Recognising marriage certificate in Denmark

Hello,
I am a newbie, glad that I found this community since I got quite a lot helpful information here. Was searching but did not find relevant information so I creat a new post. Hope it is fine.

I am from a non-eu country, have been in Germany for 9 years. Came here to study and have been working full time for almos 6 years, I have permanent residence permit.

In March last year 2024, I got married in Denmark since it's much more convenient there in Denmark than the lengthy annoying bureaucracy process here in Germany. My husband is German. I want to highlight that i was never married before, and my husband and I have been living together for about 7 years so far, the registration office can always see that in our profiles.

In September 2024 I went to the registration office to register our marriage, the official said that there was a new regulation in place, and he was not able to enter our marriage status directly into the system like in the past anymore (it woul be possible if both of us were from EU countries). Instead, our documents will be sent to Standesamt for investigation.

Yesterday I received a letter from the registration office (after 5 months) that I have to provide my birth certificate and marriage status certificate from my home country, legalised and translated. I have only 1 month to do so.

I wanna ask if anyone knows about this "new regulation" and if it is a must to summit additional documents? I tried to search on the Internet and I couldn't find anything. So far I only know that Denmark marriage certificate will be immediately recognised in Germany.

Of course I can provide the documents but then I have to fly back to my home country to request it, also, it takes a lot of time and cost a lot of money. I don't think I can manage to do it in 1 month. And, I have to work (and pay taxes of course, which contributes to the wages of these officials LOL) I cannot get away for few months just to collect two papers.

Thanks in advance for your input. - @hamngungay

  Have not heard of such a rule but no reason to believe they are just making something up. When I married in Germany as an American I had to contact the US consulate for a document stating my marital status. This is standard procedure. Not sure why you think you need to fly home; just contact your embassy or closest consulate.  Because of such things, it is essential that you register your marriage with your country’s consular authorities. So you’ll likely have to send the Danish documents to them and they can issue documents for the Germany authorities showing your marital status to the best of their knowledge.  Sounds like a roundabout way of doing things but it helps insure German authorities that you weren’t already married – but Danish authorities should have scrutinized this already.

I don't know if it is standard procedure, or a new rule. But if the authorities have (obviously, in this case) a doubt about the validity of your marriage, they can ask for additional proof - and you are obliged to supply it (or remain unmaried in German judicial eyes - yes, it is possible to be legally married in one country but single in another, it's called "limping marriage").

If the request is unreasonable or impossible to fulfil, you can appeal against it. The letter you received must say how (and until when) to appeal. If not, contact them and ask. An appeal should be prepared by a lawyer experienced in international family law to have a better chance of success.

Good luck - the German family registries ("Standesamt") are among the most difficult to deal with, sometimes worse than foreigners offices ("Ausländeramt").

@TominStuttgart

Thanks, and nope, it is not the same in my case. Our consular in Germany does not provide any confirmation for the period I was living in my home country in the past. They can confirm some data about me for the period I am living in Germany only. I have to go back to my home country to request the document and then to go the German embassy in my home land to legalise the document.

When I got married in Denmark,  I provided to the Danish authorities with the "Meldebescheinigung" issued by German Bürgerservice, which mentioned my marital status on it. Basically, my marital status on the German Bürgerservice data is always "single". And now German Bürgerservice wants a legal confirmation from local authorities in my home country that I am single (or never been married).

The fact is, according to the EU agreement and the Hague convention, the marriage certificates in Denmark are generally recognised in Germany without further requirements. When the Bürgerservice official said there was a "new regulation", it should be available somewhere and I wanna ask if anyone knows about it.

@beppi

Thanks, I am about to approach a lawyer yes. I am already married and I obviously do not want to go through the German lengthy process to get a permission to be married again. I am also fine with being "single" ONLY IN GERMANY LOL

I am also fine with being "single" ONLY IN GERMANY LOL - @hamngungay

Then why do you want to go through all this trouble?

It will be a fight with the windmills, as usual with German buerocracy - and I foresee you will still have to provide proof that you were not married in your home country before!

@beppi

Yeah I mean "being recorded as single in Germany" is also an option if things get too complicated,  but of course that is not what I would go for in the first place. Who would not like to be recognised as "married" when marriage is their romantic decision after such a long time together? Currently, my personal data recorded in HR department is still "single" while everyone knows that I am married. I am not sure if anyone likes being different that way in their professional life.

I expected a nice wishes from the registration office than a skeptical look and an investigation. It's so obvious in my case that it is not a "marriage of convenience"!

I also made some research with some AI apps, seems that so far what I understood were correct, and seems there is no "new regulation" available in public. I will hear some legal advices from a lawyer and decide what I will do.

Thanks for spending some of your time on my case.

Getting married again in Germany is NOT how it is done. And one cannot be listed as single if they are married. This is NOT an option. This would amount to fraud. There are many legal implications according to one’s marital status; for retirement, taxes, insurances, ownership of assets rights to visit in a hospital or make decisions about the spouses health if incapacitated etc. etc. . Not to be confused with filing singularly for tax purposes. This is always an option, even if married, according to what will give one the better advantages. Required if a spouse is not in Germany. But with a legal status of single one cannot file together as a couple.

Beppi mentioned a limping marriage. This is because some countries might not recognize marriages the same as others. It is not a matter of choosing how you want to be listed. The last thing one wants to have is the legal troubles caused by such conflicts.  One really needs to get it straightened out! And it should not be some complicated having been never married before. Where the serious conflicts come in is from previous marriage(s) that might or might not be seen as legally ended. The Philippines for example doesn’t recognize divorce.

But it doesn’t really make sense saying ones consulate doesn’t issue such documents. They are required to by international standard. They can only say what your present situation is at the time as far as their records show. You register your marriage with them, showing the Danish documents and then they change your status from single to married. And you would have needed such a document in Germany to be listed as single unless they simply took your word for it with no documents. Strange that Denmark would allow you to marry there with just a document from Germany rather than from your home country. Maybe the reason Germany is doubtful; it was not actually checked properly. Even if they don’t suspect a marriage of convenience how should they know you weren’t married in your home country before if it wasn’t checked in Denmark before marrying you.

The OP (formerly known as "hamngungay") deleted his/her account and thus is now shown as "GuestPoster62787". This sometimes happens with posters who don't get the answers they are hoping for - but looks rather ungrateful to us forum regulars who took the effort to reply.

Unfortunately he/she will not be notified of further replies and thus will probably not read them!

The OP (formerly known as "hamngungay") deleted his/her account and thus is now shown as "GuestPoster62787". This sometimes happens with posters who don't get the answers they are hoping for - but looks rather ungrateful to us forum regulars who took the effort to reply.
Unfortunately he/she will not be notified of further replies and thus will probably not read them! - @beppi

Yeah, some even get very angry when they don’t get the answer they want. And such advice is where a forum is good; one can sometimes get perspective and tips that go beyond what official sources will mention. Not that we can advise anyone to break a law but some things can be seen in different ways or even things not wanted tolerated to a certain degree. But one should not underestimate the importance of one’s marital status. And not just for herself but for her spouse. Even if one got away with it for a while, eventually one might have even bigger troubles by not getting things straightened out. And ignorance of the law is not a legal defense. One has the burden to find out and see things are done correctly even if difficult. If officials make a mistake it is one thing but if one does something wrong with the excuse that it was simpler that way because of all of the bureaucracy involved … expect consequences.