Online questionnaire

To apply for a Certificate of Freedom to Marry, you must complete an online questionnaire about yourself and your upcoming marriage or civil partnership.

Statutory Declaration

Based on this questionnaire, you'll be presented with one or more Statutory Declarations to complete and a checklist of supporting documentation you'll need to submit with your application.

You need to:

1. Print and sign your questionnaire
2. Print out a copy of each Statutory Declaration
3. Print out your checklist
4. Complete the Declarations and have them witnessed
5. Post them to us with your supporting documentation, signed questionnaire and fee.

Remember...

Print off or save each form right after your online questionnaire, as you won't be able to retrieve them later.

When to apply

Submit your application a minimum of four months before the date of your marriage or civil partnership.

Your witnessed statutory declaration(s) cannot be dated more than six months before the date we receive your application.

Remember...

Your application is not complete until we get hard copies of your questionnaire, statutory declaration(s), and all supporting documentation.

Your checklist will tell you exactly what supporting documentation you'll need for your application, which may include:

• Your original Full Civil Birth Certificate giving details of parents
• A court order, if you are under 18 years
• Death certificate  of your previous spouse, if widowed
• Petition and final decree of your divorce, if divorced
• A photocopy of your current Irish passport
• Your original naturalisation certificate, if naturalised.

Translating your documents

You'll need to submit certified translations of any of these documents, if the originals are in a language other than English or Irish.

Getting replacement documents

We need original documents (except for the photocopy of your passport) to process your application.

If you don't have the original certificates, you must get replacements from the General Register Office which issued your certificate.

General Register Office (GRO) Ireland

Getting your documents back

We will return all your original documents to you after we inspect them.

Remember...

If you haven't included all the necessary documents, your application will be returned to you.

Your statutory declaration must be witnessed before you can submit it.

Who can be a witness?

Your witness must: 

• Know you personally
• Know a third party personally who can identify you
• Be able to verify your identity through your official documents (e.g. a passport)

Applying in Ireland

Your witness can be:

• A notary public
• A Commissioner for Oaths
• A solicitor

Applying abroad

Your witness can be:

• A diplomatic or consular officer of Ireland
• A notary public
• A Commissioner for Oaths or someone authorised to administer oaths or declarations.

Your witness needs to:

• Witness you completing a signing your Statutory Declaration(s)
• Complete and sign the relevant part of your Statutory Declaration(s)

Remember...

It's against the law to make a Statutory Declaration that you know is false or misleading in any way.

Payment for the certificate is taken online

The fee for having a Statutory Declaration witnessed at the Embassy is CHF 70

Payment methods for the witnessing of a statutory declaration

Payment must be made by bank transfer. This can be done at any Swiss or Liechtenstein Post Office, by e-banking, through your bank, or into any branch of UBS, using the following details:

Name and address: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
Embassy of Ireland, Kirchenfeldstrasse 68, CH-3000 Berne 6

IBAN: CH19 0023 5235 4157 7301 J

Bank: UBS AG, CH-8098 ZUERICH

Swift: UBSWCHZH80A

When making payment, please ensure you enter the name of the applicant on the payment slip.

Cash and Cheques are not accepted.

Begin your online application for a Certificate of Freedom to Marry

You should send your application form and documents by post to:

Embassy of Ireland
Kirchenfeldstrasse 68
P.O. Box 262
CH-3000 Bern 6
Switzerland