Marriage in Germany

• If neither you or your fiancé(e) live in Germany, the application for the marriage has to be filed with the registrar's office where you intend to marry.
• The registrar's office will tell you which documents are required for your marriage in Germany. In many cases, foreign documents need to be translated or / and legalised. The Embassy does not provide any translation service.
• If you are not a resident in Germany, you will probably be required to produce a certificate from Rwanda called “Ehefähigkeitszeugnis”. You can obtain this certificate from your local registry office at the place of your residence in Rwanda. Please request a certificate of non-impediment to marriage.
• Normal requirements before German nationality is granted include a good knowledge of the German language and residence in Germany.

Registration of a marriage in Germany

The following documents are required as originals with two photocopies each:

• Application form for registration of the marriage please note: The form is in German language
• Marriage certificate (if Rwandan needs to be legalized)
• Proof of the citizenship of the spouses (Passport or German ID card)
• If applicable: Naturalisation certificate for naturalised German nationals or “Staatsangehörigkeitsausweis”
• Birth certificates of both spouses (in case of foreign (Rwandan) certificates the documents must be legalized)
• If applicable: Proof of a marriage name (certificate of a name declaration issued by a German Registrar’s Office)
• If applicable: marriage certificates of all previous marriages
• If applicable: decree absolute of divorce (in case of foreign certificates please Contact the Embassy
  )
• Proof of residence (for example utility bill or bank statement) for Rwanda
• Deregistration certificate (“Abmeldebescheinigung”) from your last German residence or a current registration certificate (“Meldebescheinigung”) from your current place of residence in Germany
• Translations of foreign language documents into German by a translator certified in Germany
• If applicable: birth certificates (full version - stating the parents’ names) of all children of the parents including older siblings

• If you are still registered in Germany, you can register your marriage with the local Registrar’s Office in Germany personally or you can apply through the German Embassy in Kigali.
• If you are not sure whether a name declaration for your child is needed in your case or if you want to do the name declaration please Contact the Embassy
  

• Your application will then be forwarded to the competent Registrar (Standesamt) in Germany, where it will be processed.
• The Registrar in Germany will charge a fee for initiating the procedure and issuing the marriage certificate. The fee amounts to about 70-120 EUR. You will have to pay the fee directly to the Registrar’s Office in Germany.
  
• Please note that the German Embassy cannot predict how long this process will take. Processing times may vary considerably depending on the complexity of the case and the individual Registrar’s Office.

“Married Name”-declaration

In Germany the spouses can opt for one of their last names to become a so-called “married name” (Ehename) when they get married (or later) by name declaration. The spouse whose name does not become the married name can add his or her previous name with a hyphen in front of or behind the married name.

If you got married outside of Germany and have made a name declaration at the time of your wedding and your marriage certificate shows evidence of this, please contact the Embassy in order to find out whether this name change is recognised by German law.

If no name declaration is made (as is the case with all marriages in Rwanda) the name has not changed and each spouse still bears the same name as before the marriage – even if one spouse has already been using the other spouse’s name in everyday life. Please also note that a name change per deed poll is not valid for a German citizen. To officially declare a married name by German law you will have to formally submit a name declaration at the Embassy.

• If a German spouse was not divorced in Germany, Contact the Embassy
  in which country the divorce took place and when the petition for the divorce was filed.
• Your name declaration will then be forwarded to the competent Registrar (Standesamt), where it will be processed. As soon as the Registrar confirms the name and issues a name confirmation certificate. The confirmation certificate will only be issued on your request and the Registrar will charge a fee for this – you will need the certificate for the passport application.
• Processing times may vary considerably depending on the complexity of the case and the individual Registrar’s Office.

Registration of a child’s birth in Germany

If your child is born in Rwanda or another country abroad and you want to apply for a German birth certificate for your child you have to register the birth in Germany.

Acknowledgement of paternity

• If the parents are not married the father needs to acknowledge paternity of the child
• Please find detailed information in the download below.
• For further questions you may contact the Consulate.
• If the child’s parents are married at the time of birth of the child generally no acknowledgement of paternity is needed.