How To Legalize A Document In Thailand 

The process of document legalization can be a bit of a headache if you don’t know where to start. Where do you have to go? How much does it cost? What’s the process? Why do I have to legalize my documents? If you have these questions on your mind right now, today’s article can help to guide you through the process and hopefully will answer some (or all) of your questions. If you’re ready, let’s get started!

Why do you have to legalize your documents?

When you legalize your documents, you can use those documents abroad for various reasons from job applying to legal matters. So, whether you’re foreign national planning to live and work in Thailand or Thai national planning to live and work abroad, legalizing your documents may be mandatory at some point.

List of documents that can be legalized

After you’ve learned why do you have to legalize your documents, you might want to just have everything legalized to make your life easy in the future. I’ve included the list of some common documents that can be legalized below:

• Birth Certificate
• Death Certificate
• House registration
• ID card
• Passport
• Family Registration Certificate
• Marriage Certificate
• Single Status Certificate
• Divorce Certificate
• Sor. Dor. 43 / 8 / 9
• Letter of Consent
• Police Acknowledgement Form
• Court’s Decision
• Any other official documents issued by government organizations with National Emblem.

Steps of legalizing your documents

1. Prepare these documents:
2. A copy and original of your documents.
3. A copy and original Thai ID card or passport.
4. Translated documents certified by a translator.
5. Fill out the Legalization Application Form (you can find it at The Legalization Division of Consular Affairs Department of the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs).
6. Contact the information counter to receive your queue no.
7. Submit the application and documents at the designated counter.
8. Pay the processing fees.
9. Your documents will be screened and proofread. If the authority finds mistakes in the translation, they’ll contact you to take your documents back to correct the translation before submitting them again.
10. If the authority finds no mistake in the translation of your documents, they will proceed with your documents to the legalizing process.
11. Collect your documents in 3 working days for the regular service, or within the same day for the express service. You can also choose to receive your legalized documents by mail to avoid traveling to the office but it requires a few days more for the documents to be delivered to your door.