Registration for marriage and validity of a marriage concluded outside of Austria

Individuals planning to marry overseas should consider several factors beforehand:

For the validity of a marriage abroad, the Austrian international private law must be observed. With its ruling of 4 December 2017, the Constitutional Court of Austria (VfGH) abolished the different accesses for opposite- and same-sex couples. This opened the way for homosexual couples to marry in Austria. This has been possible in principle since 1 January 2019.

A marriage concluded abroad is at least valid if it was concluded according to the local form in this country. The formal requirements to be met can be found at the marriage authority abroad or at the foreign representative authority (→ BMEIA) in Austria.

You can save yourself a lot of red tape abroad if you obtain international civil status certificates (birth certificate, marriage certificate, death certificate) issued in Austria in advance. These are available from the relevant registry office.

In many countries, a certificate of fitness to marry is required. The certificate of fitness to marry is certified by the responsible registry office in Austria that the fiancées listed therein can enter into marriage.

Instead of the certificate of fitness to marry, registry offices can issue a partial statement pursuant to Section 58 PStG 2013 on the existence of a marriage or a registered partnership. The partial extract pursuant to Section 58 PStG 2013 confirms the fitness to marry - as with the certificate of fitness to marry. The only difference to the certificate of fitness to marry is the scope of the procedure, in that only one of the fiancées has to be examined in the partial extract pursuant to Section 58 PStG 2013.

Austrian citizens are legally obliged to inform changes in their civil status that occur abroad. This ensures complete management of the Central Civil Status Register (ZPR) . Either there is a direct notification to an Austrian civil registry by the individual concerned or their legal representative, or the notification to the domestic authorities is carried out by the individuals through the Austrian representative authority abroad. In order for a foreign marriage certificate to be valid in Austria, additional legalisation may be necessary. This rule does not apply to all countries. You can find out which countries are not affected by contacting the responsible registry office in Austria or the Austrian representative authority abroad.