Registering Your Marriage From Abroad

When applying for a Bulgarian immigration status, you will have to provide a range of proof and documentation to prove that your marriage is genuine. There are no official guidelines specifying what you must provide to meet this requirement for a visa. It is important to remember that every relationship is unique, and each applicant will have their own specific types of proof and documents that are relevant to their situation. Remember that it may help to be selective about what to put forward when satisfying the genuine relationship requirement for your visa.

How to Register a marriage as Non-EU spouse of EU citizen When Married Abroad

If you are married to an EU national abroad and want to live together in Bulgaria, EU rules and legislations facilitate the application procedure and make it easier for you to join them. If the marriage took place in a third country (neither your country nor your spouse's country), it must be registered in both your country and your spouse's country. To learn more about why this is required, please refer to this section. Such marriage doesn’t need to be registered again in Bulgaria.

How to Register a Marriage with a Bulgarian Citizen When Married Abroad

If your marriage has taken place abroad, you are legally required to register it in Bulgaria within 6 months. The marriage must be registered at the municipality of residence in Bulgaria of one of the Bulgarian spouses. This is the official location where your marriage will be recorded in Bulgarian civil records. Once the marriage certificate is apostilled and translated, it needs to be submitted to the relevant municipal authorities in Bulgaria. The municipality will register the marriage and issue a Bulgarian certificate of civil marriage. Failure to do so could result in administrative complications down the road.

Marriage Certificate Legalisation

The key document required for marriage registration is the original certificate of civil marriage issued abroad. However, to ensure this document is legally accepted in Bulgaria, it must go through couple of formalisation steps:

Apostille Certification
The original marriage certificate must be certified with an apostille. An apostille is a form of legalisation under the Hague Convention, confirming the validity of the document for use in Bulgaria. For documents originating from countries that are neither members of the Hague Convention nor have a bilateral agreement with Bulgaria, the document must be an original bearing a wet seal from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the respective country, along with a seal from the Bulgarian embassy in that country. However, for countries such as Macedonia, Romania, Russia, and others with bilateral agreements with Bulgaria, legalisation can be completed without the need for an apostille.
Translation into Bulgarian
After obtaining the apostille, the marriage certificate must be translated into Bulgarian. The translation can be done in Bulgaria by a licensed translator or abroad by sworn translators. If the translation is done abroad, it must also be certified at a Bulgarian consular office to be valid.

Please note that the original marriage certificate issued abroad will be retained by the municipal authorities in Bulgaria and won’t be returned even if requested. Therefore it is recommended to request and possess at least two copies of the original marriage certificate to avoid future inconveniences.

When Is My Marriage from Abroad Is Not Recognised As Valid

When applying for a visa immigration authorities may request these documents to check whether the marriage is considered voidable or legally recognised in Bulgaria. Some examples of such marriages include marriages between same sex couples, when there is bigamy (involves the act of marrying someone while already being married to another person) or when one or both parties were under 18 when they married. There is a possibility that the marriage can be overturned even if it was contracted according to the laws of the country where it took place. If there is evidence that the marriage is illegal according to the Bulgarian legislation, no residence permit will be issued.

Marriage registration via an Authorised Representative

If you are unable to personally handle the registration, you can authorise someone to complete the process on your behalf. The power of attorney must be certified at a Bulgarian consular office to be valid for this purpose. Legal representatives, such as our specialist immigration team, are qualified to help you with your marriage registration.

What if the Wife Wants to Change Her Surname?

If the wife wishes to adopt her husband's surname, this change must be declared at the time of the marriage registration in Bulgaria. To do so, the following steps are required:

Obtain an official note from the relevant foreign institution where the marriage was concluded. The note must explicitly state that, during the civil marriage, the wife declared her desire to adopt her husband's surname.
Attach the official note to the translated and certified marriage certificate before submitting the documents for registration in Bulgaria.

It is crucial to note that the surname change can only be completed during the initial registration of the marriage in Bulgaria. After this step, any further name changes by Bulgarian citizens can only be processed via a court order.

How Can We Help?

Attempting to prove to the immigration authorities that your marriage is genuine and subsisting can be a daunting task. It may be difficult and challenging to collect relationship evidence for you and your spouse, further adding to the stress and anxiety of applying for a visa. If you need additional help or assistance in satisfying the genuine marriage requirements for a spouse visa, we can give you a hand.