Registering to get married

General information

If you have decided to get married, you must register with a registry office for a procedure to certify marriageability. As part of this procedure, a written record is prepared by the authority.

When registering for a civil marriage, the couple can declare to the registrar their intended name after marriage^{German text}. It is therefore advisable to decide on the intended name after marriage^{German text} before registering to get married. The declaration can be made on the day of the marriage ceremony or during the marriage.

Requirements

In order to get married, you must be marriageable. You must also not be subject to a prohibition of marriage.

A person is marriageable if they are of legal age and capable of making decisions. Men and women are of legal age once they reach their 18th birthday. A person is capable of making decisions if they can understand the meaning and consequences of their actions in context, determine their intentions and act accordingly.

Between the ages of 16 and 18, a legally binding declaration of marriageability is required. The court must declare a person to be marriageable on request if

• the future spouse is already of legal age; and
• the person appears to be mature enough for this marriage.

In the case of minors, the legal guardian must give their consent for the marriage to take place.

The prohibitions of marriage are listed below:

• Blood relationship
  Marriage is not possible between blood relatives in a direct line (e.g. father and daughter) or between siblings or half-siblings. This applies even if the parents of the child are/were not married to one another.
• Adoptive relationship
  Marriage is also not possible between an adoptive mother/father and an adopted child, as long as the adoptive relationship has not been terminated.
• Bigamy
  A person cannot marry if he or she is already married or in a registered partnership. In this case, it is irrelevant whether the spouses (or registered partners) actually live together. The crucial factor is that the marriage (or registered partnership) has not yet been dissolved (e.g. through divorce, annulment or death) or declared invalid.

Deadlines

Registration to get married should be carried out six months before the desired date of the marriage ceremony, since the certification of marriageability is only valid for a maximum of six months. There is no longer a minimum amount of time for the procedure before the marriage ceremony, but the average waiting time in larger cities is two to six weeks.

Banns of marriage are no longer announced (posted on the noticeboard of the town hall) in Austria.

Competent authority

Any authority responsible for civil status in Austria:

• the registry office or registry office association^{German text} of the municipality
• in chartered urban districts: the registry office^{German text} of the municipal executive
  • in Vienna: the registry offices in Vienna (→ City of Vienna)^{German text} (MA 63)

An appeal against a decision by the department responsible for civil status can be filed with the relevant Regional Adminstrative Court. This must be submitted within four weeks to the authority which issued the decision.

→ Linz^{German text}

→ Mödling^{German text}

→ Salzburg^{German text}

→ Wien^{German text}

The marriage ceremony itself can also be performed in a different registry office.

Procedure

Prior to the marriage ceremony, the registry office determines the marriageability of the future spouses during an oral interview with the help of the presented documents. During this oral interview usually both partners have to appear in person.

A certification of marriageability (‘banns of marriage’) is then prepared.

You do not need to present all of the required documents and evidence at the first appointment. It can often take a while to acquire the corresponding documents. During your face-to-face interview with the registrar, ask which documents are required in your specific case.

In exceptional circumstances, it may be sufficient if one of the future spouses attends the interview alone. In that case, you must pick up the ‘Declaration for determining marriageability’ form, which is available from every registry office, before registering with the registry office. The future spouse who is unable to attend the interview must state in this form why they cannot attend. The form must then be handed over by the other future spouse when registering to get married.

Required documents

Austrian citizens who are single and fully competent need:

• official photo ID (valid passport or valid identity card)
• if their birth is not certified or registered in Austria: a document corresponding to a copy of the register of births
• the birth certificate, if born in Austria, for the purpose of possible subsequent entry in the Central Register of Civil Status (ZPR)
• proof of citizenship or entry in the Central Citizenship Register
• if the main residence is abroad: proof of main residence
• if necessary, documetary evidence of academic degrees and further documents or evidence on request

If you have already been married or in a registered partnership, you will additionally require:

•  maririage certificate(s) of the previous marriage of partnership certificate of the previous registered partnership
• divorce certificate or proof of the annulment or declaration of invalidity of the previous marriage (decision or judgment with valid confirmation of legal force – stamp confirming legal force), judgment on the dissolution of the previous registered partnership
• if necessary, the death certificate of the spouse
• if necessary, the death certificate of the registered partner
• in the event of a foreign decision on dissolution of declaration of invalidity: the court decision on recognition provided with confirmation of legal force, provided that the Brussels IIa Regulation is not applicable

If you have a child or several joint children, you will additionally require

• birth certificate(s) of the joint child or children
• acknowledgement of paternity of the joint children (if the father is not yet entered on the birth certificate(s)
• proof of citizenship, if available
• proof of residence of the children

For 16- to 18-year-olds additionally:
Declaration of marriageability by the court (with valid confirmation of legal force - legal force stamp).

• declaration of marriageability from the court (with a valid confirmation of legal force – stamp confirming legal force)
• consent of the persons with parental responsibility or corresponding court order

If you are not present when registering for the banns of marriage, you will additionally require the ‘Declaration for determining marriageability’ form, which is available from every registry office.

You can find out which specific documents are required to register to get married in the case of foreign nationality from the competent registry office.

The original copy of foreign-language documents must be submitted together with a translation.

An Apostille may be required for recognition of the documents, for example.

In case of doubt, the original copy of a foreign-language document must be submitted together with a certified translation. Translators from other EU/EEA Member States may also be registered on the list of sworn and legally certified translators in Austria.

Costs and fees

• for the procedure to determine marriageability: 50 Euro
• submission of foreign documents: 130 Euro
• additional costs: federal administrative levy and possible commission fees.

Federal administrative levy

• marriage ceremony conducted by the registrar on the official premises during office hours: 5.45 Euro
• marriage ceremony conducted by the registrar on the official premises outside office hours: 10.90 Euro
• marriage ceremony conducted by the registrar outside of official premises in the case of one of the future spouses having a life-threatening disease: 5.45 Euro
• marriage ceremony conducted by the registrar outside of official premises in all other cases: 54.50 Euro

Costs may also be incurred for the use of additional services, such as music.

Further information

If you require a further marriage certificate at a later date (e.g. duplicate in the event of loss or theft, multilingual marriage certificate), you can submit an application to be issued a marriage certificate/international marriage certificate^{German text}.

The following people are entitled to be issued with a marriage certificate, provided that this is not precluded by any overriding interests worthy of protection in respect of the persons to whom the registration relates:

• persons to whom the registration relates and other persons whose civil status is affected by the registration
• persons who establish a legal interest in doing so

Further links

• Court search (→ BMJ)^{German text}
• Certification (→ BMEIA)^{German text}
• List of expert witnesses and court interpreters (→ BMJ)^{German text}
• Recognition of official documents in the EU (→ Your Europe)

Legal basis

• Sections 1 to 8 of the Ehegesetz (EheG)
• Personenstandsgesetz 2013 (PStG 2013)
• Personenstandsgesetz-Durchführungsverordnung 2013 (PStG-DV 2013)
• Section 17 paragraph 1a of the Bundesgesetz über das internationale Privatrecht (IPR-Gesetz)