Getting married in the City of Copenhagen

You may be asked to show documentation with the marriage notice

If one or both of you are not a Danish or Nordic citizen, you will need to send in a photocopy of your permanent residence permit or documentation of your right to permanent stay in Denmark according to EU regulations. Please note that the document ’Bevis for registrering’ (proof of registration) is not sufficient since this is not a permanent residence permit or proof of unlimited stay in Denmark according to EU regulations. You can find out more about residence permits and how to apply for the relevant documents at nyidanmark.dk.

If you have lived abroad sometime in the past few years, we may ask you to submit a certificate of marital status (civilstandsattest) from your former country/countries of residence. A certificate of marital status proves your marital status. The document states whether you are unmarried, married, divorced, or widowed. If you live in Denmark, we will get this information from the Civil Registration System.

If your former partner is deceased, you should attach a copy of the certificate from the probate court (skifteretsattest). If the death occurred abroad, we need to see the original death certificate.

The City of Copenhagen requires certain foreign divorce decrees to be legalised or endorsed by apostille. What that means is that the ministry of foreign affairs or the ministry of justice in the issuing country must confirm the validity of the document. Find out more about endorsement by apostille and legalisation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark’s website.

Swedish citizens living in Sweden must attach the following documents: Hindersprövning, Vigselintyg, and personbevis from the Swedish tax authorities (Skatteverket).

Norwegian citizens living in Norway should attach the following documents: Prøvningsattest and Registeruddrag showing your marital status from the tax authorities (Skatt) in Norway.

If you live in another municipality

If you live in another municipality in Denmark, you should mention in your notice of marriage that you wish to be wed in the City of Copenhagen. In this case your municipality of residence (bopælskommune) will send you the approval, also known as a certificate of marital status/no impediment (prøvelsesattest), which you must then forward to Vielseskontoret (marriage office).

Changing your name when you marry

If you live in Denmark and would like to change your name when you marry, you normally have to apply to the parish where you live. However, if you were born in Sønderjylland, you must send your application to the municipality where you were born. 

If you do not live in Denmark and you would like to change your name, you must contact the authorities in the country where you live, instead.

In your application to change your name you must state the date you were married. Therefore, we recommend that you do not apply for a name change until you have booked a time for the wedding and have received confirmation. You can apply for a name change when marrying at borger.dk (in Danish).

If you do not have NemID, you can download and fill in the marriage notice (ægteskabserklæring) before sending it either digitally or by regular mail to Vielseskontoret (the marriage office). If you send it digitally, you can submit a scanned copy or take photo of the filled-in notice. For contact details, please see below.