Two foreign citizens getting married in Norway

If you wish to get married in Norway, there are some conditions that need to be fulfilled and/or documentation you must send us before we can approve of the marriage.

If you’re foreign citizens that:

then the procedure is the same as when two Norwegian citizens marry.

If one or both of you do not fulfil the conditions above, the following documentation must be presented to the Norwegian Tax Administration:

  • Separate personal declarations from each of you

  • Statement by the sponsor – must be completed by one sponsor (“forlover”/witness) on each side

  • A declaration concerning division – if either of you have been married before. If it has been less than 2 years since divorce was granted, you may apply for a exemption from division from the County Governor if the last shared address was not in Norway. Download the form at fylkesmannen.no If it’s more than 2 years since the divorce, you can use part III of the personal declaration.

  • In the case of people who are divorced according to foreign law, the divorce must be recognised by the County Governor. The application form can be downloaded from fylkesmannen.no. The requirement for recognition will not apply if the divorce was carried out in another Nordic country, provided that both spouses were resident and had citizenships in a Nordic country at the time of the divorce.

  • Documentation of name, age and citizenship, for example passport or birth certificate. The documentation must be original or a copy certified by a Norwegian public authority. If you use your passport as documentation, please submit a copy verified by a Norwegian public authority, and not your original passport. The birth certificate must be legalised or endorsed with an apostille.

  • A certificate from the home country, and if applicable, the most recent country of residence, showing that there is no impediment to you entering into marriage in Norway. The certificate must be no more than four months old. Translation may be necessary unless the certificate is written in English, Danish or Swedish. The certificate must be original, and must be legalised or endorsed with an apostille.

    The  documentation requirements for group 2-countries are slightly stricter. In addition to legalisation of the certificate, the legalisation must be confirmed by a Norwegian foreign mission. These countries are: Africa: Burkina Faso, Burundi, Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iraq, Myanmar (Burma), Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Vietnam and Yemen. 

    The requirement for confirmation from a Norwegian foreign mission no longer applies to the group 2-countries Kosovo, India and the Philippines. 

  • Citizens from countries outside the Nordic region must provide documentation  showing that they are legally resident in Norway (in Norwegian only). The documentation must consist of the original documents or copies certified by a Norwegian public authority.

Documentation from a country outside the Nordic region must be legalised or endorsed with an apostille by the authorities in the issuing country.

If you fulfil the conditions for entering into marriage, you’ll receive what is known as a "certificate of no impediment to enter into marriage".  The certificate of no impediment is valid without a stamp and signature.

The certificate will be sent to both of you in your Altinn inbox.  If you’ve opted out of digital communication, you’ll receive it in the post.

The certificate is valid for four months.

The processing time can take about 5-6 weeks. It’s important that you state your postal address in the application.

Please send the documents to:

The Tax Administration
Postboks 9200 Grønland
0134 Oslo
Norway

Bigamy is a punishable offence under Norwegian law. The same applies to marriage with anyone under 16 years of age or aiding and abetting such marriage. Marriages where both parties are not physically present during the wedding ceremony are not legal.
 
A marriage will also not be recognised if the marriage is clearly legally objectionable in Norway.

All this will also apply if the marriage has been entered into abroad and one or both parties have an affiliation to Norway.

Rare exceptions

However, at the request of both parties, the marriage may still be recognised if there are compelling reasons. This is a narrow exemption provision that is practised very strictly. It’s therefore rare for such a marriage to provide a basis for family reunification.

Applications for recognition must be sent to the Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs, which also provides guidance in this area.

For more information, see the government's brochure on rules for getting married in another country.