When getting married in Denmark you will be issued with an International Danish Marriage Certificate, this may need to have an extra legalisation from Denmark for use in other countries.
What stamps are already on the certificates on the day of the ceremony?
On the ceremony day the certificates are issued signed and stamped by the issuing office (the town hall), this confirms your names, and the date and place of the marriage.
What is Legalisation?
When you are planning your wedding in Denmark you may see that there are some terms and words that can mean different things to different people. When we talk about extra legalisation, we are talking about after the certificates have been issued and if they need an extra verification on them. Even though the certificate that is issued is a legal document in Denmark in any other country it will be viewed as a foreign document so you need to then make sure that is is accepted.
What is an Apostille?
The Hague Apostille Convention of 1961, was ordered to abolish the requirement of legalisation for Foreign public documents. It is an international treaty which at the moment have 121 countries that can then issue documents with an Apostille stamp that allows them to be used internationally between the 121 countries. Denmark is part of the Hague Apostille treaty. Therefore if you are using the certificate in another of the 121 countries then it is fully accepted with the Apostille stamp. To see the list fo the other 120 countries please see here.
Do I need the Apostille Stamp?
If you are using the certificate within the EU, you will probably not need the stamp, some offices in some countries do, such as some German offices and some Spanish offices.. We always recommend that you need as at the office where you are using the certificate. If you realise after your ceremony that you do need the stamp then we can do this for you no problem. For use outside of the EU then we again ask that you check with the office where you are registered the marriage for confirmation.
How can I get my Certificate legalised?
You have two options, and both we can help with. You can either take out ‘Apostille Service’ where we will get the stamp for you and we will then UPS it back to your home address. Or, if you are marrying in Copenhagen you can go yourself to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and you can get the stamp there and then, and we will let you know exactly how to do that.
Can I get the Apostille Stamp in my country of residence?
In accordance to the Hague Convention the Apostille stamp must be from the country where the document is issued.
