Getting Legally Married Abroad
For Americans marrying overseas
Getting Legally Married Abroad
A wedding abroad is two separate problems. The ceremony, which is the easy one, and proving to a foreign registrar that you are legally free to marry, which is not. The United States issues no Certificate of No Impediment and no authority here will certify your marital status, yet almost every civil-law country asks for precisely that. This is how the paperwork actually works, which documents need a notary, an apostille or a translation, and which countries a visiting couple realistically cannot use.
- Countries covered
- 51
- Consular affidavit
- $50 per seal
- U.S. paperwork
- Four to eight weeks
- Embassy weddings
- Not permitted
Build your document list. Two questions.
Choose a country to see exactly which documents you need and what each one requires.
The document America will not give you
Civil-law countries require proof of legal capacity to marry: a certificate from a competent authority stating that no impediment exists. Most countries issue one. The United States does not, and cannot, because there is no national register of marital status to check against.
The workaround is an affidavit you swear yourself. You state under oath that you are free to marry. It carries weight because of who witnesses it, not because any authority has verified it, and that is why the witnessing route matters so much.
Sworn at the U.S. embassy abroad
A consular officer notarises it in the country where you are marrying. $50 per seal, by appointment. Local registrars usually accept this readily, though some countries then require their own foreign ministry to attest it.
Notarised at home first
A single status affidavit sworn before a U.S. notary, then apostilled by that state, or run through the full legalisation chain for a non-Convention country. Slower, but done before you travel.
Three questions per document
Every document you will be asked for gets the same three decisions, and the answers follow from who issued it and whether the destination is in the Apostille Convention.
Does it need a notary?
Only if it is something you are asserting rather than something an office issued. The affidavit needs one. A birth certificate never does, and notarising a certified copy can invalidate it.
Apostille or legalisation?
Apostille if the destination has joined the Convention, which is a single certificate. Full consular legalisation if it has not, which is four or five steps.
Does it need translating?
Yes wherever the official language is not English, and normally by a translator the local authority recognises. Translate after authentication, never before.
The order to do it in
- Confirm you can actually marry there. Residency rules, notice periods and same-sex recognition first. Everything else is wasted if this fails.
- Ask the authority that will perform the ceremony for its list. Requirements differ by municipality, not just by country. A general guide, this one included, is not a substitute.
- Order certified copies. Birth certificate, and any divorce decree or death certificate. Order two of each if two authorities will want originals.
- Authenticate. Apostille, or the full legalisation chain. Four to eight weeks is realistic.
- Swear the affidavit. At the embassy once you arrive, or at home before you travel.
- Translate. After authentication, by whoever the destination recognises, which is often only a translator registered there.
- File notice locally and observe the banns or waiting period.
Steps three and four are the ones that overrun, and they are the two we handle every working day.
What the embassy will and will not do
Will
Notarise your affidavit of eligibility to marry, at $50 per seal and by appointment. Notarise other documents you need sworn.
Will not
Perform the marriage. U.S. diplomatic and consular officers are prohibited from doing so under 22 CFR 52.1. They also will not certify that you are free to marry, advise you on local law, or register the marriage afterwards.
Will it be valid at home?
Generally yes. A marriage is recognised in the United States if it was validly performed under the law of the place where it happened. No U.S. official needs to be present, and there is no federal marriage register to file with afterwards.
Keep the foreign marriage certificate, and have it apostilled there before you leave. It is your only proof, and getting an apostille on it later, from another continent, is far harder than getting one while you are standing in the country.
Countries a visiting couple cannot use
Residency requirements in these countries are long enough that a couple arriving as visitors cannot legally marry there, whatever the paperwork says.
France. At least one party normally needs around thirty to forty days of continuous residence in the commune before the banns. Full detail
Spain. At least one partner must have held legal resident status in Spain for the previous two years if neither is a Spanish citizen. Full detail
By country
- Argentina
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Brazil
- Canada
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Croatia
- Czechia
- Denmark
- Dominican Republic
- Egypt legalisation
- Finland
- France residency barrier
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Indonesia
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Kenya legalisation
- Malaysia legalisation
- Mexico
- Morocco
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Panama
- Peru
- Philippines
- Poland
- Portugal
- Saudi Arabia
- Singapore
- South Africa
- South Korea
- Spain residency barrier
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Thailand legalisation
- Turkey
- United Arab Emirates legalisation
- United Kingdom
- Vietnam
The four-to-eight-week part is ours
Certified copies, apostilles, legalisation and certified translation for a wedding abroad. Tell us the country and the date and we will work backwards from it.
Questions people actually ask
Can the U.S. embassy marry us?
No. U.S. diplomatic and consular officers are prohibited from performing marriages, under 22 CFR 52.1. They can notarise the affidavit that says you are free to marry, and that is the extent of it. Local civil or religious officials perform the ceremony.
Will our marriage be recognised back in the United States?
Generally yes. A marriage is valid in the United States if it was validly performed under the law of the place where it happened. No U.S. official needs to be present and no U.S. registration is required. Keep the foreign marriage certificate, apostilled, because that is your proof.
Why can I not get a Certificate of No Impediment?
Because the United States does not issue one. No federal or state authority will certify that you are free to marry, and there is no register of marital status to check against. Every civil-law country asks for exactly that document, which is why the affidavit workaround exists.
Where do I swear the affidavit?
Either at the U.S. embassy or consulate in the country where you are marrying, at $50 per seal, or before a notary at home. The consular version is usually accepted more readily, but some countries then require their own foreign ministry to attest it.
How long does the paperwork take?
Budget four to eight weeks for the U.S. side alone: ordering certified copies, then state or federal authentication, then legalisation if the country is outside the Apostille Convention. That is before the destination's own notice or banns period.
Which documents need translating?
All of them, in any country whose official language is not English, and normally by a translator the local authority recognises rather than one you choose. Do the translation after authentication, not before.
Do we need blood tests?
Some countries and many Mexican states still require a medical certificate or blood test, taken locally within a set window before the ceremony. It is not something you can do in advance at home.
What about a same-sex marriage?
Legality varies enormously and it is the first thing to confirm, before any paperwork. A country may permit civil partnership but not marriage, or neither. Ask the authority that would perform the ceremony rather than relying on a general guide.
Is a destination wedding the same as a legal marriage?
Often not. Many couples marry legally at home and hold the ceremony abroad as a celebration, precisely because the residency and paperwork rules are onerous. That is a legitimate and much simpler route.
This guide is published by a private document processing service. It is not legal advice and we are not a government agency. Requirements change without notice, so confirm anything critical with the mission before you post documents.
