Marriage abroad: registration and legalization, how to register and conclude, documents

Is it possible to register a marriage in another country?

Holding a wedding ceremony outside the Russian Federation is acceptable.
States parties to the treaty in The Hague allow marriage when the newlyweds satisfy the requirements of domestic law, are citizens of a particular country, or comply with conflict of laws rules. Important! Foreign citizens require legalization of their marriage certificate. There is a standard international apostille for parties to the 1961 Hague Convention.

Legislation

Russian laws also provide for the opportunity for the bride and groom to marry and register it abroad. The conditions of the ceremony are prescribed in the Family Code.

Article 158. Recognition of marriages concluded outside the Russian Federation

From the text you can find out whether a marriage abroad is valid in the Russian Federation:

paragraph 1 states that a legal union of Russians, citizens of Russia with foreigners, formalized under the laws of another state, is recognized as valid. The procedure is possible only if there are no obstacles;
Clause 2 states that the Russian government recognizes marriage relations of citizens of other countries, for example, Germany, if the rules of legality are met.

On a note! Newlyweds must not violate the laws of the country where they celebrated their marriage.

Article 158 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation “Recognition of marriages concluded outside the territory of the Russian Federation”

Article 14. Circumstances preventing marriage

It is impossible to legalize documents and marriages entered into by people abroad on the basis of this article. Marital relations are prohibited between:

the person already has a husband or wife. The wedding will only be possible if the union is annulled or declared invalid;
participants in the marriage ceremony are relatives (sisters, brothers, parents, children, granddaughters and grandfathers). The basis for the ban is the negative health of children born as a result of incestuous relationships;
The marriage is formalized by the adoptive parent and the child. Based on Russian legislation, such children are comparable to their own children.
people who have mental disorders, as well as those declared incompetent by a court.

On a note! If an obstacle is identified after the conclusion of the marriage, the court will invalidate the marriage.

Article 14 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation “Circumstances preventing marriage”

Types of marriages abroad

Foreign countries sometimes have legislative differences in regulating marriage. In Russia, for example, a union is recognized that is officially registered in the registry office, of which there is a certificate. Outside the territory of the Russian Federation, persons can conduct a wedding in the following ways:

in the church with the issuance of a certificate. Authorities are vested in organizations from Finland, Poland, and the USA. Marriages can only be celebrated by parishioners;
civil partnership. Some states recognize such forms of relations. Partnership is equivalent to marriage and cohabitation at the same time;
at the consulate. Based on Art. 157 IC, Russians can hold a wedding at a diplomatic mission abroad. Marriage at the consulate is official and acceptable for international newlyweds;
same-sex. The forms, legal consequences and powers of spouses vary from country to country;
actual, or cohabitation. Citizens of the Russian Federation can also live without an official ceremony. Such relationships have legal consequences.

Important! Fictitious unions are illegal and void.

Article 157 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation “Marriages in diplomatic missions and consular offices”

Read also: Spouse’s consent to purchase real estate in 2021

Symbolic and official ceremony: what is the difference

Newlyweds can enter into a symbolic marriage and choose a ceremony abroad.
Travel agencies offer many wedding story options against the backdrop of the ocean shore, nature reserve, or national park. A turnkey wedding is popular among Russian spouses, where all the little details - such as the celebration, banquet, flight and accommodation - are taken care of by the organizers. The symbolic ceremony has no legal consequences other than exit registration. Advice! To avoid legal red tape, get married in a domestic registry office, and choose another place for the wedding ceremony.

Registration of marriage abroad from the point of view of Russian legislation

The first question that arises for future spouses who want to hold a wedding outside their homeland is whether such an event is legal and whether its result is legal. If you adhere to the necessary requirements dictated by law, a wedding on tropical sunny islands or within the walls of a medieval European castle is possible.

If you wish and have a sufficient wedding budget, such a ceremony will not be difficult or problematic. All you need to do is make sure you comply with the legal regulations of the country in which the wedding is planned - and you can pack your bags.

The procedure for concluding a marriage in another country is regulated by the legislation of the Russian Federation - https://stskrf.ru/158.

According to the Family Code, Russian citizens can hold an official wedding ceremony outside the territory of their own country, and such an event will be legal if:

There were no violations of the legislation of the country where the wedding will take place. Subject to compliance with all legal norms of the state, by which we mean the requirements for the form, place, and conditions of marriage, a wedding celebration abroad will receive its legal force.
There is no reason why marriage will not be possible.

Obstacles include:

Those wishing to get married are considered close blood relatives, full-blooded, half-blooded (those who have one common parent) brother and sister.
One of the future spouses who is already married.
Marriage is concluded between people who are declared incompetent by a court decision and both or one of them have mental disabilities.
If the newlyweds are an adoptive parent and an adopted child.

Places where you can hold a wedding ceremony abroad are:

City Hall.
Diplomatic representation.
Consular office of the Russian Federation in the country.
Another government or local government body where a wedding can take place.

Is foreign marriage recognized in Russia?

The grounds on which a marriage registered abroad will be valid in Russia are given in Art. 158 SK. The obstacles are detailed in Art. SK. Keep in mind that domestic authorities officially recognize only legalized documents.

Same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage has been officially legalized by 28 countries (Portugal, Finland, Germany, France, Spain). Another 16 states recognize same-sex cohabitation and partnerships, but limit the rights of couples. For example, in Estonia, Hungary, Andorra, and the Czech Republic, IVF, adoption, and surrogate mother services are prohibited.

Important! In Russia, same-sex marriage is invalid by law. According to Art. In the UK, marriage is understood as the union of a woman and a man, i.e., heterosexual.

Article 1 of the Family Code of the Russian Federation “Basic principles of family legislation”

Procedure for registering a marriage abroad

Registration of a civil marriage is carried out abroad in stages.
Initially, it is worth clarifying the specifics of the laws of the selected country. After this, start preparing documentation and organizing the trip. Some countries require permission for the ceremony from the local municipality. After the wedding has taken place, the apostilization procedure is carried out. This will eliminate obstacles from each state.

Conditions for official registration of marriage abroad

Newlyweds who have chosen a foreign option for holding a wedding ceremony must take into account its conditions:

compliance with the legislative norms of the host country;
no violations under Art. SK;
mandatory legalization;
notarized translation of a foreign marriage certificate into the state language;
contacting the civil registry office at the place of registration to get a stamp.

Important! In the Russian Federation there are no sanctions for late legalization.

List of required documents for marriage

To hold a wedding ceremony abroad, the bride and groom must provide a package of documents. It includes:

birth certificates;
copies and originals of passports - foreign and domestic;
a statement indicating the absence of a marital relationship at present;
papers confirming the dissolution of a previous marriage;
death certificate of spouse (for widows and widowers);
an extract from the Russian registry office, which states that there are no legal obstacles.

Advice! Translate all documents into the language of the country of marriage, notarize and affix an apostille.

Cost of an official ceremony in other countries

When calculating, a marriage entered into by a couple of Russian citizens who choose a wedding abroad will be cheaper than a domestic one. Thus, a traditional ceremony with on-site registration for 50 people will cost an average of 450 thousand rubles. In St. Petersburg you will need to pay 850 thousand - 1.5 million rubles for it, in Perm - 300 thousand rubles.

When registering a marriage on the territory of another state, Russians will spend:

from 100 to 600 thousand rubles. for two without guests - this includes travel expenses, housing for 5-7 days, the ceremony itself;
during the peak tourist season - 20-30% more funds;
from 150 to 200 thousand rubles. - when organizing painting yourself;
plus 70-120 thousand rubles. - if you entrust matters to companies offering a “wedding package” (symbolic ceremony, payment of taxes, payments to registrars, decorators, lawyers for legalization of documents);
plus 45-50 euros for notarization of documents at the consulate.

Important! Prices do not include clothing, hairstyle, rings, photographer, cake and gala dinner.

How long will it take?

The duration depends on the place where the relationship of the future spouses is formalized:

Greece - permit is issued within 7 days. A wedding is possible only after the documents are certified by the consulate;
Las Vegas - you can get married and get divorced in one day;
Mauritius island - weddings for foreign citizens are held only on weekends, brides and grooms must arrive 3 days in advance;
France - Russians must live in any city for at least 10-40 days;
Switzerland, Austria, Germany - authorities will issue a permit in 2-6 months.

Change of surname and citizenship when registering a marriage with a foreign citizen

In Russia, in most cases, a girl takes her husband’s surname.
When registering a marriage in another state, the change of surname is not indicated. This can be done upon returning to the Russian Federation. There are exceptions in some countries. For example, in Austria, Slovenia and the Czech Republic, a woman will receive an official document with a different surname. The process of changing citizenship has a number of nuances:

replacing a Russian passport with a new one and obtaining a foreign passport with a different surname;
mandatory extract from the place of registration in the Russian Federation, consular registration in the country of residence;
complete replacement of bank cards, TIN, SNILS, medical policy;
obtaining citizenship of another state - after 3 years in the standard manner;
obtaining citizenship in a simplified manner - by residence on the basis of an official temporary permit.

On a note! Russian citizenship is not lost during this procedure.

List of documents for registration of marriage abroad

It is important to understand that in different cities within the same state, the documentation requirements for subsequent marriage registration may vary significantly, so these points need to be clarified in advance.

The next productive step is collecting papers and then translating all the required documentation into the official language of the country where you plan to hold the wedding ceremony. Some copies of documents will need to be certified or legalized at the consulate. Only after this can the newlyweds begin to apply for a visa, book a hotel, transport, and begin immediate preparatory steps for an imminent wedding.

The standard configuration of the marriage documentation package, in relation to citizens of the Russian Federation, is as follows:

originals of civil passports (in this case we are talking about documents of the Russian Federation);
originals of birth certificate;
documents confirming the marital status of each of the future spouses;
if one of the spouses (or both) was previously married, then it is necessary to provide a certificate confirming the fact of the divorce or a death certificate of the former spouse;
documents on previous marriages, if one of the parties or both spouses had one;
documents confirming the change of last name or first name.

It is worth considering that official authorities of countries in various localities reserve the right to change the list of required documents.

Newlyweds who decide to get married in another state are required to take into account a number of other requirements, in addition to the document base. Thus, in some countries, newlyweds are required to be present in the chosen state a week before the appointed wedding date, while in others the time period is reduced to only three days. It is better to clarify the specifics of getting married in the chosen country in advance at a reception at the consulate, so that insoluble difficulties do not arise later.

Confirmation of marriage in Russia: how to legalize the certificate

A certificate is issued for a marriage registered abroad, according to the requirements and in the language of another state. To legitimize the union, Russian citizens are required to undergo apostillization.

Simplified procedure for legalizing a certificate

After marriage is concluded in the countries party to the 1961 Hague Convention, the legalization of documents is carried out in a simplified manner. For this you will need:

affix an apostille to the authority that registered the marriage;

Apostille sample
contact the civil registry office to enter the document into the register and obtain a stamp in the passport.

If you get married in a state that is part of the CIS, legalization is also simplified. The basis is the Mutual Assistance Convention of 1992. Russians who signed in Bulgaria, Algeria, and Vietnam do not undergo legalization for reasons of bilateral agreements between the governments of the countries.

Important! A package of documents with an apostille is translated into Russian and certified by a notary.

The usual procedure for legalizing a marriage certificate

If a family union is registered in a state that has not signed the Hague Convention and does not have an agreement with the Russian Federation, the certificate is legalized on a general basis:

Writing an application using a standard form (issued at the consulate or downloaded from the State Services website);
Providing a package of documents. It includes a marriage certificate, its notarized translation and a receipt for payment of the state fee;
Legalization or refusal.

On a note! The reasons for refusal are written in Art. 14 SK, but these also include the lack of details, illegibility of the text of the document, lack of numbering and firmware (if more than 2 sheets).

Subtleties of legalizing foreign marriage in Russia

An example of a life situation: a woman married a foreigner. The marriage was registered on the territory of another state. To legalize this marriage in the Russian Federation, the following conditions must be met:

The procedure must comply with the laws of the state within whose borders it took place.
The norms of Article 14 of the RF IC (talking about obstacles) must not be violated.
Simplified or consular legalization is carried out. During this document processing, you must ensure that you have a notarized translation of the marriage certificate into Russian.
It is necessary to contact the civil registry office at the place of registration and put a stamp in the passport on the page about marital status. The fact is that if this is not done, then Russia will not know about the change in the status of the person.

You can legalize a foreign marriage on the territory of the Russian Federation at any time. There is no legal liability for late legalization. It’s just that if this procedure is not carried out on time, various other problems with documents may arise.

There are two types of legalization of marriage documents.
The complexity of the process depends on whether the country of marriage has joined the Hague Convention. Placing an apostille (stamp) is much faster than going through consular legalization. The procedure for legitimizing relations is very important because it eliminates all possible negative legal consequences of non-recognition of marriage in the Russian Federation. Source

What difficulties may arise

Registration of a future marriage and holding a ceremony abroad is not so easy. Couples in love may face several obstacles:

in China, UAE, Thailand or Egypt, the certificate is not valid;
in Indonesia only Catholics, Buddhists, Protestants, Muslims, Hindus can sign;
a marriage license issued in Hawaii is certified by the Department of Health;
newlyweds who want to get married in Bali must profess the same religion;
you need to live in the Seychelles for 11 days, and in Sri Lanka - 4 days before the wedding;
in Austria or Germany you can only get married with permission;
in Puerto Rico, Egypt, and Taiwan, the marriageable age for the bride and groom is 20-21 years.

On a note! Some European countries take a long time to issue permits. For example, in Germany you need to wait 2-6 months.

How to get married between an Israeli citizen and a non-citizen

When an Israeli citizen has chosen a partner for marriage with a citizen of another country (or a stateless person), many questions arise that need to be studied and the right decision made on them.

The main questions are:

- formalize an official marriage or as a married couple outside of an official marriage ( if it is decided not to enter into a marriage, a request is submitted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to obtain the status of “eduim be tsibur” - this is a couple of partners living together without registering a marriage. These couples, by a decision of the Supreme Court, are equated to those who is married

- if you decide to get married, then where?

do it

— how to resolve the issue of living together in Israel legally

— how to organize all the procedures for a non-citizen spouse to obtain the status of a permanent resident, then an Israeli citizen, without complications and within the period prescribed by law

Where to get married

It is clear that in this situation it will not be possible to get married in Israel, and when choosing a country where a particular couple should go, the following circumstances should be taken into account:

- is the partner of an Israeli citizen, a citizen of another country, legally in Israel?

on the basis of current legislation (work, study, tourism) or
illegally
, hiding from the Israeli Ministry of Internal Affairs;

— located

whether the partner of an Israeli citizen is a citizen of another country
OUTSIDE Israel
- in the country of which he is a citizen or in a third country;

- whether both partners are in Israel, considering that they both do not need to leave Israel

;

- some other points - the specific conditions of each pair.

You need to choose a country where marriages entered into are recognized by the Israeli Ministry of Internal Affairs.

After analyzing all the existing circumstances, the lawyer will offer the most suitable option for the place of marriage for a particular couple:

- marriage in Cyprus (or Prague), in the countries of the post-Soviet space, and some other countries.

- marriage in Paraguay

- marriage in El Salvador

How to resolve the issue of living together in Israel legally

A marriage contracted abroad must then be legalized by the Israeli Ministry of Internal Affairs. To do this, first of all, it is necessary that the marriage certificate have an Apostille stamp.

After getting married abroad (for example, in Cyprus), the non-Israeli spouse is not allowed to come to Israel immediately after registering the marriage. A spouse who is a citizen of Israel, having returned to the country with marriage documents, must submit a petition to the Israeli Ministry of Internal Affairs for the entry of a second spouse, and a spouse who is a foreigner must wait while abroad until a positive decision from the Ministry of Internal Affairs is received. The spouse is then allowed to enter Israel on a tourist visa.

Having passed the necessary checks at this time, the spouse can, instead of tourist status, receive a work visa for a period of six months to a year, which will allow him to work.

How to organize for a non-citizen spouse all the procedures for obtaining status (permanent resident, citizen)

Since 1997, Israel has introduced special rules for obtaining permanent status by foreign spouses; they are defined by the term “stepwise procedure” for non-Jewish spouses of Israeli citizens to obtain legal status in Israel.”

. To regulate this procedure, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has a set of instructions for various situations of creating families in Israel and for each stage of the procedure.

Each couple strives for reunification; the subjective opinion of a particular Ministry of Internal Affairs official plays a very important role in deciding its fate. And it is very important for every married couple to be “under the tutelage” of an experienced lawyer, together with him to prepare well for communicating with employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at each stage of the step-by-step procedure. With the help of a lawyer, it is possible to change the negative decision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In which countries can Russians register a marriage so that it is valid in their homeland?

A full marriage ceremony with a simplified process of legalizing the certificate is possible in several countries:

Dominican Republic;
Bahamas;
Austria;
Brazil;
Barbados,
Australia;
Grenadines;
Mauritius;
Hungary;
Iceland;
Cyprus;
Greece;
Cuba;
New Zealand;
Slovenia;
Seychelles;
Fiji;
Poland;
Mexico;
Sri Lanka;
Romania;
Jamaica;
Czech Republic;
Montenegro.

Advice! Take into account the specifics of legalization and carefully choose the location for the celebration.