Administrative services A-Z

If you got married abroad and one of you has German citizenship, you can have the marriage certified in Germany.
The date of the application is decisive for the possession of German citizenship.
Stateless persons, homeless foreigners or foreign refugees with habitual residence in Germany can also submit an application for subsequent certification of the marriage.
The marriage must be concluded in accordance with the formal requirements applicable in the country in which you got married. German law must not stand in the way of the marriage.
You can also have your marriage subsequently certified if you both do not have German citizenship and were married in Germany before an authorized person of a government of the state to which one of you belongs.
The registry office of your place of residence or the place where you last lived or the place of your habitual residence is responsible for the subsequent certification.
If your habitual residence is not in Germany, the registry office I in Berlin is responsible for the subsequent certification.

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 had German citizenship 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 the application is decisive for the possession of German citizenship.
• The marriage must be legally valid and must not contradict German law.
• You are entitled to apply:
  • 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 certified 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 a foreign language by sworn translators in Germany
• Certificate of naturalization or certificate of citizenship, 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 a note 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 applicable, recognition of the foreign divorce by the President of the Higher Regional Court
  • Only required if one spouse has been married before.
• Further documents
  • Further documents may be required in individual cases

The fees are based on the regulations of the federal states.

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 with them.
• The registrar will check whether it is possible to have the marriage certified by a German registry office.
• If all requirements are met, the marriage can be entered in the marriage register.
• If required, the registry office will issue a marriage certificate once the marriage has been entered in the register.

The responsible registry office

• § Section 34 of the Civil Status Act (PStG)
• § Section 9 of the Civil Status Act (PStG)
• § Section 10 of the Civil Status Act (PStG)
• § Section 11 Introductory Act to the German Civil Code (EGBGB)
• § Section 13 Introductory Act to the German Civil Code (EGBGB)
• § Section 438 of the Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO)

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.

Senator for Internal Affairs Bremen, Department 23 Civil Status Law