Two Foreigners Getting Married in Cambodia
Hey Phuket2006,
One of the main advantages of HK (for me at least) is that you don’t need the “no impediment to marriage” letter. Some may see that as a potential disadvantage, but I imagine it would be hard for a foreigner over the age of 50 or earning less than $2,500 to get one from the Cambodian government.
Peace,
Saint
One of the main advantages of HK (for me at least) is that you don’t need the “no impediment to marriage” letter. Some may see that as a potential disadvantage, but I imagine it would be hard for a foreigner over the age of 50 or earning less than $2,500 to get one from the Cambodian government.
Peace,
Saint
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I think you get those letters from your home country, not the Cambodian government.saint57 wrote: Some may see that as a potential disadvantage, but I imagine it would be hard for a foreigner over the age of 50 or earning less than $2,500 to get one from the Cambodian government.
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U get the letter for ur home country embassy.
All it is for Americans is, u go and raise ur right hand and say/swear, ur not married. If u were married before and had it registered at the us Embassy u need show them your divorce papers.
the letter does not come from the goverment of the country ur in.
I would think even in HK u had /have to prove somehow that u were not currently married. I know i had a few friends that married Chinese before HK went back to China and they all had to have papers from their embassies saying they werent married. Otherwise they could have made a lot more than they made ( going rate back in the mid 90's to marry a US citizen was $5-10,000 and Australians were tops $5,000!!!
If they did not need the paper they could have married more than once.
Reason so many were marrying back then was so they could get their familes out of HK and into a western country
All it is for Americans is, u go and raise ur right hand and say/swear, ur not married. If u were married before and had it registered at the us Embassy u need show them your divorce papers.
the letter does not come from the goverment of the country ur in.
I would think even in HK u had /have to prove somehow that u were not currently married. I know i had a few friends that married Chinese before HK went back to China and they all had to have papers from their embassies saying they werent married. Otherwise they could have made a lot more than they made ( going rate back in the mid 90's to marry a US citizen was $5-10,000 and Australians were tops $5,000!!!
If they did not need the paper they could have married more than once.
Reason so many were marrying back then was so they could get their familes out of HK and into a western country
"We are turning into a nation of whimpering slaves to Fear—fear of war, fear of poverty, fear of random terrorism, or suddenly getting locked up in a military detention camp on vague charges of being a Terrorist sympathizer." HST
I'm in the middle of this right now; so, an update:
Notices of non-impediment from embassy (or in some cases, from home), are still easy to get.
As per the advice, we went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There, we were told that MFA does not deal with permissions for foreigners to marry in Cambodia and that we would have to go to the Ministry of the Interior.
At the MoI, we were sent across the road to an office atop the Bank of India. This was full of Khmer women without any foreign partners to be seen.
The bloke in this office told us that we would need a letter from our embassy saying it is legal to marry in Cambodia. I pointed out where it said exactly that on my notice. He then said that it was okay to get a "ceremonial" wedding in Cambo but not a legally binding one.
When I said that this is inaccurate, he pointed me to my sangkat (no 1 - it looks like and Afghani police station), the sangkat for us riversiders.
So, we get there and meet a bloke who is actually helpful. We had most of these things but he said we needed: passport, 5x passport photos, 2x passport and visa photocopies, your letters of non-impediment, and your lease agreement.
Cool! We thought, this is almost too easy!!!
Well, we were due to go in there in a couple of hours and the idiot called my translator and said he wanted .... (wait for it) 700 FUCKING DOLLARS!!!! I could fly to Thailand, get married and come back for around that kind of money.
Will keep you posted on this.
Notices of non-impediment from embassy (or in some cases, from home), are still easy to get.
As per the advice, we went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There, we were told that MFA does not deal with permissions for foreigners to marry in Cambodia and that we would have to go to the Ministry of the Interior.
At the MoI, we were sent across the road to an office atop the Bank of India. This was full of Khmer women without any foreign partners to be seen.
The bloke in this office told us that we would need a letter from our embassy saying it is legal to marry in Cambodia. I pointed out where it said exactly that on my notice. He then said that it was okay to get a "ceremonial" wedding in Cambo but not a legally binding one.
When I said that this is inaccurate, he pointed me to my sangkat (no 1 - it looks like and Afghani police station), the sangkat for us riversiders.
So, we get there and meet a bloke who is actually helpful. We had most of these things but he said we needed: passport, 5x passport photos, 2x passport and visa photocopies, your letters of non-impediment, and your lease agreement.
Cool! We thought, this is almost too easy!!!
Well, we were due to go in there in a couple of hours and the idiot called my translator and said he wanted .... (wait for it) 700 FUCKING DOLLARS!!!! I could fly to Thailand, get married and come back for around that kind of money.
Will keep you posted on this.
Did you get the yellow A4 sheet before you went to your sangkat office?
I'd go back to the ministry of foreign affairs and see a different spook - that's where we got our permission - cost $100.
Next to the sangkat office - take along 2 witnesses as that will be the legal threshold, after leaving there you'll be legally married.
The sangkat office is where you fill out and thumbprint the registration book.
The clerk asked me for $75, I emptied my pocket and wallet and gave him what I had, $15. He was a nice enough guy and we got by on chuckles and novelty value - first barang in the book.
I'd go back to the ministry of foreign affairs and see a different spook - that's where we got our permission - cost $100.
Next to the sangkat office - take along 2 witnesses as that will be the legal threshold, after leaving there you'll be legally married.
The sangkat office is where you fill out and thumbprint the registration book.
The clerk asked me for $75, I emptied my pocket and wallet and gave him what I had, $15. He was a nice enough guy and we got by on chuckles and novelty value - first barang in the book.
Do you remember which floor it was on? We went about half way along the first floor to be told they didn't do it.
And are you completely legitimately married matey? Have you tested it in your own country? Also, how long ago did you do it?
Done in late 2007 and registered with the Phils embassy.
Got wedding certificates in triplicate.
Tested with my own country?
At the MoFA, from the main front door, ground floor, head pretty much straight forwards past the guard's desk and take either the first or second door on the left - certainly wasn't halfway through the building.
Make sure that you have all of the paperwork present and correct - the clerk was offhand and snooty as hell at first, but warmed when he saw we had it all in order bar the medical certificate, which he printed out for us.
Got wedding certificates in triplicate.
Tested with my own country?
At the MoFA, from the main front door, ground floor, head pretty much straight forwards past the guard's desk and take either the first or second door on the left - certainly wasn't halfway through the building.
Make sure that you have all of the paperwork present and correct - the clerk was offhand and snooty as hell at first, but warmed when he saw we had it all in order bar the medical certificate, which he printed out for us.
are you sure things haven't changed in the last five years matey? I heard another bloke telling me that the sangat wanted $800!
Tested your marriage in your own country => is it recognised in your home country (or are you both Philippina?) Can you PM me your number please mate? You're absolutely the only person I know with any first hand experience in this most unusual of marriage arrangements.
Tested your marriage in your own country => is it recognised in your home country (or are you both Philippina?) Can you PM me your number please mate? You're absolutely the only person I know with any first hand experience in this most unusual of marriage arrangements.
If you're marrying a Cambodian woman, where to get the certificate of no impediment?
The Cambodian woman will have to get a certificate from the sangkat.SunSan wrote:If you're marrying a Cambodian woman, where to get the certificate of no impediment?
Check your PMDengchao wrote:are you sure things haven't changed in the last five years matey? I heard another bloke telling me that the sangat wanted $800!
Tested your marriage in your own country => is it recognised in your home country (or are you both Philippina?) Can you PM me your number please mate? You're absolutely the only person I know with any first hand experience in this most unusual of marriage arrangements.
Well, finally done! We got our thumbprints in the Sangkat registry book and have a Certificate of Marriage with our names actually spelled correctly (after I corrected it for them to do again).
As far as I know, Chuang2u and myself are the only two foreign blokes who have married foreign girls in this country. The bloke at the Aussie embassy had never heard of it, the Cambo Ministry workers had never heard of it, the Phil Embassy bloke (a total prick) told us that we could only get a certificate of engagement, a Cambo bloke who organised marriages for mail-order brides said that it was flat out impossible. I asked my long-term tuk-tuk driver who's been on the job in PP for quite some time if he'd ever seen a foreigner get married in Cambo, "oh yeah, heaps!" he said. What about two foreigners asked I: "Oh no, you the first."
I might have given up had C2tu not shown me the actual pieces of paper that he'd obtained and just pissed off to Hong Kong to get it done. So many thanks mate, I owe you a couple of beers!
My odyssey was a bit different to the one C2tu described. I will record it here so that maybe some poor sod can save himself the amount of headaches I had over this. C2tu also got married in the provinces, so perhaps things are different in PP.
Anyway, the embassy requirements will vary depending on your countries, so I won't bother you there. But you will need something that basically says you aren't married. If you are lucky, an embassy like Australia will charge you $90 for a piece of paper that says that you have no impediment (based on your word) and that a marriage between and Aussie and, let's say a Russian, under Cambodian law would normally be recognised under Australian law. Twenty minutes, all done.
If you are unlucky, and have an embassy like the Philippines, they will demand all sorts of ridiculous paperwork; originals aren't good enough, they have to be DFA authenticated in the Philippines! They also wanted an affidavit from my then fiancés parents giving her consent to marry!!! And she is 21!!! And her parents haven't spoken for a long time.
Fortunately the local Sangkat didn't realise that the Philippine Embassy were such a bunch of cunts and accepted a scan of her notice of non-impediment along with mine. I think that they don't care if it's legal under Philippine law, just as long as it is under Cambo law. The Phils won't solemnise it but they can get fucked.
They never asked for the "Permission for foreigners to marry" paper from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry, when we went there, told us that they don't have anything to do with foreigners getting married here. So I believe it's quite reasonable for me to assume that this law is no longer in place. So we actually got out of that place for free!
We told the first bloke who wanted $700 to fuck off and got our landlord to call up the boss of the sangkat; the price then went down to $450. Other than cash we needed:
- passport copies
- Cambodian visa copies
- (maybe a good idea to bring your actual passports along as well)
- copy of your lease agreement (to prove that you are dealing with the right Sangkat)
- passport photos (2-3)
- certificates of non-impediment from your country (from their point of view they just want to see that you aren't already married)
- details of your respective parents' names, DOBs, occupation, place of birth, nationality, address, place of birth
- Also, two witnesses. We used our landlord and his daughter as they live in the same Sangkat as we do, this apparently makes things easier.
You say nothing to them, you sign nothing, just yours and your missus' and your witnesses' thumbprints under your details of the registry and it's done. It may be prudent to take a photograph of this before it leaves your sight. Your country may hold the registry book in greater esteem than the certificate.
Come back the next day, with your receipt of course, for your marriage certificate (yes, it's the exact same as C2tu's)... make absolutely certain it is spelling-error free before you accept it.
You get an original with three notarised copies.
They tried to squeeze another $250 out of me to take it to the Ministry of the Interior to have it translated. When I asked why they said that my embassy would accept no other translation. I told them the embassy bloke had personally told me that they accept quite a few translators in town (like Pyramid) and I would get it done myself.
As far as I can tell, we are legally married under Cambodian law. We aren't taking it to the Phil Embassy, but we will get a translation and get the Aussie embassy to notarise it: should be kosher as far as international marriage laws go - I would like to see someone work out if it is legal under Cambodian/International law over the phone when I couldn't do it on the ground here!
Thanks again C2tu!!! and also that bloke from consular services at the Aussie embassy. Get fucked Philippine embassy prick.
As far as I know, Chuang2u and myself are the only two foreign blokes who have married foreign girls in this country. The bloke at the Aussie embassy had never heard of it, the Cambo Ministry workers had never heard of it, the Phil Embassy bloke (a total prick) told us that we could only get a certificate of engagement, a Cambo bloke who organised marriages for mail-order brides said that it was flat out impossible. I asked my long-term tuk-tuk driver who's been on the job in PP for quite some time if he'd ever seen a foreigner get married in Cambo, "oh yeah, heaps!" he said. What about two foreigners asked I: "Oh no, you the first."
I might have given up had C2tu not shown me the actual pieces of paper that he'd obtained and just pissed off to Hong Kong to get it done. So many thanks mate, I owe you a couple of beers!
My odyssey was a bit different to the one C2tu described. I will record it here so that maybe some poor sod can save himself the amount of headaches I had over this. C2tu also got married in the provinces, so perhaps things are different in PP.
Anyway, the embassy requirements will vary depending on your countries, so I won't bother you there. But you will need something that basically says you aren't married. If you are lucky, an embassy like Australia will charge you $90 for a piece of paper that says that you have no impediment (based on your word) and that a marriage between and Aussie and, let's say a Russian, under Cambodian law would normally be recognised under Australian law. Twenty minutes, all done.
If you are unlucky, and have an embassy like the Philippines, they will demand all sorts of ridiculous paperwork; originals aren't good enough, they have to be DFA authenticated in the Philippines! They also wanted an affidavit from my then fiancés parents giving her consent to marry!!! And she is 21!!! And her parents haven't spoken for a long time.
Fortunately the local Sangkat didn't realise that the Philippine Embassy were such a bunch of cunts and accepted a scan of her notice of non-impediment along with mine. I think that they don't care if it's legal under Philippine law, just as long as it is under Cambo law. The Phils won't solemnise it but they can get fucked.
They never asked for the "Permission for foreigners to marry" paper from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry, when we went there, told us that they don't have anything to do with foreigners getting married here. So I believe it's quite reasonable for me to assume that this law is no longer in place. So we actually got out of that place for free!
We told the first bloke who wanted $700 to fuck off and got our landlord to call up the boss of the sangkat; the price then went down to $450. Other than cash we needed:
- passport copies
- Cambodian visa copies
- (maybe a good idea to bring your actual passports along as well)
- copy of your lease agreement (to prove that you are dealing with the right Sangkat)
- passport photos (2-3)
- certificates of non-impediment from your country (from their point of view they just want to see that you aren't already married)
- details of your respective parents' names, DOBs, occupation, place of birth, nationality, address, place of birth
- Also, two witnesses. We used our landlord and his daughter as they live in the same Sangkat as we do, this apparently makes things easier.
You say nothing to them, you sign nothing, just yours and your missus' and your witnesses' thumbprints under your details of the registry and it's done. It may be prudent to take a photograph of this before it leaves your sight. Your country may hold the registry book in greater esteem than the certificate.
Come back the next day, with your receipt of course, for your marriage certificate (yes, it's the exact same as C2tu's)... make absolutely certain it is spelling-error free before you accept it.
You get an original with three notarised copies.
They tried to squeeze another $250 out of me to take it to the Ministry of the Interior to have it translated. When I asked why they said that my embassy would accept no other translation. I told them the embassy bloke had personally told me that they accept quite a few translators in town (like Pyramid) and I would get it done myself.
As far as I can tell, we are legally married under Cambodian law. We aren't taking it to the Phil Embassy, but we will get a translation and get the Aussie embassy to notarise it: should be kosher as far as international marriage laws go - I would like to see someone work out if it is legal under Cambodian/International law over the phone when I couldn't do it on the ground here!
Thanks again C2tu!!! and also that bloke from consular services at the Aussie embassy. Get fucked Philippine embassy prick.
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