You’ve found the love of your life, and they are a foreign citizen? Congratulations ! However, if you wish to get married, be aware that the culmination of your love requires obtaining several documents, translating them, and having them certified by a court-appointed interpreter.
So, be prepared to set aside some time for administrative tasks alongside choosing your wedding cake, venue, and rings. It’s best to view all of this as part of the wedding magic. In the following text, find out what is required for a marriage with a foreign citizen.
Required documents for marrying someone who is not from Serbia
First and foremost, collecting the necessary documentation for marrying a foreign citizen is not a complicated procedure. You just need to know exactly what you need. Let’s go through it step by step:
For a citizen of Serbia:
- An identity card that is still valid.
- Proof of payment of the national administrative fee.
- Proof of payment for the registrar’s on-site service (if you want to get married outside the municipality’s premises).
For a foreign citizen:
- An extract from the birth registry.
- A certificate stating that they are not already married.
- A valid passport.
- A white card (a residence registration confirmation in Serbia).
- A divorce decree if the person was previously married.
- An extract from the death registry if they are a widower or widow.
Keep in mind that the documents must not be older than 6 months and must be translated from a foreign language to Serbian by an authorized court interpreter. Additionally, if the foreign citizen obtained their birth certificate on an international form and had it properly legalized, it already includes a translation into Serbian. However, registrars often require this document to be in Cyrillic, so you will still need an authorized court interpreter’s certified translation for this document.
What if the foreign citizen does not speak Serbian?
In the case that your future spouse, as a foreign citizen, does not speak Serbian, it is necessary for a court-appointed interpreter to be present when the marriage is solemnized. In fact, the presence of an authorized court interpreter is required when scheduling the wedding with the registrar.
The role of the interpreter is to provide oral translation of the documents to the foreign citizen during the meeting with the registrar, as well as to translate the registrar’s speech during the wedding ceremony.
