Marriage

Are you Belgian and are you getting married in Finland or Estonia? Congratulations! To prove to the Finnish or Estonian authorities that there is no legal objection to marriage, our embassy can issue a certificate of no impediment to marriage (not to be confused with a consular certificate of civil status that cannot be issued in this context). The certificate of no impediment to marriage is valid for 6 months and certifies that according to Belgian law there is no legal objection for marriage. This certificate does not explicitly state your civil status.

You can request the certificate of no impediment to marriage by post (Belgian suurlähetystö/Embassy of Belgium, Kalliolinnantie 5, 00140 Helsinki, Finland) or by email with the annexes in pdf format (helsinki@diplobel.fed.be). Please include the following documents:

• Application form/declaration on honour. Please check first your data in the national register online via the website of the FPS. If necessary you should have your data updated before proceeding further. After having checked your data in the national register, please sign a declaration of honour where you assure the correctness of your data in the national register including your civil status. Even if you do not reside in Belgium, it is obligatory to indicate an address in Belgium (this could be the address of a friend, family or notary etc.). The choice of a place of residency is temporary and it will be terminated simultaneously with the completion of the process. If you don’t have access to your national register data, you can contact either the Belgian municipality or the Belgian diplomatic post where you are registered to get a complete extract from the population register.
• While a certificate of no impediment to marriage is a legal document, it can only be issued in one of the national languages. Please indicate the language (French, Dutch or German) in which you wish to have the certificate. If you wish, a multilingual standard form (with a translation to Finnish or Estonian) can be issued in accordance with the EU regulation together with the certificate without any extra costs.
• A copy of your valid identity document (passport or identity card)
• A copy of the valid identity document (passport or identity card) of your partner
• Proof of payment of 20 € paid on our account: Embassy of Belgium, IBAN:FI6817223000000249, SWIFT: NDEAFIHH. If you wish to receive the certificate by post, you should include the sending costs of a registered letter in the payment: 16,90 € to Finland or 22 € to Estonia.

Processing time: Generally, the certificate shall be issued within a couple of working days. However, if your request needs to be transmitted to the public prosecutor, it could take several weeks or months before receiving a decision.
 

It is important to note that a marriage concluded abroad (as any other change in civil status) shall not be automatically transmitted to the Belgian national register but it is your personal responsibility to contact either the Belgian municipality or the Belgian diplomatic post where you are registered and provide them with necessary documents so that your administrative file can be updated with your changed civil status.

If you are registered at our embassy, to register your marriage in the Belgian national register, we need a copy of the passport and/or ID of both spouses, as well as: 

In Finland:

• The wedding certificate (avioliittotodistus) from the DVV. This certificate needs to be accompanied by a multilingual standard form with translations into French, Dutch or German.
• A supplementary marriage certificate where the place and date of the wedding is mentioned. This document is usually handed to the couple on the day of the wedding.

In Estonia:

• The wedding certificate (Abielu Tõend) from the Estonian authorities. This certificate needs to be accompanied by a multilingual standard form with translations into French, Dutch or German.
• A supplementary marriage certificate (Abielukanne) clearly indicating the place and date of marriage.