Applying for subsequent certification of a marriage concluded abroad

The following steps are required for a personal application on site:

• At least one of the spouses who is a German citizen must appear in person at the registry office and bring all the necessary documents.
• The registrar checks whether the certification can be carried out by a German registry office.
• If all requirements are met, the entry can be made in the marriage register.
• If required, the registry office will issue a marriage certificate once the entry in the register has been made.

If you are resident in Germany, the registry office of the place where you live or have your habitual residence is responsible.
If you live abroad, the registry office I in Berlin is responsible.

Subsequent certification is possible in the following cases:

• You got married abroad and one of you has German citizenship or is stateless, a homeless foreign national or a foreign refugee.
• You got married in Germany and neither of you was a German citizen at the time of the marriage. The marriage was performed by an authorized person of a government of the country to which one of you belongs.
• The date of application is decisive for the possession of German citizenship.
• The marriage must be legally valid and must not contradict German law.
• Eligible applicants are:
  • The spouses
  • If both spouses are deceased, their parents and children

• Foreign marriage certificate, if necessary with certification by the competent foreign authority (apostille) or legalization by the German diplomatic mission abroad
• Valid identity card, passport or travel document
• Certified copies of the birth registers from the registry offices of the places of birth
  • If the spouses were born in Germany
• Birth certificates with certification by the competent foreign authority (apostille) or legalization by the German diplomatic mission abroad
  • If the spouses were born abroad
• Translations of all documents in foreign languages by sworn translators in Germany
• Naturalization certificate or citizenship card, if applicable
• Proof of the establishment and dissolution of all civil partnerships
  • Only required if one spouse has already established a registered civil partnership
• Certified copy from the marriage register of the last previous marriage with annotation of dissolution
  • Only required if one spouse has been married before. Alternatively or in the case of previous marriages abroad: Proof of the conclusion and dissolution of all previous marriages. For example, marriage certificates, death certificates, all divorce decrees - complete and with a note from the court stating when the judgment became legally binding ("final judgment").
• If necessary, recognition of the foreign divorce by the President of the Higher Regional Court
  • Only required if one spouse has already been married.
• Further documents
  • Further documents may be required in individual cases

• § 34 Personal Status Act (PStG)
• § Section 9 of the Civil Status Act (PStG)
• § Section 10 of the Civil Status Act (PStG)
• Art. 13 para. 4 sentence 2 Introductory Act to the German Civil Code (BGBEG)
• § Section 438 of the Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO)

• Contradiction
• Application for a court decision

• Application for subsequent certification of a marriage concluded abroad

If the marriage took place abroad, you can apply to the registry office in your home town for the marriage to be subsequently recorded in the German marriage register.

• Marriage abroad notarization
• German citizenship is required for the application. Stateless persons, homeless foreigners and foreign refugees with habitual residence in Germany can also apply for subsequent certification.
• The date of application is decisive for the possession of German citizenship.
• The subsequent certification can be requested by the spouses. If both are deceased, their parents or children can also submit the application.
• A subsequent certification of marriages concluded in Germany is also possible if neither of the spouses had German citizenship at the time of the marriage and the marriage took place before an authorized person of a government to which one of the spouses belongs.
• Responsible: the registry office of the place of residence, the last place of residence or the usual place of residence.
  • If you have never had a place of residence in Germany or if your habitual residence is not in Germany, the registry office I in Berlin is responsible:
    • Registry Office I
      Schönstedtstraße 5
      13357 Berlin

• Marriage abroad Notarization in Rhineland-Palatinate

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