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Getting married (civil registration)
Getting married (civil registration)
Can I get married in Latvia?
A citizen of the European Union, a country of the European Economic Area or the Swiss Confederation or a citizen of another country, a stateless person, a refugee or a person who has been granted an alternative status and who is entitled to reside in the Republic of Latvia at the time of the conclusion of the marriage may conclude a marriage with:
- a Latvian citizen
- a non-citizen of Latvia
- a citizen of an EU country, an EEA country or the Swiss Confederation, or a citizen of another country
- a stateless person, a refugee or a person who has been granted an alternative status and who is entitled to reside in the Republic of Latvia at the time of the marriage
Persons wishing to marry must submit a joint application (in Latvian), signed by both of them, in person, to the registry office or to the diplomatic and consular mission of the Republic of Latvia abroad.
A valid identity document must be presented at the time of application. You can also obtain an application form on the spot at the registry office. Contact details for the registry offices can be found at the Ministry of Justice website (in Latvian).
What documents are required to register a marriage?
If one of the spouses is a third-country national, the application for marriage must be submitted to the registry office in Latvia in the presence of both persons.
Persons who were previously in another marriage and whose information on the divorce is not included in the Population Register of the Republic of Latvia, when submitting an application, shall present one of the following documents:
- the death certificate of your ex-spouse
- a divorce certificate from the registry office or notary public
- the final judgement of the court that divorced or annulled the marriage
- an extract or certificate from the divorce register or the marriage register with the divorce
In addition, the third-country national shall submit a document on the marital status issued by the competent institution of the respective foreign country for the purpose of concluding the marriage in Latvia. If a person has been granted stateless, refugee or alternative status in the Republic of Latvia and the necessary documents are not available and cannot be obtained, the documents shall be replaced by a written declaration on family status.
The marriage is contracted no sooner than one month and no later than six months after the application. The marriage is solemnised on the day appointed, in the presence of the persons to be married and two adult witnesses. After the marriage is registered, the spouses are issued with a marriage certificate. There is a fee for organising a solemnised marriage ceremony.
Steps for submitting the documents for marriage remotely:
Both spouses fill in one joint application for marriage. All fields of the application form (in Latvian) must be completed (except for the nationality field, which can be omitted). The document requisites "Signature of the Bridegroom" and "Signature of the Bride" shall not be completed.
The joint application is signed by both spouses with a secure electronic signature and a time stamp. The application must be signed with two secure electronic signatures (of both spouses).
The signed application is sent to the electronic address (e-mail) of the registry office where you wish to get married.
I want to change my surname when I get married, what should I do?
When applying for marriage registration, you must indicate your chosen married surname. Questions may arise: how to get the correct Latvian rendering of the surname and who renders the surname? There are different options: the surname is rendered by the registry office, by contacting the Latvian Language Agency, or by the couple, by contacting the Latvian Language Agency. In this case, the couple must obtain written confirmation from the Latvian Language Agency that the surname has been rendered in Latvian. There are cases when a third-country national has already cooperated with Latvian state institutions and the surname has been rendered according to Latvian language norms before.
If a certificate of the correct spelling of the surname in Latvian is required, it must be requested from the Latvian Language Agency by presenting a document with the original spelling of the surname. This certificate is free of charge. It can be applied for and received both on site at the Agency and by email.
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