DamianG

Hello all,
I’m having some for my wife’s dependent pass. We recently got married in the UK and came back out to Malaysia where I want her to join onto my working Visa as a dependent.

The immigration Department is asking for an affidavit of marriage certificate from the British embassy. The British embassy in Malaysia cannot carry out any verification of documents because they say Malaysia is a commonwealth country and it shouldn’t be needed. I’m stuck in limbo. The embassy have said I can send it back to the UK for certification. The problem is they will only certify original documents and I’m not too keen on sending my original marriage certificate back to the UK.

Has anyone been in this situation and have any advise?

BritInParis

Did you marry in England or Wales? If so then order another marriage certificate from the GRO (£9.25) and get that apostilled in the UK.

http://www.gro.gov.uk/

https://www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised

DamianG

Yes, we got married in the UK. Is this what you did? It’s the time all of this takes that bothers me.

The British Consulate in Malaysia simply says they can’t verify any documents in Malaysia because it’s a British Colony and it shouldn’t be needed. It clearly is needed, so I don’t see why they can’t take on these services.

Hovite

There is no British Embassy in Malaysia. It is a High Commission as it is a commonwealth country and they won't noterise anything. Check with the NRD if they will accept it being notarised by a local notary. Did you register your marriage in London with the Malaysian High Commission? This should have been done. We had not done so because we were married in 1978 and there was no such requirement in those days. We have since registered it in Malaysia but it was a bureacratic nightmare.

BritInParis

I'm not married but it's what you need to do to satisfy the requirement if you don't want to send off your original marriage certificate. You can pay extra (£23.40) for a priority service which would also allow you to arrange your own courier service. Alternatively if you have a friend or relative in the UK who is willing to receive your certificate and send it on to the FCO then that would be a quicker and cheaper way of doing it.

The FCO does provide that service but it's done centrally in the UK. Malaysia hasn't been a British colony for 60 years. The Malaysian authorities can request whatever they like; that Malaysia is a Commonwealth country is irrelevant.

SushiFan

Don't say this aloud when you're in Malaysia. I won't be appreciated much.

DamianG

Just thought I’d update you all here in case anyone is in the same position in the future. My agent (La Paz management services), sent a copy of the email from the FCO about it not being able to certify any documents and it should t be required. This was enough for the immigration department to waiver the requirement for my marriage certificate to the be confirmed by British embassy.

It seems the immigration department in Malaysia can be quite friendly at times.