If you wish to get married abroad

If you wish to get married abroad, some countries require documentation that you meet the conditions for marriage in accordance with the Danish legislation. Other countries only require you to document your marital status by presenting a marital status certificate.

If the country in which you wish to get married requires a certificate of no impediment in accordance with the provisions of the Danish Marriage Act, you must apply for a marriage certificate.

To obtain a marriage certificate, you must both meet the conditions in the Marriage Act. This also applies even if one or both of you lives abroad.

If you are unsure what is required in the country in which you wish to get married, you should contact the authority which will deal with your marriage in the country concerned.

If the country concerned only requires you to present documentation of your marital status, you should contact the municipality in which you live. The municipality can issue certificates of residence which include information on your marital status.

If the country concerned requires you to fulfil the Danish rules, you will need to apply for a marriage certificate. 

You must apply for a certificate of marital status either to the Agency of Family Law (Familieretshuset) or to your municipality.

The organisation to which you must apply will depend on both your nationality and that of your partner and the grounds for your residence in Denmark.

You must apply to the Agency of Family Law if you or your partner is:

• not a Danish or Nordic citizen
• do not have an indefinite residence permit in Denmark
• do not have an indefinite right to reside in Denmark under the Executive Order on Residence in Denmark (EU-opholdsbekendtgørelsen).

You must apply to the municipality if you are both:

• Danish or Nordic citizens
• or have indefinite residence permits in Denmark
• or have an indefinite right of residence in Denmark under the Executive Order on Residence in Denmark.

In order to get married in Denmark, you must both be 18 years of age or over and you must both be unmarried.

If one of you has previously been married, the previous marriage must have been dissolved before you can remarry.

Marriage between close relatives is not permitted and, if one of you is under guardianship, the guardian must consent to the marriage.

Pro forma marriage is prohibited in Denmark.

This means that a marriage may not take place if there is reason to believe that the purpose of the marriage is to obtain residence rights in Denmark, an EU Member State, Switzerland or a country which is covered by the agreement on the European Economic Area.

In principle, it is a condition for being able to get married in Denmark that both of you can lawfully enter and reside in Denmark.

However, this condition may be waived if one or both of you does not live or reside in Denmark when you apply for a marriage certificate in order to get married abroad.

To enable us to process your application and check that you fulfil the conditions for marriage, we will request personal information about you and your partner. We will also ask you to document that the conditions for entering into marriage are met.

The documents we will request and the applicable requirements regarding these documents will depend on the answers you give in your application and the country which issued the documents.

If you are unable to enclose one or more of the documents we request, you must state this on the application form. It is important that you state why you are unable to enclose the document(s) we ask for.

Your signature on the application must be signed by hand in order to be considered a valid signature. Therefore, digital signatures cannot be used, for instance Adobe or Paint.

The requirement regarding signatures does not apply if you are both applying with an MitID. The requirement also does not apply to the party that has MitID, if you submit separate applications.

We recommend that you have the following information and documents at hand before starting to fill in the application form:

• your passport – you must enclose photographs of all pages of your passport including the front and back page, including blank pages– the photographs must be in colour and it is important that they are of very good quality or
• your ID card (for EU citizens only) – we must receive photographs of both sides of the ID card – the photographs must be in colour and it is important that they are of very good quality
• documentation of the right to enter and reside in Denmark. Go to lawful residence to read more about the documentation requirements
• any certificate of marital status from your current country of residence. If you live in Denmark, you do not need to enclose documentation of your marital status
• certificate of residence or other documentation if you have a joint residence abroad. The document must be enclosed in both the original language and translated into either English or German
• if you have one or more joint children – birth certificate(s) for your child(ren). The document must be enclosed in both the original language and translated into either English or German
• if you have been married previously, you must enclose documentation confirming that the marriage has been annulled through divorce, death or revocatory action: 1) photograph or copy of a divorce decree, 2) photograph or copy of a death certificate, or 3) or photograph or copy of the revocatory action judgement.

The documents must be enclosed in both the original language and translated into either English or German.

You may be required to have the documents legalised or endorsed by an apostille.

If the marriage has been annulled in Denmark, you will not normally have to enclose documentation verifying that the marriage has ceased.

• The entire document must be copied, including all corners and all pages of passports, including the cover.
• It is recommended that you take photographs of the documents, instead of scanning them.
• Photographs must be in colour.
• Take the photograph from directly above the document and under even lighting.
• Avoid reflections and backlighting.
• Check the sharpness of each photograph.
• Use the highest possible resolution.
• Upload photographs in their original file format and avoid inserting photographs in text documents.
• Avoid compressing the file.

In order for us to accept the documents, special requirements may apply regarding the documents that you must enclose with your application. For example, it may be a requirement that the document is stamped by an official authority – either through endorsement by an apostille or through legalisation.

Foreign documents must be translated into Danish, English or German by an authorised translator. This also applies to any apostille endorsement. If the document has been legalised, all stamps, etc. must also be translated.

Note that this must be done before you submit your application to the Agency of Family Law. If the certificates are foreign, we will consider whether they are genuine and can be accepted in Denmark. Documents from certain countries must be legalised or endorsed by an apostille.

This fee is determined and adjusted by the Minister for Children and Social Affairs.

We may not consider your application until the fee has been received in our account.

As of 1 January 2024, the fee is: DKK 1,900 (2024).

The Agency of Family Law offers 3 ways of paying the fee:

1. You can pay the fee after you have completed the digital application form with a marriage declaration. This method is the quickest way to get your application started – you pay the fee at the same time as you sign and submit your application. You should therefore have your payment card ready when completing the application.
2. You can also pay the fee via your bank. The amount must be deposited in our account with Danske Bank: Reg. No: 0216 – account no: 4069217060. Remember to state your CPR number or your name and passport/ID number when making the payment. If you do not, we will not be able to see which application the fee is linked to.
3. If you have an account with a foreign bank and you wish to pay the fee to the Agency of Family Law, you must use the following information: IBAN: DK91 0216 4069 2170 60. BIC/SWIFT: DABADKKK. Remember to state your civil registration (CPR) number or your name and passport/ID number when making the payment. If you do not, we will not be able to see which application the fee is linked to.

The Agency of Family Law does not accept cash or cheques.

If you wish to appeal against the decision, you must appeal to the Agency of Family Law.

You must submit your appeal to us because we will need to see whether we should re-consider the case – that is re-open the case.

You cannot appeal against a rejection on the basis of pro forma.

• Act on the law on marriage and dissolution (in Danish)

• If you wish to get married abroad
• LGBT+ family (in Danish)