Apostille Before and After You Wedding
Get married in Denmark
If you are planning an wedding in enmark, you may come across the word apostille more than once. What can make the subject confusing is that an apostille can be relevant both before and after your wedding – but for two different reasons.
Before the ceremony, an apostille may be required for foreign documents submitted with your marriage application. After the ceremony, an apostille may be needed on your Danish marriage certificate when you use it abroad.
Understanding the difference can help you prepare the right documents and avoid unnecessary paperwork.
What is an apostille?
Apostille before your wedding
Before your ceremony, the Danish authorities may need to review documents issued outside Denmark.
Depending on your situation, this could include documentation relating to a previous marriage, divorce, death of a former spouse, children, residence or civil status.
Not every foreign document requires an apostille. The requirements depend on the country that issued the document and the type of document involved.
The Danish Agency of Family Law states that certain foreign documents must receive either an apostille or another form of legalisation before they can be accepted as authentic.
Documents issued in countries covered by the Apostille Convention normally use the apostille procedure when authentication is required.
However, documents from several countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and many European countries, generally do not require an apostille for a Danish marriage application.
This is why it is important to check the requirements for your specific documents instead of automatically having everything apostilled.
Translation is a seperate requirement
An apostille does not replace a required translation.
Foreign documents submitted to the Danish authorities generally need to be in Danish, English or German. If an apostille is attached to a document, the apostille may also need to be translated.
In some cases, you may therefore need both:
- authentication through an apostille or legalisation
- an authorised translation of the document
Preparing these correctly before submitting your application can help prevent additional requests from the authorities.
Apostille after your wedding
After the ceremony, the situation is different.
You will receive a Danish marriage certificate documenting your marriage. If you need to present this certificate to authorities in another country, an apostille may be required.
This can be relevant when registering your marriage, updating your civil status, handling immigration matters or completing other administrative procedures abroad.
Apostilles on Danish public documents are handled by the Legalisation Office of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Whether you need one depends on the requirements of the country and authority where you intend to use the certificate.
Apostille after your wedding
After the ceremony, the situation is different.
You will receive a Danish marriage certificate documenting your marriage. If you need to present this certificate to authorities in another country, an apostille may be required.
This can be relevant when registering your marriage, updating your civil status, handling immigration matters or completing other administrative procedures abroad.
Apostilles on Danish public documents are handled by the Legalisation Office of the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Whether you need one depends on the requirements of the country and authority where you intend to use the certificate.
The main difference
The distinction between the use of the apostille before and after the wedding is quite simple.
Before your wedding, foreign documents may need to be authenticated before being presented to Danish authorities.
After your wedding, your Danish marriage certificate may need authentication before being used abroad.
You may need an apostille before the ceremony, after the ceremony, both times or not at all.
The answer depends on the document, the issuing country and the authority receiving it.
We can help with the documents
International document requirements can be confusing, especially when apostilles, translations and legalisation are involved.
At Just Married in Denmark, we help international couples understand which documents are relevant to their application and how they should be prepared.
We can also assist after the ceremony if your Danish marriage certificate requires an apostille.
Read more about the required documents, our apostille service, or contact us if you would like help with your application.
Our happy customers
Highly 10⭐️ recommended.
We would like to thank 💜👰🏻👨⚖️
We felt very accompanied, with very kind people who explained the entire process for getting married in Denmark to us. 100% recommended! ❤️
