Marriage registration in Germany
Marriage is commitment. Marriage has to endure many hardships. However, perhaps none of them is as difficult as having your marriage recognized in Germany.
This post aims at clarifying exactly how you can do that, and what documents you will need to achieve marriage registration in Germany.
Feel free to ask questions in the comments section. I answer every question personally.
Getting married abroad is easier sometimes
When both partners aren’t German citizens (especially non-EU), it is often easier to get married abroad and THEN have it recognized in Germany. Less paperwork is involved. For this you have 2 options.
Get married in countries with an international license
You can decide to fly to Copenhagen, Malta, or any of the countries (particularly Denmark) that offer an international marriage license. This document is de-facto recognized by German authorities because it has a German translation, without the need for additional documentation.
Get married in a country with Apostille
If you tie the knot in some other country however, you will need the Apostille.
It’s an international convention for official documents so they can be recognized by other countries than where it was produced. This is a “stamp” that Germany requires on marriage certificates from other countries in order to do marriage registration in Germany.
- If your marriage license comes from a non-EU country, it is a good bet that you will need the Apostille. To get this, you can go to the city hall of where you were married and most likely get the stamp there. Depending on the country it might also be the local parish or other entity.
- This page from the German foreign ministry explains what is needed based on which country your marriage certificate comes from.
Little warning about changing names: If one of your wants to take on the name of the other partner, makes sure to have this done when you marry. The German authorities can only register the marriage and not change names after the fact.
Marriage registration in Germany process
When both partners are foreigners
Little warning: based on feedback in the comments’ section, the process might be different depending on the municipality or/and clerk you deal with. Sometimes, registration happen in the Eheregister – marriage registry (Standesamt), sometimes in the Melderegister – registration registry (Bürgeramt). That might lead to additional frustration. Try the following method & adapt if need be. Good luck.
Bastien
Once you have the right certificates, make an appointment with the Bürgeramt in your respective neighborhood/city.
The employee might try to send you to the Standesamt instead because they are used to dealing with marriages involving German citizens. This is not right: if both spouses/partners are foreigners, registration takes place at the Bürgeramt in the Melderegister.
- It’s not always clear what appointment “title” it should be. In some places, this can be called “Eheschließung Anmeldung” (Marriage registration). In others, this could be simply be “Familienstand ändern” (Family status change).
- Instead of using an online booking system, try to call instead. A human might work better in this case (tips on how to book a Bürgerarmt appointment in Berlin).
When one partner has German citizenship
If there a German citizen involved, you might need to proceed to your Standesamt instead (Eheregister). The process is usually better known by city clerks. There are therefore appointments slots available for that online usually.
Here is the link for Berlin for example.
However, some people reported in the comments that it might also just be fine to go to the Bürgeramt and have it registered there.
Bring the right documents
Bring with you:
- Your international marriage license (and the Apostille depending on your case).
- A translated version of your birth certificates. Depending on your country, this can either be obtained directly from your home country, in the form of a international certificate, or it will need to be translated to a certified translation (more about this here).
- Meldebescheinigung.
- Passports.
If you are coming with your certificate from Denmark specifically, they may not ask for anything other than your passports and your marriage certificate, but as we have learned after living with German bureaucracy for a couple years, it’s always good to be prepared for marriage registration in Germany.
In doubt for Berlin, you can check this page which lists all the documents that might be required. For other cities, try to google “Nachbeurkundung einer Eheschließung im Ausland [city name]” to get to the city portal.
Pay the fee
After they fill out your German recognition for your marriage, they will ask if you want to pay for the copy of it. We did, and it was 10 euro. If your certificate is from somewhere like Malta, it may be slightly more.
Depending on which Bürgeramt you go to, it may also only accept EC cards. Again here, fees may vary from city to city.
Please note that paying the fee might not be the end of the process. It does happen that the Bürgeramt asks for additional documents to finish the process.
All done with marriage registration in Germany, what now?
After getting your marriage recognized in the German system, 2 things will happen:
- You will receive a letter in the mail with your new Tax ID number for you and your spouse as a married couple.
- You should probably consider switching tax classes to get a better tax return. We show you how to do that here.
Ultimately, the process of marriage recognition in Germany wasn’t nearly as complicated as it ended up being. Not knowing how things work is really difficult and debilitating and took much longer than it should have. Hopefully this helps people going through similar situations feel a little more prepared for the process. Good luck and feel free to ask questions in the comments.
This post was originally written by Lauren Piper, an American living in Berlin, based on her experience. It was edited by Bastien Allibert (SiB’s Editor) for clarity.
Great article, thanks so much! My wife and I (Irish & British with residency permit respectively) need to register our marriage and pretty much every single Bürgeramt online is “nur mit Termin”. Just wondering since Corona if anyone has had any experience with simply turning up at a local Bürgeramt without an appointment and waiting in line.
Hi dear Settle in Berlin Staff!
My question is: I got married with my spanish girlfriend in Denmark. She’s a Berlin resident (Anmeldung and job contract here)
Me, an argentinian with no EU visa. We want to apply for a Family Reunification Visa, but i want to know if i can make the process here or should i go to my country to start the process?
I have many doubts about this topic since i found different info. Hope you can clarify my mind!
Thanks in advance! Cheers,
Max
I just went through the process of having our marriage (done in Denmark between a US and PL citizen) registered in Berlin. A few takeaways:
-The Standesamt doesn’t do walk in appointments because of corona, at least the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg location, so I sent them an email regarding registering our marriage and I received the following response: “eine Nachbeurkundung einer im Ausland geschlossenen Ehe ist nur möglich, wenn entweder die Frau oder der Mann die deutsche Staatsangehörigkeit hat. Ansonsten haben Sie die Möglichkeit im Melderegister Ihren geänderten Familienstand eintragen zu lassen. Bitte wenden Sie sich dazu an ein Bürgeramt Ihrer Wahl.”
-The takeaway from this is that it’s not possible to register in the Standesamt, unless one of us is a German citizen, and should make an appointment at the Bürgeramt instead.
-I happened to be at the Neukölln Bürgeramt on another errand later that week, and asked the woman helping me how to go about registering the marriage. She took the one-page license, made a copy, and took care of it on the spot, without an additional fee. I didn’t fill out a form, my husband wasn’t with me (although I had his passport on me just in case), and the apostille on the back of the marriage certificate wasn’t photocopied.
-It seems that an appointment at the Bürgeramt will suffice to have the marriage registered in the public record, although unfortunately I’m not sure what the service is called to make the appointment online (plenty of “Ehe..” options).
-The woman said our tax class will automatically be changed to 4/4 and if we’d like to change our tax class to contact the Finanzamt.
I hope this helps!
Hey! Thanks for this. Do you have any idea if they accept an apostille which is digital? I.E. not an actual stamp but still an apostille. Also, do you know if anyone handles this with a power of attorney? not the aposttile, but the process in Germany. thanks!
I think this information needs to be fact-checked. Registering a foreign marriage at the Standesamt is only available for German citizens. This is stated clearly on the Berlin service portal page, the link which you included in the article.
Hi Bastian
Thanks for the response!
Another quick question – my partner will be applying for a Family Reunification Visa, does a marriage certificate from Denmark need to have an apostille?
Thanks!
Hi Bastian,
Great article, thanks!
Do you happen to know how a name change works? My fiancée is Swiss and we aren’t sure if she should contact her embassy first to change name or if this can be done with the support of the German authorities.
Hi Bastien,
Hope you are well.
Quick question, my partner and I plan to get married in New York, USA. Would you know if the marriage certificate require legalization/apostille before it can be accepted for a visa application (Family Reunion Visa)?
Hello Bastien. My partner and I want to registrate our marriage (we got married in Denmark). He’s not German but an EU citizen, and I’m a non EU citizen. Is it the same proccess you have described here? I ask because on the link in the article says something about German citizenship, so I wonder if maybe the requirements change if we aren’t German?
Thanks a lot for all the info, it has been super useful!
Very useful info, thanks a lot!
I got married almost a year ago in Copenhagen with an EU-Citizen (I’m a non-EU citizen), but we didn’t register our marriage here, because we did not know we could do it. Now I wanted to do my tax declaration but apparently I’m still “single” for the Finamzamt (Tax class I). Could we do our taxes as “single” this year and register our marriage later this year or that could mean a problem in the future?
Hello,
What about the case when both married parties are non-EU citizens. Do they still need to have the marriage registered in Germany if they got married in Denmark? Or it will be a different process??
Regards
Bastien. Hello.
Hey, a question. Maybe you can help me. What are the benefits for register my marriage here in Germany?
Thanks for this very useful information! Because of Corona, we had to book an appointment online to get our marriage recognized in Berlin. However, the only way to book an appointment for this was via the one Burgeramt open for appointments (I had to email several directly to get set up with an appointment) . There was no option for appointments at the Standesamt or even open hours. When went to the building the guards were confused and directed us towards the Standesamt within the building but it was closed so we scurried back to the line for the Burgeramt, only a little late! A young lady processed our documents but offered no copy and told us we didn’t have to pay. She said the Finanzamt would be automatically informed but never told us that a new tax ID number would come in the mail. We were hoping to get money back retroactively from when we were married last year. I’m not sure if I should just wait for something in the mail with a new tax ID or if I should fill out the tax status form change and include a letter stating that we registered our marriage already etc. with our last income tax returns, apostille etc.
Hi Bastien. A quick question. You put up a link for the appointment booking for the marriage registration to be done at Bürgeramt, however when I click the link and go to the bottom of the webpage it only shows appointment booking at the various Standesamts. What is the accurate way to make a booking? Another question, I’m a non EU citizen still living in my country and my husband is a German citizen living in Berlin. We recently got married in Denmark. Must he do the marriage registration by informing the Bürgeramt or can he wait for me to move over to Berlin and we can do it together? Thank you for your help.
Thanks for the info! We were not able to get an appointment at our regular Burgeramt due to a time crunch, so booked one nearby (still in Berlin though, where we live). Do you know if its required to use the same Burgeramt where you’ve done the Anmeldung, or it is fine to use one in another part of the city? Thanks!