Here at Getting Married in Denmark, we’ve created this comprehensive guide to the documents required to get married in Denmark.
This will help couples understand how the whole process works, and help you to avoid making any errors that could compromise your marriage application.
The only document required for everyone.
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If one or both partners is required a Visa to enter Denmark.
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If one or both partners live in a different country then where you are a citizen.
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If one or both partners has been married before.
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Not for children you might have individually.
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If one or both partners are in military service, they will require a statement of permission to marry from their commanding officer.
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In most cases your birth certificate is not necessary.
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In most cases your single status certificate is not necessary.
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Below we will provide answers to many of the most commonly asked questions we receive from couples about the required documents to get married in Denmark, and offer some direction on where to go if you need further help or advice.
Read on to learn more.
Let’s start with the basics for getting married in Denmark.
Requirements can vary depending on where you come from and how soon you’re planning to marry, but as a general rule, all couples will need to supply the following documents for both partners:
Depending on your personal situation, you might also need one or more of the following documents to meet the requirements to get married in Denmark:
As you can see from the above list, the required documents to get married in Denmark are not as exhaustive or challenging as those for many other countries!
However, as is the case with anything involving legal paperwork, there are a number of additional considerations you need to take into account too.
For instance, depending on how soon you wish to get married, there might be some locations in Denmark that will suit you better than others.
You may also need to provide translations of your original documents, undertake legalisation of certain documents, change the existing document format, and consider the validity period for your Prøvelsesattest or Certificate of Marital Status.
We’ll cover all of this in Part 5
In this section we will explain in detail about these required documents. Here we go.
If you want to enter or remain in Denmark and get married here, both you and your partner will need a valid passport.
As part of the documents requirements to get married in Denmark, your passports must:
If your passport has a shorter time remaining before it expires that your Certificate of Marital Status (Prøvelsesattest) has, you might be asked to provide a new passport.
The Declaration of Truth is a legal document that you and your partner need to sign, and it is a standard PDF form supplied by the Danish Agency of Family Law, or AFL for short.
We at GMiD will provide this form for you and assist you with completing it, and then all you and your partner need to do is sign it.
Signing the Declaration of Truth means making a legally binding statement that all of the information you supply within your marriage application is true and correct, and that your supporting documents are real.
Being honest about this to the best of your ability is really important, because it is a criminal offence to lie or use fake documents, which might result in a monetary fine or even prison time.
A signed Power of Attorney document approves us here at GMiD to help you with your marriage application, and to speak and act on your behalf and with your permission.
We require this document to enable us to submit your marriage application, stay up to date with the status of your application, and contact and handle interactions with the Danish Agency of Family Law on your behalf.
What type of Visa do you need to get married in Denmark?
There are lots of different answers to this, and some visitors don’t need a Visa at all!
But you may need a valid Visa with a Schengen Area entry stamp to get married in Denmark.
If you do need a Visa, there are a number of different options.
We’ll cover the different Visa types that can be used to get married in Denmark, along with information on exemptions, and answer some other common questions about Danish Visa requirements within this section.
Is it possible to get married in Denmark on a tourist Visa that is valid within the Schengen Area? Yes, as long as the Visa is valid on the date of your wedding itself.
Is it possible to get married in Denmark on a student Visa?
Again yes, as long as the country that you’re studying in is within the Schengen area, and your student Visa allows you to travel to Denmark without restrictions.
As long as you are eligible to come to Denmark on a student Visa, you can get married in Denmark on a student Visa too.
Is it possible to get married in Denmark on a work Visa?
Yes, but that depends on what type of work Visa you hold, and where you come from.
There are lots of different types of work Visas in Denmark, but in the vast majority of cases, you can get married in Denmark with a work Visa for any EU country.
Not everyone who comes to Denmark is subject to Danish Visa requirements;
Visitors from some countries don’t need a Visa to come to Denmark at all, and these people are known as Visa-exempt in Denmark.
Is it possible to get married in Denmark if you’re Visa exempt? Yes, as long as you haven’t overstayed your permitted time here.
For most visitors who are Visa exempt in Denmark, you are permitted to stay for no longer than 90 days in any 180-day period, although this is once more variable depending on where you come from.
Double-check the exemption requirements for your own personal circumstances, just to be sure you are actually Visa exempt in Denmark before you come!
Depending on what type of Visa you hold, the stamps on your Visa might be important, as they can be used to prove that you haven’t overstayed your permitted time here – or to show that you have!
You will have to show all of the stamps in your passport and Visa to prove that you haven’t exceeded your permitted stay.
Is it possible to get married in Denmark if you’ve overstayed your permitted time and this is marked in your passport and/or Visa? Well, this might well be a problem.
Overstaying your permitted visit, even if this was in the past, can greatly compromise your chances of having an application to get married in Denmark approved.
This doesn’t mean that it is impossible, but it will definitely make things harder, and may result in your application being refused.
This needs to be handled very carefully to give you the best chances of being able to go ahead with your wedding.
Some couples will need to provide additional documents to get married in Denmark.
Requirements can vary, and we can offer help and advice for your own personal circumstances.
Here’s some guidance on the additional documents required to get married in Denmark you may be asked to provide.
A residence permit or residency permit is a document that allows you to stay in a country other than your home country for longer than you would be allowed to as short-term visitor.
A residence permit might allow you to stay in the country that grants it indefinitely or essentially, forever; or it might have a fixed end date.
Residence permits may be permanent or temporary, and some people may need a residence permit to get married in Denmark.
This might be a residence permit for Denmark itself, or for a different country from which residents are also allowed to enter Denmark.
The requirements to get a residence permit for any given country vary depending on the country in question, and depending on your own circumstances, some might have less barriers for you than others.
For instance, if you have a residence permit from another EU country, this could serve as one of your required documents to get married in Denmark, even though the residence permit isn’t for Denmark itself.
If either you or your partner have ever been married before, that previous marriage must be legally over before you can get married in Denmark.
This means you’ll need to supply either a divorce certificate (also sometimes known as a divorce decree) or a death certificate to prove that the prior marriage has finished and that you’re free to marry again.
Getting this right is really important, and being unable to provide a divorce or death certificate can stop you from getting married entirely!
We’ve handled and resolved a wide range of issues with death and divorce certificates from all over the world, and we’ll help you to get things right the first time.
It isn’t possible to convert or “upgrade” your existing civil union to a legal marriage in Denmark instead.
As mentioned earlier on, getting everything right when it comes to a divorce or death certificate is really important for getting married in Denmark without problems.
However, the three most common methods of splitting up with a former husband or wife are often taken to mean the same thing, when in law, they’re viewed very differently.
Here’s a simple explanation for each of them:
A divorce is a legally recognised and completely final end to a marriage or other legal union between two romantic partners.
Once a divorce has been issued, both former partners are free to marry again.
Annulments are uncommon; legally, an annulment means voiding a marriage or declaring it invalid, as if the marriage never really happened in the first place.
Annulments are also recognised in law, and may be issued in place of a divorce in exceptional circumstances, such as if one of the partners was already legally married to someone else, or misrepresented themselves in order to marry; for instance, to try to get citizenship benefits.
If you were married and received a legal annulment, then you are free to marry again.
A separation is not the same as a divorce or annulment, because during a separation, the two partners in the union are still legally married to each other, and so, are not free to marry again.
A separation may be part of the process of attaining a divorce, and may be permanent or temporary; but if you and your former partner are only separated but not divorced or annulled, you are not free to marry again at this point.
A separation is not the same as a divorce or annulment, because during a separation, the two partners in the union are still legally married to each other, and so, are not free to marry again.
A separation may be part of the process of attaining a divorce, and may be permanent or temporary; but if you and your former partner are only separated but not divorced or annulled, you are not free to marry again at this point.
If you do need to provide a death certificate or divorce certificate as part of the requirements to get married in Denmark, you may need to have the certificate legalised first.
We’ll talk about what this means in more detail later on.
However, if the divorce certificate or death certificate was issued in the USA, Canada, Australia, or an EU member country, it is all ready to use as it is.
If you, your partner, or both are in the military, you need to get permission from your commanding officer before you can get married in Denmark!
This is a very old-fashioned rule, but one that still applies in Denmark today.
Even if the law in your home country or the country you’re serving doesn’t make you get permission from your commanding officer, you still need this under Danish law to get married in Denmark.
A birth certificate is a formal document that verifies and documents the birth of a child, and this is one document that even adults need to produce to prove their identity or place and date of birth occasionally.
That said, most people don’t need to supply their own birth certificate to get married in Denmark.
However, if you have children together, you will need to supply the birth certificate for your child or children as one of the required documents to get married in Denmark.
The Danish Agency of Family Law doesn’t usually ask for a Single Status Certificate before they’ll let you get married in Denmark, but they can ask for a Single Status Certificate if they think this is necessary.
A Single Status Certificate or is known by various different names depending on the country issuing it; in Denmark, it’s called a “Civilstandsattest” (Single Status Certificate); in the UK it is a Certificate of No Impediment, and in Germany, it is called a Ledigkeitsbescheinigung.
The certificate itself confirms to the relevant Danish authorities that the holder meets all of the requirements to be able to legally marry, and it remains valid for four months from the date of issue.
The certificate needs to show your name, date and place of birth, current address, citizenship, and of course, marital status!
Finally, we’ve left the most complicated-sounding document you may need to get married in Denmark until last! That said, this Statement isn’t quite as complicated as it sounds.
It’s just a declaration you need to read and sign, agreeing that you know the rules Denmark has in place surrounding family reunification. This is known as making an 11b declaration.
If only you or your partner (but not both of you) are a permanent resident or legal citizen of Denmark and the other partner is not an EU citizen either, you will need to make this statement; but otherwise, this document isn’t required.
Unfortunately, you can’t necessarily just submit your documents in their original language; you might need to have them professionally translated first, depending on what language was used to begin with.
The Danish Government accepts documents written in the following three languages:
So if your documents are in one of these languages, the need to get them translated won’t apply to you.
However, if your documents are in any other language, you will need to get them professionally translated into one of these three languages before they can be submitted.
In the meantime, any time-sensitive documents that have a fixed validity period might be running out of time, and so this is something you will want to avoid.
Getting Married in Denmark is very familiar with meeting the requirements when it comes to translation of documents.
Our service includes checking all of your documents in full to ensure that they’re presented in exactly the right format, so that your application is processed properly the first time without delay.
Legalisation of documents – known in some countries as authentication or notarisation – is the process of certifying and verifying that an important document is legal and genuine, so that it can be properly recognised and used for its intended purpose.
Some documents required to get married in Denmark that were issued by another country may have to be legalised before they can be submitted in support of your marriage application.
One of the most common – and yet, easy to avoid – reasons for applications to get married in Denmark being delayed or rejected is because of missing legalisations.
This is something that Getting Married in Denmark has years of experience with, so we can help make sure that this doesn’t happen to you!
Generally, it is death certificates and divorce certificates that need to be legalised, although this does depend on where they were originally issued.
Sometimes, the Danish Agency of Family Law will request that other documents be legalised too, but this is less common.
If the country where your document was issued is a Hague Convention Country, you might be asked for an Apostille Legalisation.
This is basically a universal legalisation certificate that can be used across all Hague Convention countries to verify a document’s validity, without the need to have the document legalised separately in the country requesting it.
If the country that issued your documents is not a Hague Convention country, you need to go through a slightly different process to get your documents legalised as part of your application to get married in Denmark.
Exactly what is required for this can vary, but Getting Married in Denmark is once more fully experienced in the legalisation of documents from all over the world, and can guide you through the process from start to finish.
The chances are that most or all of your documents are in paper format, and you could be forgiven for thinking that the Danish Agency of Family Law would demand to receive them in this original format; however, this is not the case!
All of the documents required to get married in Denmark need to be submitted digitally, either in PDF or image format. You cannot post off or hand in paper documents as part of your application.
This is another common stumbling block for many people who aren’t familiar with the exact requirements to get married in Denmark, and one that can cause long delays in processing your application.
All of our services are fully inclusive of organising your documents into the correct format to meet the requirements of the Danish Agency of Family Law.
The Certificate of Marital Status – or Prøvelsesattest, as the Danish Agency of Family Law calls it – is not the same thing as a Single Status Certificate, and this is very important to remember, to ensure that you don’t confuse the two!
In order to ensure we don’t generate any confusion ourselves, in this section we’ll use the Danish name of Prøvelsesattest for the document in question, just to be safe.
The Prøvelsesattest or Prøvelsesattesten is a document issued by the Danish Agency of Family Law once you and your partner have received approval of your wedding application to get married in Denmark.
Prøvelsesattesten is only valid for four months after it is issued, and once it has been issued, it is sent directly to the town hall that you have chosen to get married in.
After those four months, the certificate expires, and you will not be able to get married in Denmark. You cannot extend the original certificate past the four-month period either; you would need to make a brand-new application (and pay the application fee all over again) to get a new one.
If you’ve taken the time to read about the documents required to get married in Denmark and the other considerations you need to think about too, it is understandable that you might be feeling a little daunted by it all!
However, the requirements to get married in Denmark are much more relaxed than they are in most other countries, and Denmark remains one of the fastest and easiest places for international and multinational couples to get legally married without problems.
Getting Married in Denmark can help with this; just check out our reviews and testimonials from other couples!
Trying to get married in other countries if you or your partner aren’t citizens there can be hugely confusing, and can rarely be achieved without the support of costly attorneys.
Such lawyers generally charge a high premium and often take a very long time – all of which is billable – getting you to the end goal, if they manage it at all.
One of the main reasons why Denmark is such a popular destination for international and multinational couples to get married is because cost-effective and easy-to-access services like ours here at Getting Married in Denmark are available to assist with the whole process.
Ultimately, we can actually save you money by making sure you get things right the first time, and don’t suffer from the financial (and emotional) impact of avoidable delays or application rejections.
We are not lawyers with penthouse offices and expensive suits; we are simply committed, highly experienced professionals with a proven track record of over 3,000 successful marriage applications made with our support and guidance.
Our goal is to provide excellent customer service with a personal touch, and to ensure that your plans to get married in Denmark go ahead without stress, delays, or any other avoidable problems.
If you have any questions about the documents required to get married in Denmark or if you’re ready to begin your application assisted by experienced professionals, contact Getting Married in Denmark now to get started today.
