Preparing for a civil wedding abroad
Last update
If you are a Luxembourg national or a Luxembourg resident, you may get married abroad under certain conditions.
When getting married in a civil ceremony abroad, you must comply with 2 public policy requirements:
- the public policy of the country in which you wish to get married; and
- the public policy of the country in which you are seeking recognition of your marriage, i.e. Luxembourg’s public policy.
Same-sex partners wishing to marry abroad may do so in any State which allows same-sex marriage.
As a rule, the Luxembourg authorities will not be made aware of your marriage contracted abroad. This means that, following your wedding ceremony, you will need to undertake certain procedures to have your marriage officially recognised in Luxembourg.
Who is concerned
All Luxembourg nationals are required to publish notice of their intended marriage in Luxembourg (publication of banns).
Foreign nationals residing in Luxembourg who wish to marry abroad should check with their national authorities regarding the requirements for the publication of banns.
In principle, a marriage abroad must take place between adults.
Note that the legal age may vary depending on:
- the laws of the State in which the marriage takes place; and
- Luxembourg law regarding the age of majority and legal capacity to marry; and
- the law of the country of which each of the future spouses is a national.
Prerequisites
For your marriage abroad to be recognised in Luxembourg, it must:
- be celebrated in accordance with the customary practices of the country where the marriage takes place;
- comply with certain conditions imposed by Luxembourg.
If you are a Luxembourg national, the basic requirements are the same as those that must be met when entering into a civil marriage in Luxembourg.
How to proceed
- Before the marriage
- After the marriage
Publication of the banns
Before your wedding, you must submit the required documents to the Luxembourg civil registrar so that a banns notice can be published in Luxembourg.
In principle, the banns are published in the commune of residence of each of the future spouses.
However, if one of the future spouses who is a Luxembourg national:
- no longer has their place of residence in Luxembourg, the notice is published at the communal administration of their last place of residence in Luxembourg; or
- has never lived in Luxembourg, publication takes place:
- at the communal administration of their place of birth; or
- failing that, in Luxembourg City.
Supporting documents
You must provide the civil registrar with:
- full copies of your birth certificates, issued within the last 6 months. If either of you is a foreign national or was born abroad, you must contact the relevant authorities in your country of birth;
- a statutory declaration issued by the justice of the peace:
- of your place of birth; or
- of your place of residence, if you are unable to provide a copy of your birth certificate;
- if you live abroad, a certificate of residence or any other document proving your place of residence, if such a certificate is not available in your country of residence;
- proof of your marital status (single/divorced/widowed), if you are not a Luxembourg national;
- a copy of your identity documents.
If you reside in Luxembourg, your place of residence will be verified by the civil registrar when the file is created. If there is any discrepancy, you must provide a certificate of residence.
Certificate of legal capacity to marry
You must obtain a certificate of legal capacity to marry from the commune in your place of residence if you live in and wish to marry in one of the following countries:
- Germany;
- Austria;
- Spain;
- Greece;
- Italy;
- Luxembourg;
- Moldova;
- The Netherlands;
- Switzerland;
- Turkey.
To do this, you must provide the registrar with:
- full copies of your birth certificates; and
- if you live abroad:
- a residence certificate; or
- failing that, any document proving your residence;
- documents proving each person’s marital status (single / divorced / widowed).
If you wish to get married in a State other than those listed above, you must obtain:
- proof of single status from your commune; and
- a Luxembourg certificate of customary law from the Ministry of Justice.
In practice, if you are a Luxembourg national born in Luxembourg, your birth certificate serves as proof of single status provided it contains no reference to a marriage.
Marriage of a minor
If you are a minor, you must obtain the consent, set out in an authentic act, of:
- your parents; or
- your family, in the absence of parents.
If your parents are resident in Luxembourg, the act must be drawn up:
- before a notary; or
- before the civil registrar of your parents' place of domicile or residence.
Your parents must then submit the notarised act to the Luxembourg registrar.
If your parents live abroad, they should contact:
- the competent authorities responsible for issuing this type of act; or
- diplomatic or consular officials of Luxembourg.
Marriages in which at least one partner is a Luxembourg national
If you are a Luxembourg national and:
- you live in Luxembourg, you must have your duly legalised marriage certificate entered in the civil registry of your commune of residence;
- you were born in Luxembourg, your marriage is noted in the margin of your birth certificate.
A record of marriage is available to residents only. It cannot be carried out for non-residents.
If no banns were published beforehand, you must, in order to have your marriage contracted abroad recognised, provide documents that enable the registrar to verify that you met the substantive requirements for marriage. You must contact:
- the civil registrar in your place of residence; or
- the City of Luxembourg if one of you was born abroad and has never lived in Luxembourg.
Please note that if you are a Luxembourg national but do not live in Luxembourg:
- you must send a copy of your marriage certificate to the commune where you were born, if you were born in Luxembourg; or
- you do not need to undertake any procedures if you were born abroad.
Marriage of foreign nationals
If you are a foreign national, you may submit your duly legalised marriage certificate to the communal administration so that the entries in the communal register can be updated.
If you live abroad but were born in Luxembourg, you will need to send your duly legalised marriage certificate to the commune where you were born in Luxembourg.
Online services and forms
Online services
Who to contact
District Court District Court Luxembourg
- Address:
- Cité judiciaire, bât. TL, Plateau du Saint-Esprit L-2080 Luxembourg
- Phone:
- (+352) 47 59 81 1
District Court District Court Diekirch
- Address:
-
4, place Guillaume
L-9237
Diekirch
B.P. 164, L-9202 Diekirch
- Phone:
- (+352) 80 32 14 1
- Fax:
- (+352) 80 71 19
Family court judges (JAF)
- Address:
-
35, rue de Bonnevoie
L-1260
Luxembourg
Cité judiciaire, Plateau du St-Esprit, L-2080 Luxembourg
- Phone:
- (+352) 247 32 231
- Phone:
- (+352) 247 32 697
- Phone:
- (+352) 247 32 692
- Phone:
- (+352) 247 32 656
- Phone:
- (+352) 247 32 685
- Phone:
- (+352) 247 32 638
- Phone:
- (+352) 247 32 336
- Phone:
- (+352) 247 32 315
- Phone:
- (+352) 247 32 637
- Phone:
- (+352) 247 32 257
Please note: any mail intended for the JAF department (Juges aux affaires familiales) of the Luxembourg District Court that is sent to an address other than the postal address listed above will be returned to the sender.
Family court judges (JAF)
- Address:
-
4, place Guillaume
L-9237
Diekirch
B.P. 164, L-9202 Diekirch
- Phone:
- (+352) 803 21 422
- Phone:
- (+352) 803 21 449
Related procedures and links
Procedures
Links
Further information
-
Special leave
on the website of the Inspectorate of Labour and Mines (ITM)
-
FAQ - Congés extraordinaires
sur le site de l’Inspection du travail et des mines (ITM)
-
Le congé de paternité : application pratique (note du ministère du Travail, de l’Emploi et de l’Économie sociale et solidaire)
Pdf • 459 Kb
Legal references
- Code du travail, Livre II, Titre III, Chapitre III
-
Loi du 15 décembre 2017
portant modification 1. du Code du travail ; 2. de la loi modifiée du 31 juillet 2006 portant introduction d’un Code du travail, et abrogeant 3. la loi modifiée du 12 février 1999 portant création d’un congé parental et d’un congé pour raisons familiales
