife and I used calling cards almost exclusively so it left us with a huge gap where we couldn't prove that we had communicated.

5. Repatriation Guarantee and Financial Support

I just wrote a letter stating that I promised to return her to Laos, signed it and had it translated.

I would also recommend you get married in Laos, and document everything, your government, if it is like mine, with want proof of the wedding.


Hope this has been helpful,  I'm on my way to work so I'll try to answer more questions later.  But feel free to ask anything,  I'll be happy to share with you my story.

BubbaBlue is right. 7 million kip ($900 US) is a lot of money to translate documents, unless it covers everything including processing documents and issuing you the marriage certificate.

If 7 million kip is just for translation, then you're being scammed.

Yeh i thought 7 million was a bit much, all my fiancee said was that she went to the Ministry of Foriegn Affairs in Vientiane and asked about the application forms for marriage...she was then told that it would cost her 7 million for them in English. I Don't know if that was for them to be processed as well or not...Its hard talking to her on the phone, she understands and speaks English fairly well but at times when it gets a little complicated she sometimes doesnt understand fully.

Also thats why i have asked the above multitude of questions as i have no idea where to start the process and the step by step of completing it. So i am to go off my fiancees word...As she is the one over there dealing with a lot of it at the moment. I know she isnt  trying to rip me off, I think in all honesty they (MOFA) see a falang coming and just want their handout!!!!

Thanks Bubbablue for your input, I'll be sure to hit you up for some more advice.


Quote:

I married a Lao girl, almost 2 years ago.   I live in Canada so I'm not sure how similar our government requirements are, but I will try to answer some of your questions 4 - Certificate of No Impediment Is a document that you would get from the Australian Embassy in Vientiane.   It's basically a document that says there is no legal reason you cannot marry.  Mine cost me $26 USD.

Bubbablue....I have just applied for my CNI from the Australian Embassy, getting mine was easy...How does a Laos National go about getting theirs?? Is it from the Local Naiban? If so whats it called and how do i explain it to my Fiancee? If it isnt from the Naiban where would she be able to get it?

Also i have been reading that it we don't have an approved application for engagement from the local Naiban before proceeding with out Marriage application that it could result in huge fines for us, Is this true? Did you have to have one from the Naiban? if so whats it called or how do i explain it to my Laos fiancee?

Try this web address for info about the documents you need:

http://travel.state.gov/law/citizenship/citizenship_755.html

I know it's for USA but it lists the documents you need to marry a Laos citizen and the steps in the order you need to get through this.

You should expect to pay a little extra to have your documents done "quickly".   ;)

I have a stack of documents left over from my marriage all of them in Lao,  sometime in the next few days I'll get them identified and let you know what I have.  I don't recall a CNI for my wife.


Quote:

Also i have been reading that it we don't have an approved application for engagement from the local Naiban before proceeding with out Marriage application that it could result in huge fines for us, Is this true?

Now the Admin can correct me if I'm wrong but once you have the engagement document you're considered married.  But I would be very careful to not give an appearance of improper behavior,  foreigners who have sex with Laos nationals can be fined between 500 and 5000 USD, blacklisted and deported.   
All though realistically you could probably just pay a small fine to the arresting officer (you won't get a receipt for this fine  ;))

Hope this was helpful
Bubba

BubbaBlue wrote on 26^th Jun, 2011 at 9:50am:

Now the Admin can correct me if I'm wrong but once you have the engagement document you're considered married.  But I would be very careful to not give an appearance of improper behavior,  foreigners who have sex with Laos nationals can be fined between 500 and 5000 USD, blacklisted and deported.    All though realistically you could probably just pay a small fine to the arresting officer (you won't get a receipt for this fine  ;)) Hope this was helpful Bubba

The engagement document doesn't mean that you're married, but it's handy in case the authorities catch you together at least you have "something" to show them, and you can explain to them that you're currently running the paperwork and will wed soon.

I've never heard of any foreigner go to jail in Laos, for reason of having a Lao woman in their room. More often than not, they'll accept a fine on the spot. How much is the fine, varies.

Going off the site you linked Bubbablue its very similar to the one i got off the Australian Embassy site, lists the documents but in no way helps on where to get them ect.



Quote:

When the documents have been presented to the provincial administrator, the processing time is about two or three weeks. This time can vary by province and change without notice

The above quote says that once we have all the paperwork we take it to the Provincial administrator, im assuming that it means we need to see someone in Vang Vieng correct? I was under the impression that once we finalized the papers we took them to the Ministry of Foriegn Affairs for them to be processed??

As I recall we had all the paperwork gathered then we:
1) Got village approval

2) Got provincial approval  my wife is from a village in Champasak province so we went to Pakse. I believe Vang Vieng is in the province of Vientiane.  I think we got 3 signatures and a couple of red stamps on a document called "Marriage Registration Certificate"

3) We had the wedding ceremony in her home village and I got to meet my village-inlaw. 

4) Took our growing stack of documents to Vientiane to get the Foreign Minister to sign off on our document only to discover this would take weeks.  I then returned to Canada to wait for this document to be completed.

This is just an overview of the steps I was involved in, my wife was busy doing most of the "leg work" while I was in Canada.

I found one more web document you should read:
http://photos.state.gov/libraries/adana/19452/pdfs/marriagelaos2010.pdf

Near the end of the document it lists the steps you can expect to take.  Hope this has been helpful.

Bubba

Thanks for the above information Bubba, now i have a few more questions i hope you don't mind answering.


1/ I have just been issued with my CNI and i know it has to be translated into Laotian for the MOFA it has already been certified and notarized by the Australian Government, my question is when i get it translated officially do i have to get it notarized again by the Australian government or does it get done by the official translation company or do i have to get it done by MOFA or some other government dept in Laos?

2/ What is a residence Certificate? i have looked up a few Australian government websites and they only issue these to immigrants seeking proof of residency not to current Australian Citizens.

Thanking you again, Chris

Quote:

1/ I have just been issued with my CNI and i know it has to be translated into Laotian for the MOFA it has already been certified and notarized by the Australian Government, my question is when i get it translated officially do i have to get it notarized again by the Australian government or does it get done by the official translation company or do i have to get it done by MOFA or some other government dept in Laos?

It doesn't need to be certified again, the translator will red stamp it to certify that the translation was done by him and is accurate.  They  will have an approved translator you will have to use.


Quote:

2/ What is a residence Certificate? i have looked up a few Australian government websites and they only issue these to immigrants seeking proof of residency not to current Australian Citizens.

I have (in my collection of documents) a residence certificate for my wife but not one for me.  I think I sent them photocopies of my passport, birth certificate and drivers license one of those must have been good enough.

---

thanks again Bubba, I will be speaking to my fiancee again today so hopefully she has been able to get a few more of the documents required from her end and we should be a bit closer to getting approved.

Probs have a few more questions along the way, thanks again for answering so quickly. Much appreciated

Ok Bubba i have a few more questions if you don't mind answering.
My fiancee sent me all her documents to go over to make sure we had everything organized.

Basically she has everything off this document http://photos.state.gov/libraries/adana/19452/pdfs/marriagelaos2010.pdf except documents 1, 5 and 7

And i have all on that document except 1, 6 and 11.

we will be doing a medical examination at the Australian Embassy in Vientiane in November so that will cover #5 for her and #6 for me once translated, as we need this for the Australian Immigration Dept application for her to come back to Australia as my wife once we are married.

#11 will be done at the same time when i go to Vientiane in November as will all my documents being Notarized by the Embassy and translated to Laos.

So that just leaves #7 and #1. We are finding it hard to find information on where to get the document covering # 1 for both of us, do you have any advice on 1? Where to get it, whats it called ect??

Also #7 for her is becoming an issue, we have asked her local Naiban and although he is a good friend of the family and has signed off on other documents for my fiancee he has no idea what this document is ( saying it doesn't come from him) or where to get it. Any advice??

Finally for today, once we have the above missing documents and all my papers are translated where is the first port of call to get the application started?? MOFA? Local Police?? I understand we have to do a Police Interview for a document called a Interview Report at some point in the process but i am not sure this is where we start the application process??

I don't recall where we got those ones. I think we got document #1 here:


Quote:

The marriage application forms for Lao citizens who wish to marry foreigners are available in Provincial offices. Lao citizens residing in Vientiane Capital can obtain the forms in the Municipality Administration Office

# 7 I think we got it at this stage:


Quote:

District Administration Office: Present the complete application. This office will issue a recommendation for marriage.

I have a Lao friend who was very helpful when I was running around getting documents, he was my contact point for all things Lao.  I'll ask him.

Thanks mate much appreciated...hopefully we can get the ball rolling in the next few weeks.

Okay my Lao friend says that the engagement certificate can be obtained
Quote:

From Interior Ministry office in VT

Hope that helps.  Keep me updated on your progress.

chris jenkins wrote on 24^th Jun, 2011 at 7:22pm:

---- I'm assuming this is the last step in the application process and after the certificate is issued we can legally marry in my fiancee's village?? ---- Ok so where do i start??????? We are doing the paperwork ourselves as i spoke to a few agencies and legal firms in Laos and i really think it will be better to do it ourselves, we have the time and understand that this will be a tedious and drawn out process unless we are willing to slip some bribe money along the way. We are also thinking if it becomes to much to handle ourselves we can always get it done cheaper if we have done most of the leg work already. So what is the order of doing the application?? Anyone have an idea on the costs involved (outside bribes) for any of the documents, certification and/or translations. We have spoke about getting married in Thailand or Australia and registering it with the Laos embassy in Australia but have heard and read some horror stories about doing it this way ( also heard some successful ones as well ) and we want to do it the right way so as to not have any issues for her to go back and see her family and would prefer to ot have any issues myself going back to Laos at any point as well. We are also in the process of doing the application to the Australian Immigration Dept as well but we will hold off on putting in the paperwork till we are further along or completed with the Laos side of things in case we run into complications. Thankfully the Australian side of things is much easier and less tedious, communication is also much easier. I'm sorry for the long post and the many many questions, if there is anyone out there that can advise on parts of the above, or help me with the process of application it would be much appreciated. Its hard being back home in Australia with only limited opportunities to head over to Laos to handle the paperwork myself and although my fiancee has a decent level of English its very confusing to her sometimes explaining to her what is needed over the phone. Khawp Jai Lai Lai

Yes, I registered my marriage in Thailand with the help of an agent specialized in doing this with a fee of about  2k USD. I rather do it this way since my wife will be staying with me in Malaysia for long term unless Chris is going to stay in Laos for long term then Chris may have to register in Laos according to the law there.

Chris, I suggest you check with your Embassy or Immigration Depart of Aust for the documents needed  if your wife is to follow you to Australia and stay there for long term.

I managed to register my marriage in Thailand, my government in Malaysia requires the Original copy of my Thai marriage cert(for verification) and a translated copy of the Cert to register my marriage in Malaysia.

I was lucky because the Nai Ban(village head) was nice. He allowed me to marry my wife in her village without the required paper. We had the ceremony "su kwan" in the village.

Anyway I have heard from a lot of people in the village that if I want to register my marriage in Laos there are agents charging like 3k-4k USD.

Even in Vientiane the van driver who drove me back and forth to my wife's village told me about the same fee for that to engage and agent and get things done.

So if you can afford it you might as well get someone to do it for you with a fee of such.

Good Luck. :)

Btw, I registered my marriage with the Marriage Department of my country in Malaysia but I didn't register with the Lao Embassy in Malaysia.

In order to get my wife the social visit permit all I needed was the marriage cert from Thailand and Malaysian marriage cert when I applied for the permit through Immigration Department.