Required documents to get married in denmark

Our intention here is to provide you with information about what documents and certificates that are required to get married in Denmark. The required documents can be divided in two groups. Documents that are required for every international couple and documents required due to your specific circumstances. Furthermore, all the documents – no matter what ‘group’ the fall into – needs to fulfil certain requirements as well, and these requirements are depending on your specific circumstances. It sounds complicated and bureaucratic but read through and hopefully we have made it clear to you which documents you should collect and what the requirements are. 

 

Before reading any further you might check if you meet the requirements and conditions to get married in Denmark. 

List of documents you might need to get married in denmark

One of the reasons it is easy to get married in Denmark is because of the little number of required documents. Below you will find a list of the documents the Agency of Family Law is most likely to request from you. Not all documents are required for each couple, some are depended on your specific circumstances. After reading through here you should be able to identify the documents you need to present to the Agency of Family Law. 

  • Passport or EU ID-card to document your identity, and for some nationalities the passport or EU ID-card is valid documentation for legal entry and stay as well
  • Visa or Residence Permit to document you can legally enter and stay in Denmark during the wedding ceremony
  • Certificate of No Impediment or No Trace Letter to document you are not currently married
  • Residence Certificate or other documentation to document you currently live together
  • Divorce Decree, Death Certificate or Marriage Annulment to document that any previous marriage has been dissolved
  • Birth Certificate(s) for all children you have together
  • Permission from your Commanding Officer if one or both of you are in the Military
  • The Application in which you sign the Declaration of Truth and for some couples also the 11b Declaration (more about this below)

In the following we will go into more details with each of these documents.

Passport or EU ID-card for identification

The Agency of Family Law need to know your identity before they can process your application, for this you will need either a passport or an EU ID-card (available to EU citizens only). Everyone who wish to get married in Denmark must present valid identification. 

Requirements for a valid Passport

  • Valid at least three months after your wedding date 
  • Must contain at least two empty pages 
  • Must be issued within the last ten years

Requirements for the EU ID-card

  • Must be valid at least three after your wedding date

documents to verify your legal entry and stay in Denmark

Before you can get married in Denmark you need to make sure you are able to legally enter and stay here at the time the wedding takes place. If you are not able to enter and stay in Denmark legally, you will not be able to get married in Denmark. It is not required that you have entered Denmark at the time you submit the application, but you should have a visa or residence permit that documents that you can legally enter and stay in Denmark at your preferred wedding date.

 

The requirements you need to fulfil to legally enter and stay in Denmark depends on your nationality. It is also your nationality that decides whether a visa I necessary. Below we have outlined who needs a visa and who does not. This is general information and if you have previously been in restricted from entering Denmark or the Schengen Area you should check with the Danish authorities to be sure you can enter before you start the process of getting married in Denmark. 

 

Citizens from EU, EEA or Switzerland

If you are an EU, EEA or a Swiz citizen, you can enter and stay in Denmark legally without having any visa. You will have to bring your EU ID-card or a valid Passport (see the criteria for a valid passport or EU ID-card above). 

 

Citizens from visa-exempt countries 

If you are a citizen from one of the many visa-exempt countries, you can document your legal entry and stay with your passport and an entry-stamp. The entry stamp is important to document that you have not overstayed your time in Denmark (see more about overstayed visit below). 

 

As a citizen from a visa-exempt country you can stay in Denmark or the Schengen Area up till 90 days within a period of 180 consecutive days. Whether you choose to stay 90 days in a row or you can break the 90 days up in more periods is up to you. What is important is that non off you have stayed in Denmark or a Schengen country for more that 90 days in a period of 180 days. 

 

This means, if you – when you arrive in Denmark or the Schengen Area to get married in Denmark – have already stayed in Denmark or a Schengen country in 90 days within the last 180 days, you cannot enter legally into Denmark. 

 

To find out if you have any days left out of the 90 days you are allowed to stay in Denmark or a Schengen country you will have to count days. First you count the last 180 days. Then check whether you have been in Denmark or another Schengen country for 90 days or longer in this six-month period. If you have not, then you should be fine to stay and get married in Denmark. Remember that both the day you enter and the day you leave the Schengen Area each counts as one of the 90 days, no matter what time of the day or night you arrive or depart. To make sure you can legally enter and stay in Denmark, we recommend you check out nyindenmark  which is hosted by the Danish authorities

 

Other nationalities – Valid Visa or a Residence Permit is required

A visa is required to get married in Denmark if you are NOT from EU, EEA, Switzerland, a visa-exempt country or if you do NOT hold a Residence Permit from EU or Denmark.

 

To document that you are allowed to be in Denmark, you shall 

  • Present a valid passport (see the criteria above)
  • Present a valid visa that is valid at least until the wedding day
  • Have a Schengen Area Entry Stamp in your passport*
 

*If you have a multi entry visa to the Schengen Area and have previous been in the Schengen Area you must also have the previous entry AND exit stamps in your passport. 

 

Some people might have a Schengen visa that restricts them from entering Denmark. That is important that you check whether this applies for you, as you will then not be able to enter and get married in Denmark. 

 

Previously overstayed visits in Denmark or Schengen

For every person that wish to enter Denmark applies that if you have previously overstayed your time in Denmark or another Schengen country, it will be difficult for you to get married in Denmark. This is also the case if the overstay has been done in the past. Read here (https://www.schengenvisainfo.com/news/consequences-of-overstaying-in-schengen-area/) for more information. If you have ever overstayed your permitted visit, please reach out to us before doing anything else and we will have a look at your case. 

certificate of no impediment

To confirm that you are not currently married the Agency of Family Law might request a Certificate of No Impediment. This document is also referred to as a Certificate of Marital Status, a No Trace Letter or a Single Status Certificate. In German it is called a Ledigkeitsbescheiningung and in Danish a Civilstandsattest. 

 

In general, everyone who wish to get married in Denmark should try to get hold of this document, as it will make it easier for the Agency of Family Law to confirm that non off you are currently married. The Agency of Family Law does not always require you to provide this document, but they might do so. It is not always easy to get hold of this documentation and we do recommend that you try to obtain it.  

 

The documentation must have been issued no later than four months prior to the submission of the application. This means that the application to the Agency of Family Law shall be submitted before the expiration date. If that is not the case, you need to collect the document ones again. This can have the negative effect, that while you are waiting to have the new document issued one of your other documents might expire. 

Residence certificate

To evaluate whether you are currently living together the Agency of Family Law will require documentation for this. If possible, you should collect a Residence Certificate where from which it is clear that you are currently cohabitating. 

 

Again, everyone who live together should try to collect documentation for cohabiting. However, it is not a strict requirement from the Agency of Family Law.

marriage dissolvent

If one or both of you have previously been married or been in a civil unition (registreret partnerskab in Danish), you must enclose documentation that the marriage/the civil union has been legally ended. For couples that are currently in a civil union please read at the end of this subsection for further information. 

 

This documentation is required by the Agency of Family Law because it is not legal to be married to more than one person in the Danish Law. The document you will need to present depends on your specific circumstances. 

 

You should provide either a: 

  • Divorce Decree, if the marriage ended with a divorce
  • Death Certificate, if the marriage ended with the death of your former partner
  • Marriage Annulment, if the marriage ended by annulment

 

Couples currently living in a Civil Union cannot upgrade their civil union to a marriage in Denmark and will have to be legally divorced and document this to the Agency of Family Law, before you can get married in Denmark. Please contact us if this is your case and we will have a look at your circumstances. 

birth certificates for common children

If you have children together it is a requirement that you provide the Birth Certificates of each of your common children. This is important that you provide these especially if you are thinking of applying for family reunification. 

Military permission

If one or both of you are in the military, you will need permission from your commander in chief. This is Danish legislation and is required from the Agency of Family Law. 

11b Declaration

The 11b Declaration is a declaration you must sign, that states that you have read, understand and agree with the rules Denmark has in place for family reunification. 

This document is required for couples where one of you are a citizen or legal residence of Denmark and the other party is not a Danish or EU citizen. This document will be provided by us if you wish to use Marriage Denmark as your agent. 

the Declaration of truth

To apply for the Prøvelsesattest you will have to sign the application. By doing so you confirm that the information you have provided in the application and the documentation you have supplied are is correct and the truth. It is a legal binding document and if you are found to have been fraudulent with the information or documentation it might result in a monetary fine or an imprisonment. 

 

This is – naturally – a required document for everybody. If you choose to use Marriage Denmark as your agent, we will provide you with this document and as well as assisting you completing it. 

power of attorney

A Power of Attorney is necessary for all couples that want an agency such as Marriage Denmark to assist with the application. We will provide couples with this document. 

 

By giving power of attorney to Marriage Denmark means that we will submit the application and make the payment to the Agency of Family Law on your behalf, and we will also in contact with the Agency of Family Law on your behalf. 

 

A Power of Attorney is required for all couples that chooses our Online Express Plus or our Deluxe Service. For couples that chose our Online Express Classic you will submit the application, pay the service fee and be in contact with the Agency of Family yourself. No matter which of our services you chose, we will advise and assist you during the collection of the documents and completing the application. 

document you do NOT need to get married in Denmark

You are NOT required to present Birth Certificates for the two of you. Only for your common children, if you so have. 

translation, Apostille, Legalisation and time limits

After collecting all the documents and certificates that are relevant for each of you, there are still things that are important to be aware of before you can submit the application. And we recommend that you are well prepared when you start collecting the documents. For all documents you are required to present in the application, there are individual requirements. These requirements are depended on either your nationality, country of residence at a given time and then some documents just come with requirements on its own. 

 

First, make sure none of your documents has expired. Recall the Certificate of No Impediment must not be more than four months old at the time the application is submitted. 

 

Secondly, some or all your documents might need to be legalised by either an Apostille stamp or through the full legalisation process. Whether or not this applies in your case depends can depend on parameters like your nationality or your country of residence now or in the past. 

 

Thirdly, you might have to allow time to have the documents translated. All documents – and stamps if the documents have either a Apostille stamp or a legalisation – must be presented in the original language and be translated into either Danish, English or German by a certified translator. The Agency of Family Law will only accept documents in these three languages.

 

After having collected all your documents, had them legalised and translated if necessary, then it is time to prepare the documents for the application. The Agency of Family Law require the documents to presented in a certain format. It is important that you do present your documents as requested, as this will affect the time it will take the Agency of Family Law to process your application. 

how marriage denmark can help you

We hope you have gained knowledge about how to find out which documents each of you need to present in the application, whether you should have your documents legalised in one form or another and if they need to be translated. 

 

If you have enough information and have decided to go through the application process on your own, you might be interested to read through some of our other articles such as ‘Why Use An Agency To Get Married In Denmark’.

 

If you have decided you don’t want to spend time on researching what the requirements are in your specific circumstances or just want to have easy access to an advisor during the application process, we will be happy to help you. By using one of our services at Marriage Denmark you will each be provided a personalised list of documents and the corresponding requirements that each of you should collect for the application. 

 

If you have further questions, you are always welcome to contact us.