Are you a fan of “the Sound of Music”? Or have you always dreamed of having majestic snow capped mountains as the backdrop of your wedding? Well Austria is a great place to host your destination wedding. Here you will find wedding venues that range from majestic gothic churches to mountain lakes. However, before you pack your bags and book your travel arrangements, you need to know a little bit about getting married in Austria.
Documents You Will Need
Austria requires foreigners who wish to get married in Austria to provide several authenticated documents. You will need a certified birth certificate for both the bride and groom, both of your passports, a certificate of residence (basically something that proves where you live, i.e. driver’s license, tax statement), proof of citizenship, your parents’ marriage certificates and evidence that you are legally free to get married. If you have been married previously, you will need to provide a copy of your divorce decree or a death certificate. You may also need to provide the registrar with a sworn and witnessed statement that you are single and free to get married.
Qualifying for an Austrian Marriage
To qualify for an Austrian marriage is relatively simple. You basically just need to be over 18 years of age, be able to provide the requested documents, meet local jurisdiction requirements for marriages and be able to pay all applicable fees. If you happen to be 16 or 17 and are interested in getting married to an 18 year old, then you will need the permission of the Austrian court to do so. If you don’t speak German, then you will also need to hire a translator to assist you during the application process and during the civil marriage ceremony. This is a requirement if you don’t speak German, as to be legal the civil marriage ceremony has to be given in German.
Procedure
Standesamt Wien Innere Mariahilf
Schlesingerplatz 4
1080 Vienna
Office hours 8:00 a.m. through 3:15 p.m.
The preferred method to apply for an Austrian wedding license is for both the bride and the bridegroom to go to the Vital Statistics Office (Standesamt) and apply together. During this meeting the couple will need to bring all the above documents, complete an application and pay the fees, which usually run about Euros 220. If you simply can’t get to Austria four weeks before you wedding, then you can arrange to have an Austrian attorney handle the application process for you.
Austria doesn’t not require you to stay in the country for a set time period before you get married like some other countries do, but it will take between two and four weeks for your marriage license to be processed. Once approved, you can complete your civil union ceremony right away. The civil ceremony only takes about 15 minutes and is given in German. If you are also interested in having a religious ceremony you will have to schedule the religious ceremony after your civil ceremony.
If you need help planning your Austrian wedding then work with a Austrian wedding hotel. These hotels will provide you with all the information that you need to plan a destination wedding, and they may have helpful tips for getting your wedding license.
