When people get married abroad, a very common question asked is whether they need to register their marriage on their return to their home country or their place of residence.
The answer is YES! However this is not a complicated process as long as you have everything that you need. You should contact the office of Birth, Deaths and Marriages in your home country, or your home country Embassy if you are residing in a different country than your country of Citizenship.
When you marry in Denmark the International marriage certificate is stored with the Danish registry for 100 years, however the Danish Authorities do not communicate the marriage to anyone. For more details on the actual certificate please see our blog.
In order for you to benefit from being a married couple then you will need to let the relevant authorities know, maybe you would also like to change your name, all this can be done after the ceremony on your return.
There are a number of places where you will want to register your marriage; Home countries and places of residence, banks, immigration offices, passport office, driving license office - generally for a woman there are more offices as it is more tradiitonal for the lady to change her name and take her husbands after marriage.
When contacting these places you will want to ask two questions; Do they need a copy of the original certificate? And do they need any legalisation on the certificates.
As the Danish Authorities issue an International Marriage Certificate that is recognised worldwide the offices may ask for the certificate to be stamped with an Apostille stamp.
An Apostille stamp is a verification of the authenticity of the document, they confirm that the certificate was made in Denmark, it is a legal document and they stamp it with an Apostille stamp in accordance to the Hague Convention.
Of course when working with government offices, there will always be the chance that one office will ask for something that you're not sure if you have it or where to get it from.
At Marry Abroad Simply we have heard of almost everything so can always try and offer a helping hand.
If you require the Apostille Legalisation service you can include this at any time of the process. You can either take the Simply Everything Apostille Service, where we will do it all for you and UPS the legalised certificates back to your home address.
We also have an Apostille Hand held Service (payable with a customised invoice on request) where we will guide you on obtaining the Apostille stamp yourself if you are in Copenhagen or travelling through Copenhagen. And this is only €50, and does not include the cost of the Legalisation, but is a cheaper option and works out well for some situations.
We are happy to provide advice and a free no obligation documents list of which documents you will require to get married in Denmark or Get married in Gibraltar – just contact us on any of the methods below.
Have a look at our awesome YouTube channel for short information Vlogs on how easy it is to elope and get married abroad!
You can easily contact us by clicking here or by e-mail at [email protected] or call us on +447934933356 or what’s app +447934 933486
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