Marrying abroad to a foreigner - what paperwork is needed

Emerald Lass · 15-11-2008 12:50am #1

Hi everyone,
I plan on getting married abroad to a foreigner. I was wondering what paperwork is needed?

I know I need a cert of non-impediment to say I can legally get married, but what else? and how long in advance do I need to get the cert? also can I apply for it via the Irish embassy in Turkey or do I have to come back to rainy old Dublin?

I hae checked a few expat sites/living abroad sites - but most give info for UK citizens and not Irish. Was hoping someone on here may have gone through the process and know whats involved? not sure if its the same as if two Irish people are marrying in a foreign country.

any advice grately appreciated!

thanks,
Emerald

galah · 17-11-2008 4:56pm

same situation here, but I'm the foreigner.

The stuff needed depends on the country, but one thing I know is: You can only apply for the 'freedom to marry' cert from the department of foreign affairs three months before the actual wedding. Citizensinformation.ie should have some more information on that topic as well.

Also, you'll need the new 'long' birth cert - the fiance had an old version and had to send to Roscommon for a new updated one.

And the rest really depends on the country - we for example need a proof of residency here in Ireland to get married in Germany (the Germans don't accept ESB bills, backward country that it is :rolleyes:) probably issued by the guards, I need a hoard of documents from the German authorities, but that should be it...

I can keep you posted once I'm a bit further in our planning (we can only preregister the marriage 6 months before the actual wedding date...*eeek*)

BK2 · 18-11-2008 1:13pm

I got married abroad to a foreigner, in Italy and found it quite easy. It depends on the Country. We got a wedding planner but they didn't sort out the paper work so much, we did that. Basically I contacted the Irish embassy and they gave me what needed to be signed and they sent it to Italy. He then contacted his embassy in Dublin and they gave him his documentation (completely different), he signed his provided certs etc and that was it, so my advice would be to contact the embassy in Dublin for whatever country he/she is from and they can advise because we both had very different documents to sign and each countries have different laws for recognising marraige in foreign country.

Emerald Lass · 20-11-2008 1:51pm

thanks for the replies. the problem is that I have been told differing things by both the council here in Turkey as to what they require me to have, and also citizens info have told me two different things as to what I need from Ireland so that the marriage is recognised as legal by Irish law! The only thing I am certain about is that I need the 'freedom to marry' cert, and I can't apply for that til 3 mths prior to the wedding, and I also know what my partner needs as he is marrying in his own country.

The officials in the council here told me that in addition to the freedom cert, and proof of identity I needed proof of residency in Ireland - but I no longer live in Ireland, I live here!

Its all so confusing! I have a feeling that a week before the big day I will undoubtedly discover that there is something I am missing! lol

fingers crossed!

galah · 21-11-2008 2:48pm

again, notsure about Turkey, but when we get married in Germany, the marriage will also be valid in Ireland - nothing else needed, as far as I know.

i take it you tried ringing the Dept of Foreign affairs?

Paperripper · 28-11-2008 2:10pm

We got married abroad, in Holland, I was the foreigner.

It really depends on the country what documents you need. We found the Irish embassy in The Hague to be extremely helpful. They knew exactly what was required for my fiancé.

Another piece of advice: any Irish document we had had to be legalised with an 'appostille'; basically a stamp issued by the department of foreign affairs as proof it was a legal Irish document. It is likely you'll have to go through a similar process. If you live abroad the embassy should be able to do it for you.

Good luck with the wedding preparations!

DotOrg · 01-12-2008 2:08pm

I got married in the US to a US citizen. All I needed was my passport. When we came back over here to live, all she needed to get residency was her passport and our marriage certificate from the US.

rynners · 05-12-2008 12:09am

I got married in russia. The thing that sticks out in my mind was the amount of apostille stamps that we needed. Everything and their copies needed one. An Apostille stamp is an internationally recognised legal stamp confirming a persons signature, the spirit of the apostille is not always clearly understood though by the receiving country (as in our case it wasn't). Some authorities may require every document to be apostilled where in fact it should only relate to a persons signature. You get the stamp from the dept of foreign affairs.

Emerald Lass · 05-12-2008 1:18pm

thank you all for your replies. They have been helpful - the problem is that each time I ring the Embassy here in Ankara they tell me I need something different, or they change the order I need to do things in! Asked the embassy about the apostolising thing and they hadn't a clue what I was talking about, but asked in the council and they said yes i need everything legally stamped!
Where we live there are a few Irish, but mostly British so their rules are different, and a lot of the officials here assume the rules are the same for UK and IReland, and they are not, so I feel like I am chasing my tail. The awkward thing is the whole 'only registering the wedding 6 mths before' thing, so I have to be careful when we set the date so that we can be sure we have everything in time! Thankfully, this is the most stressful part so when its over everything else should be easier - organising a wedding here is cheaper and easier than back home, thank god!
havig said that we are in the property business and with prices falling right now there are some amazing bargains to be had - I am very tempted to postpone the wedding indefinitely and use the wedding fund to buy this fab villa we saw which is selling for a song! so watch this space! I might end up buying the house and living in sin for a few more years! lol Might just live in my big fancy house and wait til Turkey join the EU so that it's easier (20 yrs?? lol)

john-joe · 25-09-2009 1:37am

Hi all,

I have a friend who is looking to get a copy of his marraige certificate as he misplaced his original one. He got married in china last year and is finding it difficult to get in touch with the office where the marraige took place.

I am hoping to help him out but I find it difficult to get any info from the chinese embassy here in Ireland.:(

Any idea how to go about getting a copy of this document?

Any help would be appreciated.

(I can post more info if needed)

John

Marrying abroad to a foreigner - what paperwork is needed

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