Marriage & Civil Partnership Abroad
If you need a Certificate of Freedom to Marry, find out how to begin your online application. If you want to get married or enter into a civil partnership abroad, you’ll need to meet all the legal requirements of the country in question.
Meeting the legal requirements
Each country has its own requirements governing marriage and civil partnerships and they may be quite different to Irish requirements.
Contact the civil registration office in your country of marriage to get more information.
Online questionnaire
To apply for a Certificate of Freedom to Marry, you must complete an online questionnaire about yourself and your upcoming marriage.
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:
- Print and sign your questionnaire
- Print out a copy of each Statutory Declaration
- Print out your checklist
- Make the online payment
- Complete the Declarations and have them witnessed
- Post them to us with your supporting documentation and signed questionnaire.
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 at least four months before the date of your marriage. 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 long-form birth certificate
- A court order, if you are under 18 years
- Marriage and 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 certification, 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.
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 and 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.
Certificate of Freedom to Marry (Certificate de Cotume/Nulla Osta)
Per Irish applicant: €60
Late fee
If you submit your application 28 days or less before the date of your intended marriage or civil partnership, you’ll have to pay an additional fee of €60 per Irish applicant.
Payment methods
- Cash
- Bank draft
- Irish postal order
- Credit/debit card
Bank drafts should be made payable to the Secretary General - Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Applying abroad
Payment can be made in either Vietnamese Dong or Euro. If you are paying in Vietnamese Dong, the current Euro exchange rate will be confirmed at the time of payment and applied to the fees listed below.
You can apply at the Embassy of Ireland:
Sentinel Place, 41A Ly Thai To, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi
The Embassy is located on the corner of Ly Thai To and Tran Nguyen Han, at 41A Ly Thai To, on the 2nd floor. We share a building with the Embassy of Argentina, and are one block from Hoan Kiem Lake, in the centre of Hanoi.
The Embassy is open to the public Monday to Friday from 8:30am to 12pm.