If you got married abroad and at least one of you has German citizenship, you can have the marriage certified in Germany.
The date of the application is decisive for the possession of German citizenship.
The marriage must have been validly concluded in the country in which you got married. German law must not stand in the way of the marriage.

You are entitled to apply:

• The spouses
• If both spouses are deceased, their parents and children

• Foreign marriage certificate, if necessary with certification by the competent foreign authority (apostille) or legalization by the German diplomatic mission abroad
• Valid identity card, passport or travel document
• Certified copies of the birth registers from the registry offices of the places of birth
  • If the spouses were born in Germany
• Birth certificates certified by the competent foreign authority (apostille) or legalization by the German diplomatic mission abroad
  • If the spouses were born abroad
• Translations of all documents in a foreign language by sworn translators in Germany
• Certificate of naturalization or certificate of citizenship, if applicable
• Proof of the establishment and dissolution of all civil partnerships
  • Only required if one spouse has already established a registered civil partnership
• Certified copy from the marriage register of the last previous marriage with annotation of dissolution
  • Only required if one spouse has been married before. Alternatively or in the case of previous marriages abroad: Proof of the conclusion and dissolution of all previous marriages. For example, marriage certificates, death certificates, all divorce decrees - complete and with a note from the court stating when the judgment became legally binding ("final judgment").
• If applicable, recognition of the foreign divorce by the President of the Higher Regional Court
  • Only required if one spouse has already been married.
• Further documents
  • Further documents may be required in individual cases

For Lower Saxony, the fees are based on the Lower Saxony Ordinance on Fees and Expenses for Official Acts and Services (General Schedule of Fees - AllGO).

The amount of the costs for the notarization of a marriage abroad according to § 34 para. 1 PStG is variable. Initially, there is a fixed fee of 85 euros.

For each foreign law to be observed in accordance with Article 13 para. 1 or Article 17 b para. 1 sentence 1 in conjunction with para. 4 sentence 1 of the Introductory Act to the Civil Code, plus 50 euros.

In the case of a review of a foreign decision in marriage or civil partnership matters by the registry office, if there is no need for a determination by the state justice administration pursuant to Section 107 (1) sentence 1 FamFG, plus 50 euros.

If an application for recognition of a foreign decision in matrimonial matters is submitted to the state administration of justice, plus 50 euros.