Weddings Abroad Part I: General Information
February 28th, 2008 @ 2:16 pm by Mrs. Lovebird
When we decided to have a destination wedding, one of the decisions we had to make was whether or not to get legally married in Mexico.
Here’s some useful information from the U.S. Department of State everyone considering having a destination wedding outside of the U.S. should know:
Validity of Marriages Abroad
In general, marriages which are legally performed and valid abroad are also legally valid in the United States. Inquiries regarding the validity of a marriage abroad should be directed to the attorney general of the state in the United States where the parties to the marriage live.
Foreign Laws and Procedures
The embassy or tourist information bureau of the country in which the marriage is to be performed is the best source of information about marriage in that country. Some general information on marriage in a limited number of countries can be obtained from Overseas Citizens Services, Room 4811, Department of State, Washington, DC 20520. In addition, American embassies and consulates abroad frequently have information about marriage in the country in which they are located.
Residence Requirements
Marriages abroad are subject to the residency requirements of the country in which the marriage is to be performed. There is almost always a lengthy waiting period.
Documentation and Authentication
Most countries require that a valid U.S. passport be presented. In addition,birth certificates, divorce decrees, and death certificates are frequently required. Some countries require that the documents presented to the marriage registrar first be authenticated in the United States by a consular official of that country. This process can be time consuming and expensive.
Additional Requirements
Many countries, like the United States, require blood tests.
Some countries require that documents presented to the marriage registrar be translated into the native language of that country.
Above are just some points I thought were most relevant. For more information, visit the State Department’s website.
This Dept. of State site also has marriage information for specific countries. Unfortunately, Mexico wasn’t one of them. You would think they would since they are our neighbor to the South. They have Turkmenistan and Vanuatu, but not Mexico… oh wells… The countries they do have information on are:
- Australia - Canberra
- Australia - Melbourne
- Australia - Perth
- Australia - Sydney
- Austria
- China
- France (Tahiti)
- Fiji
- Hong Kong
- Indonesia
- Iraq
- Italy - Bureau of Consular Affairs and Embassy in Rome
- Japan
- Laos
- Malaysia
- Papua New Guinea
- Philippines
- Poland and Obtaining fiance(e) Visas in Poland
- Russia - 5 Steps to a Russian Marriage and Obtaining a Fiance(e) Visa in Russia
- Singapore
- Spain
- Solomon Islands
- South Korea
- Taiwan
- Thailand
- Turkmenistan
- Vanuatu
- Vietnam
Up next in Weddings Abroad Part II: Marriage Requirements in Mexico. Any requests for other countries you want me to look up? Or save me the trouble and leave the info you’ve already found in a comment. 
For those of you who are having international destination weddings, did you opt to get married abroad or did you get married at City Hall beforehand?
Related Posts
13 Responses to “Weddings Abroad Part I: General Information”
We were originally going to get officially married in Jamaica, but now are more leaning towards getting married at city hall. Mainly only because neither of us want to wait until November to be officially married so we are probably going to go to city hall sometime this spring.
City Hall… officially.
Miss Lovebird, Can you tell me where you got the image from? I have been looking for something similar for my sister’s graduation.
We are getting married in Mexico too, but decided to get the legal bit out of the way before we go. As Canadians, we didn’t need the bloodtests/x-rays/Spanish paperwork that we would have there..so it just seemed easier.
We’re not really sharing the fact that we’re already legally married, as some of our guests might not feel like our Mexican one is “real”. We just did a very quick (5 minutes) ceremony with an officiant, no ring exchange, no vows…we’re saving the good parts for Mexico!
For Bermuda, you need to advertise in 2 local newspapers for 3 weeks. They still have the archaic law of publicly notifying everyone to allow people time for objections. Then you need to go to court to get the marriage license and a valid officiant/minister to sign and marry you.
We opted to get legal in CT first ($35) vs Bermuda ($400 + advertising fees). The ceremony was still performed in Bermuda.
We officially got married in the Cayman Islands. Unlike most Caribbean destinations, there is no waiting period.
We are getting married “officially” in Sydney. We had to have a celebrant file notification paperwork 1 month and 1 day in advance and that is about it.
My father’s a judge, so he married us legally in the US and we re-inacted that ceremony as part of our “wedding” in Italy. This saved us untold hours sitting in government offices of both countries. The Italians especially love to load up any transactions with as many notarized forms as you can carry.
Also, we had heard that getting married in a foreign country, even if technically legal can cause big problems down the line b/c it can be harder to PROVE you are married when the bulk of the paperwork is archived in another country.
Oddly enough, anyone (foreigner or native) married in Italy by a non-Catholic clergyman must AlSO have a civil ceremony prior to the religious one. Like I said, they are ALL about the paperwork.
We are getting married legally before we go to Mexico. I am hoping to get my Canadian Alien a Green Card and it can only help if we have US marriage papers. We want to take our friends with us to City Hall as our witnesses to make it special, too.
SanFranBride~ I just used google images and typed in “wedding passport” and it was the first picture that came up. Hope that helps. I can PM you the link if you have trouble.
I hear you about Italy Beanchar! We’re doing the civil union bit in Italy, as that’s where we’re living (& it’s still a big pain in the butt). We’re doing it more than a year in advance of the “real” wedding”… that way we have a whole year to start all the residency/work permit & green card rigamarole for both of us.
We don’t consider ourselves married MARRIED until we do it in the church, in front of all our family and friends. The idea of handling the last minute wedding details AND navigating all the bureaucracy of permits etc. @ the same time just scared me senseless. This simply works best for us.
Knowing Italy, the next year will STILL be filled with loads of visits to all sorts of offices all over the country & all sorts of unforeseen obstacles, but at least we have a whole year to deal with bumps. By the time of our church wedding (if everything goes to plan), we’ll both have our respective residency/citizenship stuff done/well underway & know we can enjoy the wedding/honeymoon knowing all the legal stuff is done.
I’d highly recommend this route (not so far in advance like us, unless you’re living in another country). This way you know everything’s taken care of and you don’t get any last minute unpleasent surprises.
[...] Part I [...]
Mrs. Lovebird, New York/Cancun
Age and Occupation: 25, Attorney
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Medical Student
Engagement Date: September 22, 2006
Wedding Date: July, 2008
Venue: Dreams Cancun Resort & Spa
About Me: Born and raised New Yorker planning a destination wedding in Cancun, Mexico and a traditional Chinese banquet in New York City. Got proposed to in Cancun, so it’s only fitting we are going back to get married. I love trivia, board games, bargain shopping, asian dramas and eating yummy food!
We are getting officially married at city hall.