These days it’s common for brides and grooms to want a Destination Wedding. By that we mean, going abroad for their nuptials, as well as their honeymoon.
And that often means the entire family, as well as groups of friends, heading off to the same foreign locations to witness those vows and celebrate the occasion with the newly-married couple.
In fact, its common to marry abroad these days that there are wedding planning companies offering to organise the whole event, from booking the flights and accommodation to making sure there is a local registrar as well as a florist and hairdresser on hand.
And that’s all very well, but what about the legal part? After all a marriage certificate is a legal document. Will it still be legal in the UK if the marriage has taken place abroad? Will you even be able to get married in a foreign country if you’re just popping over for that very occasion? These are good questions and it’s these and other legal issues that we will set out to answer here in this article.
Is your foreign marriage even legal?
The short answer is ‘yes.’ Marriages which take place in another country are valid in the UK provided you can present a marriage certificate from the country in which you were wed. Provided, that is, that you qualified for getting married in the UK i.e. that you were old enough, not doing it under duress and were fully aware of exactly what you were doing.
What you can do by law
Actually, there is no global law for getting married. They differ from country to country, which is why it’s crucial to understand that country’s rules before even stepping foot on the plane. One way to find out for sure exactly what you need to do is consult their local embassy for guidance. It may be, that you need to have been resident in the country for a period of time before you are permitted to get married there.
For instance, in France, you must have been a resident in the country for at least 40 days before getting married. And you must go through a civil marriage in the local town hall, conducted by the Mayor there, before you will be allowed to have a religious ceremony. Like in the UK, Humanist weddings – an alternative to a religious ceremony – have also become very popular in France. These can be conducted wherever you like (within reason). The county also legally accepted same-sex marriage back in 2013.
Paperwork you’ll need for getting married abroad
It’s not unusual for any country abroad to ask for certain documentation when getting married to prove that you are, in fact, legally entitled to wed. Also, to testify that you are who you both say you are.
That means the kind of documentation a foreign registrar likes to see include a birth certificate, a Certificate of No Impediment (a document which states that you are free to marry available from your local Register Office), valid passports for both of the couple and proof of residency in that country for a certain amount of days (where applicable).
This is where an apostille is needed, in terms of verifying that these documents are indeed genuine.
To save time when you arrive back home in the UK it’s a good idea to get a copy of the extract marriage certificate from the local office while you are resident in the country. It’s much more difficult to chase up when you are back on home soil again.
And what about divorce?
Well, if you really want to go there so soon afterwards… When it comes to divorce it can be messy and this too will require plenty of paper work, but the good news is that it’s the country you are both currently residing in that you are answerable to when filing for divorce – not where you were initially married. And that makes things a whole lot easier.
Get in touch
If you need advice on how to legalise documentation that you need for a wedding abroad then learn about our Apostille and Embassy legalisation process on our website at www.apostille-services.co.uk.
You can also call our team, on 020 8017 2216 or, if it’s easier, send us a message via WhatsApp +44 7496 701341. It’s always better to find out exactly what you need for a wedding abroad before you board that flight.
