Marriage in Denmark to avoid German red tape

Anyone got any experience of getting married there, it seems straight forward, too straight forward.

Is it accepted by the German authorities, or, as I think, its another beaurocratic nightmare?

Don't get married would be my advice. As the bishop would say, "A man in love is incomplete until he is married. Then he’s finished."

However if you must. Denmark does seem to be a good option on paper. I know an American and German who whipped across the border and came back married. Not sure if they've had any problems with the German authorites as they then flew off to the states.

While I must admit to not being definitively informed, I would expect that Denmark being an EU member, after fighting your way through the multitude of German obstacles, ("Familienbuch" probably being the biggest one), in the end it will be recognised here.

Well I got married in Scotland which was very straightforward and that was recognised by the German authorities.

Good question.

I tried to make a quick check re. the Danish rules for marriage and only ended up confused. I think the conclusion is, that if you're both a EU citizen then you can get married in Denmark. The rules were changed in 2002 to make it more difficult for foreigners to get married in Denmark.

Since there is no information in English on their homepage I suggest you contact:

Familiestyrelsen ("administration for family related issues")
Phone 3392 3302. Open weekdays between 10 and 14
E-mail: familiestyrelsen@civildir.dk

Henrik

Gretna Green perhaps?

We got married in England and it took six months and several letters from the consulate to convince the local bureaucracy that there are no "Familienbuch"s in the UK before they accepted it. However, that was the only major problem. I suspect that if you're resident in a big city like Hamburg, instead of in a village, like we were, then this problem may not exist.

The Danish authorities have accepted our papers (decree absolute, passport, proof of residence). They accept documents in German and English, without the need for translation. So, I think they are not a problem.

It's the Germans I'm worried about. After the nightmare we endured getting my daughters surname changed. Jeees.

Hi,

i got married a few weeks ago, not in Denmark, but in France - my husband's French, I'm Australian. We got a marriage certificate in french which, once translated, was perfectly acceptable proof for the authorities here. So i'd say that a danish marriage certificate would also be fine here.

good luck!
monkel xx

When I got married in Germany we were able to get a multi language marriage certificate (opting for German and English) which we had to pay a nominal extra fee for.

Might be worth asking the dutch authorities if this is an option there as it could save you lots of hassle. This option is probebly more likely available on request than actualy offered so it is worth asking.

I got married in Copenhagen to my girlfriend (from Ukraine) in April of this year.

Check this out:

http://www3.kk.dk/Topmenu/English/Marriage/Information.aspx

Denmark is easy (as long as you are not resident in Denmark):

It is in Schengen (non-EU nationals now need a special visa to marry in the UK and there are more complications once you are there);

They wanted my passport and Aufenthaltserlaubnis and my girlfriend's passport with activated Schengen visa - nothing else;

It is cheap - 500Kr = 67 Euros (Although the hotels and eating out is not);

You can choose Danish, German or English language for the ceremony;

The certificates are in Danish, English and German (no translations needed later);

Nice scenery and stuff to see.

If you are divorced, you send your Decree Absolut to an office there for prior recognition. You then go to give notice and get an appointment for the wedding.

The wedding was easy, uncomplicated and the people friendly.

I had no problems with registering my wife here in Germany - they recognise marriage certificates from Denmark and no translation is needed.

jg,

Bloody marvellous, cheers mate, I owe you a beer

Looking for some advice for this complicated situation.

Basically Im an American in Germany on a tourist visa, and Im thinking about marrying my German boyfriend, but in Denmark to avoid German redtape.
1. where do i get a Meldebescheinigung? from the US? or does my German partner just need one?

2. Does anyone know if it would be possible for me to live and work in the UK as the spouse of a German, who would still be living as a student in germany and visiting for half of the year in the UK?

Topics merged by admin

Advice? Phone the relevant local authorities and ask them.

Actually, a well worded advanced search on the site should give you some answers or at least some pertinent contact points.

Fly to Vegas. It's real easy there.

Think the Husband has to be with you in the UK to work there. He can pretend he's living there.

What if you are an EU citizen, have no passport and just use an ID card to travel in the EU? Can you use that as proof of identity to get married in Denmark?

Hi there!
I am a South African who has extensive experience with marrying in Denmark and going through the legal channels here in Germany.I arrived in Hamburg last December on a Tourist Visa to be with my (at that time) fiance).We met in SA but he had to return here so i had to follow him.We believed we had a chance to keep me here once i was in but-NO such luck.After my three months here (despite having a lawyer to plead my case) i had to return to SA for the mandatory 3 months.I was lucky enough to be granted another Tourist Visa and i returned to HH in June 06.I was due to fly back in Spetember and 2 weeks before we were married in Denmark.Good news,Germany recognises this marriage as it took place within the Shenghen States and its perfectly legal.Bad news-upon our return to HH we went to the necessary office to apply for the temp residence permit and i was charged to appear at an 'Anhoring' at the office there because they said that while my marriage was legal,they were contesting the fact that i 'betrayed' the German Laws by knowingly getting married in Denmark on a Tourist Visa when i should have in fact applied for the required Marriage Visa back in SA (which takes 3 - 6 months depending how busy the legal people here in HH are).We then approached a brilliant lawyer here in HH to plead my case again to the authorities and i was finally granted the temp residence permit as the officials were satisfied that this is a real marriage.

The fact is that Germany will recognise your marriage in Denmark-BUT the different States within Germany all have different laws with regard to certain subjects and they do have the freedom to reject the marriage.My advice,if you are living in HH,get a good lawyer!

The don't -- and can't -- "reject the marriage", they reject your residence request based on laws designed to prevent skirting the laws with marriages of convenience. You two would've had to return to Seth Efrica for a few months and apply for residency again from outside the EU. Had your wife not gone with you in such a case, the authorities would have an easy time rejecting you again claiming that the willingness to live separately shows a lack of true commitment and is proof that the marriage isn't real but only for getting you into the country.

woof.

Wow you guys are really sticklers for picking on peoples wording...if you read again you will see that i mentioned that the Authorities were NOT disputing the marriage but rather the VISA 'on which' i got married...They cannot dispute the marriage but if they want to they will find another reason with which to send a person back to where they came from - such as the incorrect visa.Point is-becareful in which State you do this with in Germany because FIRSTHAND experience has shown me this.

I wasn't being pedantic; I only clarified what you wrote. You know how it works and I know how it works but people who stumble across this thread looking for information may not know how it works.

Authorities can indeed declare a marriage invalid within the country if they have good reason to believe it's only a marriage of convenience, in which case all the benefits of marriage -- not just residence but also things like tax class changes -- are likewise invalid until proven otherwise. This can take years.

In your case you only faced rejection of your residence permission because you didn't follow the correct channels. Whether you knew that there was a different visa for getting married matters little. However if the authorities see that you did try to file for such a visa and then "jumped the queue" (so to speak) and came on a tourist visa to get married, they'd be harsher with your case since it was clearly intentional that you didn't follow the correct procedures.

woof.

Ok...i will agree with corrections of my wording-BUT i would like to point out that this was only in MY case in HAMBURG.And this was due to the laws governing the area of Hamburg (as explained to us by our lawyer).There are however other States within Germany that do not have these problems with marriages in Denmark and grant the partner (not from Germany) the Temp residence permit without hassles. This information is the most important for other people who might stumble across this thread.

Hi SA06,

I am planning to do something similar like yourself. My fiancee is Polish and i am a Malaysian. We plan on getting married in Denmark as well. After the marriage, did you apply for the residence permit here or did you return to SA again to get it?

Thanks!

As an EU citizen, your fiancee is allowed to be in Germany without a visa (ok, so the rules on working for the new EU states are different, but that is another matter). Under EU law, the married partner of an EU cittizen receives the same rights as the EU citizen.

So at a first guess, you shouldn't have the same problems, but perhaps you should check what type of visa you need to be here on firts just to make sure.

I would speak to the standardsamt and KVR of your local council to check what they expect as it is a complicated situation, and they will be able to give the official advice!

Hi,

I am an Indian and my wife is German passport holder. I studied here, after my studies we went to denmark and got married. We turn back to Germany to change my visa status. I never turn back to India to do this process.
TOM

In Berlin (can't speak for other Bundesländer), the foreign national, British citizen, needs a translated copy of his/her birth certificate and that's it, the German has to provide a copy of their Familienbuch and that's that. Costs more to get married to a foreigner €25 more but that's it.

I checked with the German Embassy in Malaysia to check on the best options. They have suggested that I apply for a fiancee visa which requires my passport, his passport, residence permit and a formal obligation (this can be obtained from the Municipal Administration). It takes 2 months for the processing. But once i have this visa, i will be given 3 months to get married. Upon that my fiancee visa can be converted in Germany without me having to return to Malaysia.

Hi,i found that you wrote here again...did my info help you??Yes,the way you have been advised to do it is the correct way...marriage in denmark is for people who can't wait that long to be granted the fiancee visa..in my country last year it would have taken up to 6 months for it to be granted...so if you are prepared to wait in your country for 2-3 months than rather do that.

Do you have to have a passport or will a valid ID card suffice?

hi there!

i am a malaysian who is engaged to a german. right now, i am in germany. i understand that my passport allows me to travel anywhere within the EU for a period of 90 days.

so to get to the point...i need to know how to get married, here in germany. i saw the replies by SouthAfrica06 and Joan of Arc...i would like to know aobut it in more detail. we need to get married as fast as possible. she has contacted our local standesamt and the require my passport and a certificate of no impendence (single status). i have to go through the malaysian embassy here for the later. we were thinking about getting married in denmark but i am not sure about the documents they require and the visa for me too. it is not that i have ever been married before, but to go through the malaysian embassy to obtain the single status certificate can take up to 2 months and i am trying to find a way around that.

secondly, i am afraid i would be required to have some kind of visa by the german authorities before our marriage. the standesamt has not mentioned anything of that sort but i read online at the german embassys page in malaysia, that in order to get a permanent residency permit here, i'd have to apply for a visa through the embassy. is that true??
we do hope we get a reply to this, as fast as you guys can

you can email us at govster@gmail.com

vielen dank!

we got married in denmark last year, and we had n probs with german officials, by the way I am german passport holder and my wife from India.

Hi HU,

I sent you a PM regarding your enquiries but I need to add a couple of things:-

As mentioned in my PM you would need a single status declaration and your birth certificate. Both these documents have to be verified by Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then translated into German language (if you plan to get married here). Once that is done it has to be verified by the German Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. However, I am not sure if you can actually do it all here as I got my documents from Malaysia.

Secondly, you will not be able to convert your tourist visa (assuming you are here on one) into a residence permit after marriage. You will have to apply for a Family Reunion Visa from the German Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and obtain that approval before leaving. From the info given by the embassy this is the only way to do it.

I think its always better to refer to the respective authorities for further details as they will be the ones processing your application. Also our situations may vary so the requirements may differ. My advice is be clear on what is required.

Good Luck to you and please dont get frustrated with the some of the things that you will face. I have been there too and just remember you are not alone!

thanks guys...but is it possible...once we're married to obtain a permanent residency and a work permit from within germany?? or do i have to fly back home to do that? that would suck...

I'm tryin to get married to my woman - she Czech , me Irish.

We were gonna get a civil union in Denmark first and a church wedding in Czech.

Apparently the Catholic Church in Czech will not allow this. Anyone know the story here ?

Secondly on getting married in Denmark I called the office in Copenhagen - they said we'd have to go there twice personally - once to fill in a bunch of papers , secondly for the actual ceremony. They said maybe you didn't need to fill in the papers personally in some other Danish cities - so anyone know which cities these might be ?

My friend got married last month in Sonderborg.It is very easy.The lady in charge sent them the forms and all the requirement.They filled and sent it by post to sonderborg. After 3 to 4 days they got appointment for the wedding.It is very easy step.
Here is the website.
http://www.sonderborg.dk/default1.aspx?id=402

All information you need you will find it in the website.

I wish you good luck

Fancybabe

Have you even looked at what is required to get married in Germany? I can assure you, it is a lot easier than making two trips to Denmark from Düsseldorf..

I agree with Hutcho. It was much easier than I thought. Two passports, two Anmeldung papers (the city will give them to you when you apply), my passport (original and certified translation) and one other form filled out by both of us saying who our parents are/were and asking if we had been married before. It took 10 days to get the ok from the Landesgericht.

How long did it take , start of application to getting married ?

We're pretty desperate to get this thing done because of her arbeitserlaubis situation.

Is anywhere on Sjaelland possible (where Copenhagen is) as that would be much more convenient vis-a-vis flights ?

Thanks again.

Hmmm, how long did it take. We applied on Nov 12 and got the OK on Nov 21. It's how long does it take to get your documents together. For us, this was easy because I only needed a birth certificate translated (5 days - I already had the copy of my birth cert). We are not married yet because we need time to get our shit together but probably you could get married as soon afterward as you wanted.

Can you make a step by step tutorial for getting married in Germany?
Is the ceremony taking place at the local rathaus?
Thanks.

My Fiance and I just returned from Copenhagen, Denmark to register to get married.

For those suggesting its just as easy to get married in Germany, perhaps you've become as awkward as they are (German Bureaucrats) and you've come to love the paperwork and the general awkwardness government employees seem to exude here. To get married in Germany you have to have everything translated which takes time and money. You also have to has someone translate the ceremony to you while its going on if I am not mistaken (and respond in German). You also have to wait while they sit around on their butts to approve your marriage and give you a date. This is a complete waste of time and frankly, a little too German for my taste. Yes yes I know if I don't like it I can leave - which will happen shortly.

When we arrived in Denmark we got in a taxi and we were pleasantly surprised that the man spoke English and didn't get an attitude about it. He took us to our Hotel, where again they spoke to us immediately in English because they heard us speaking it in the lobby, again absolutely NO ATTITUDE :-). We asked for instructions about how to get to City Hall, they gave them to us in clear concise English - So well we were able to walk there from our hotel in a city in a country we had never been to... imagine that. We thought we landed in freagen Utopia.

When we got to City Hall we paid our 500 DKK fee which is roughly 67 Euro. You have to pay Cash. They handed us a little two paged booklet, one side the woman filled out, one side the man filled out. Then we handed it to her, she checked our passports and our Visa's. She took photo copies. Gave us a receipt then got out a calendar and asked us when we would like to get married. We got to choose our date, and time. She marked it in the calendar and gave us a receipt and gave us instructions for when we should arrive at City hall for the ceremony. OH YEAH AND SHE SPOKE PERFECT ENGLISH and again no stuck up attitude about it.

They have forms in English, German, Danish and probably others as well. If you have been previously married you should bring all the paperwork showing that Divorce is final. The only other caveat is you have to have permission to live in the EU. I have residence in England so that was fine. If you don't have that I am not sure what they do, but it is probably still possible to get married there. You just have to call and ask - all of the girls in there speak English. They also offer the Ceremony in English, German and Danish. They provide two witnesses to you if you do not have them. They City Hall Building is beautiful and historic. Your marriage certificate is also a national certificate in English, German and Danish.

A little note for those of you about to take the piss and tell me about when in Rome... here is a little side note for you. English is the international language, it is also the language of business. People in Botswana villages in Africa speak a little English. Even in the back woods of Pakistan people can speak English - but you ask a German in German if they can speak any English (I've been here a month and I haven't mastered the language yet - excuse the hell out of me I'm learning) and they look at you like you pissed on the family grave. If it wasn't for my British Fiance working here and living here, I would never come here I hate it this much.

The Danish were lovely and friendly, and people would talk to us and ask us where we were from, help us out when we looked completely lost. Seriously, I miss it already and we've actually decided to move there sometime next year. They even have ENGLISH TV...

So you all enjoy getting married in Germany, I'm going to Denmark to get married . Send me a private message if you would like the links and everything I have with information.

Not true. I had one document that needed to be translated, my birth certificate. I faxed it to the tranlator (Lisa's Office) and got it in the mail in a couple of days. Went to the Standesamt, gave her 1) my passport 2) my birth certificate plus translation and 3) the form that we both filled out. Ten days later, we had the OK from the high court. All for a lot less than driving to Denmark.

And no, we don't need a translator at the wedding and no the Standesamt employees were not rude to us (they were, in fact, extremely friendly).

Maybe in Berlin the Germans are a bit more uptight but down here in the south, they are much friendlier. Try it, you might like it.

Hi Kitkat,
I didn't want to get married in Germany simply because I've gotten such a negative impression of them over the last month. I still don't think I should have to wait for 10 days to get permission to marry. As an adult and of sound mind, I can make the decision on my own to get married. I don't need permission from anyone and that includes German Bureaucrats. It's laughable that a nation so hell bent on protecting personal freedom limits it when it comes to making personal decisions.

I do see your point though, if someone doesn't mind all the hassle getting married in Germany would probably be alright. I haven't traveled to southern Germany yet, but I will at some point and hopefully as you have pointed out people will be nicer. The people of Berlin (the normal everyday citizens) are actually pretty nice as most of them are well traveled themselves, so my knock is not on the entire population just a good percentage of them. I don't go around expecting English everywhere, but I do ask and try to communicate in German. Even still they act rudely.

As for the cost, it cost 145 Euro for the travel for my fiance and I to go to Copenhagen (total). It was 900 DKK (127 Euro roughly) for our hotel which was very nice and 10 minutes walk from the City Hall. In fact we will be staying there our wedding night. They have really nice four poster double beds that are very comfortable. It also has a nice balcony with a nice view. Gourmet organic breakfast included - if those things matter to you. We took 250 euro worth of Danish Kroner with us and still have money left for our trip in January. So the cost wasn't actually that much. Then again we aren't exactly penny pinching. Someone mentioned earlier that the Germans use a sliding scale when determining how much you will pay when you go to get permission to marry - and that can go up to 300 euro, which we would be paying based on my Fiance's earnings.

We also purchased our wedding rings in Denmark, it was less expensive and we got better quality. 840 Euro for the set, and mine has high grade diamonds around the band. Everything we saw here in jewelry shops was cheap looking 13K gold and priced really high. There wasn't alot of variety and everyone seem to have the same style.

We're happy with our decision to marry in Denmark. I'm not putting down people who want to get married in Germany, but Denmark is an option for people who don't want to waste their time with all the red tape here. One thing I noticed while I was there as well, was the many German couples lining up to marry in Denmark. So even the Germans see the flaws in their own system.

I agree with kitkat64 100%. From reading the last post about Denmark, it seems easier only in the respect that you don't need anything translated. Otherwise, it sound equally as easy.

If you live on the Danish border, it sounds like it might be easier to go there to get married. Otherwise, send your documents to a translator and just do it here.

Sometimes you don't even need the translations! It depends on the Standesamt. If you're lucky and your documents are in English, they may accept them in the original language. I really don't know why such a big deal is made about this. Maybe it was easier for me since I'm from the EU, but the whole process has been relatively painless so far. Now we just have to get through the actual ceremony

I don't know if marrying a local is a lot easier but my chic just got back from the standesamt...

they seem to want : a NEW birth certificate from the Irish authorities , similar from the Czech , ALL translated into German

Statement of fitness to marriage from heiratsburo in Ireland and Czech again translated...

Frankly very fucking dissappointed.

Hallo everyone! This talk about marriages in Denmark got me excited and somehow relieved knowing that there are people in the same boat as me, or at least almost in the same boat.

I am Filipina and engaged to a Danish guy. I am currently holding a German residence permit because I am studying in Bochum, Germany. However, my studies have to be postponed for later because I am pregnant. Question is, me and my Danish bf want to get married before the baby comes. Can I get married in Denmark using a German residence permit? My permit is only valid till end of MArch 2008. We plan to get married end of December or first week of January after we return from the Philippines (I am at present back here in the Philippines and bf is arriving Sat, Dec 15).

I wuld appreciate if you can shed light on my predicament...

Also, I am due to give birth April 11, 2008. We plan to have the baby in Denmark. How is that when I dont have a Danish residence permit yet and my German permit expires before my baby is born???

My fiance just got word from his Kommune (municipality) in Denmark that my German visa is a valid residence documentation for the municipality to arrange the wedding. Hmm, that fast! Guess getting married in DK is really really fast and fuss free. But the difficult part would be when the family integration process starts because it is all based on us being married!

One down this time!

Thanks Pmohsgrl for the valuable info.

Congratulations on your wedding! :-) All the best!

Don't Worry Danish - I don't see why they would need to interrogate a nice pregnant lady. I think the evidence of your relationship should be very obvious to them :-). They aren't as ignorant at the German officials. In fact, I was taken back by how polite and helpful they were.

Some things that might help is if you guys have mutual accounts (banking, rental contracts, evidence of travel together, evidence of your travel to see him vice versa) show that you've meshed your lives together.

I'm off now to meet Future Mr. Pmohsgrl for dinner. Guten Tag :-)

The problem with this site is once again the Ehefähigkeitszeugnis -

"Single documentation (original)
From the city hall where you are living. Included: name, birthday and birthplace, single documentation, address and nationality.

Not older than 4 month. The single documentation should be submitted in the original and in a testified translated version, if not issued in Danish, English or German."

The site states that this is required - basically this is the whole reason to go to Denmark - to avoid having to produce this - which takes at least 4 weeks according to my application and even longer for my gf . I'm interested in hearing from people and places where this document is NOT required and know that it is possible in Denmark but which offices ? thx