Getting married in Egypt

wes_!2 wrote:

hey every one .
i have a question i know  there are many answers already for it but i just want to figure out something .. im gettin married to my fiance n she is Swedish n iam egyptian n we gettin married in egypt , she is comin in couple of weeks to she got the birth cert. in english but some papers need to be signed n stamped from the foreign ministry in Sweden so i wana knw if the swedish embassy could do it here in cairo or it must be done in sweden and also what other papers we could need .
thanks in advanced

For this question, contact the Swedish embassy and ask them what documents does she need to bring with her to get the Certificate of Approval from the embassy. You might need yourself to prepare some documents (some embassies require documents from the Egyptian partner, some don't)

It's better to ask as soon as possible to avoid any surprises (missing documents she needs to bring with her from Sweden, documents you need to prepare that will take a long time ...etc.)

After that, you need to stamp that certificate from the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The embassy's telephone # is 02-27289200

Telephone hours:
Sunday to Wednesday 08h30-12h00, 13h00-16h00
Thursday 08h30-12h00, 13h00-15h00

The Embassy is closed on Fridays and Saturdays.

Some of the requirements might vary according to nationality. For example the Italian Embassy will not give the Nullaosta authorisation, unless the Egyptian counterpart presents certain documentation such as family status certificate and ID showing the marital status. If the criteria do not match that of the Italian Law, the authorisation is denied. Secondly a marriage valid in Egypt is not automatically recognised in Italy or other Western countries.

Contact your embassy and they will be able to give you detailed information.

erikabrio wrote:

Some of the requirements might vary according to nationality. For example the Italian Embassy will not give the Nullaosta authorisation, unless the Egyptian counterpart presents certain documentation such as family status certificate and ID showing the marital status. If the criteria do not match that of the Italian Law, the authorisation is denied. Secondly a marriage valid in Egypt is not automatically recognised in Italy or other Western countries.

Contact your embassy and they will be able to give you detailed information.

Exactly. Some embassies even request a criminal record for the Egyptian partner !

I do know that the marriage is recognized and valid in the united states.

erikabrio wrote:

Some of the requirements might vary according to nationality. For example the Italian Embassy will not give the Nullaosta authorisation, unless the Egyptian counterpart presents certain documentation such as family status certificate and ID showing the marital status. If the criteria do not match that of the Italian Law, the authorisation is denied. Secondly a marriage valid in Egypt is not automatically recognised in Italy or other Western countries.

Contact your embassy and they will be able to give you detailed information.

Right, because for example as a Spanish if I dont marry in the Embassy it will never be recognized in my country and therefore I would loose some of my rights. The marriage in the Civil Register in Egypt would NOT be valid.

Its interesting because I have heard of foreign women marrying Egyptians when they are already married in another country to another man. perhaps those countries do not recognize the Egyptian marriage. so it wouldnt be considered polygamy. so when they come visit their husband in Egypt its instant husband.

Hi All

You know I am amazed.  When I got married there were no such things as online forums, in fact only the very select had computers, laptops were a dream and the internet was only just beginning to make its presence felt to those who had access.

How far have we come?  We are now able to give help and advice to people all over the world from our own sitting room.

To those of us who had to work it all out for ourselves, maybe we mock the lack of initiative of others but at least they ask questions and get answers and it is amazingly done in only a few seconds from thousands of miles away in many cases.  I had no idea when I first replied to this forum that it would still be going strong now!!!  Mabruk to the originator.  lol.

With regard to thetopic of would the marraige be legal in another country............the technical answer is yes but you really need to take legal advice on it.  A contract exists and therefore the marraige exists anywhere in the world.  It is all very technical and without going into legal jargon you should be able to record your marraige within your native land although it is not a registered marraige there.  The terms used are very important!!!!!  Anywhere where a contract exists either on paper or verbally is recognised in most of the world as exisitng after the fact regardless of its origin.

Insh Allah those who seek find and are granted the happiness that I found.

Ramadan Kareem to All

I agree I am always amazed at the technology of the internet. i would go crazy without it lol. ramadan kareem :-)

alexscot wrote:

Hi All

You know I am amazed.  When I got married there were no such things as online forums, in fact only the very select had computers, laptops were a dream and the internet was only just beginning to make its presence felt to those who had access.

How far have we come?  We are now able to give help and advice to people all over the world from our own sitting room.

To those of us who had to work it all out for ourselves, maybe we mock the lack of initiative of others but at least they ask questions and get answers and it is amazingly done in only a few seconds from thousands of miles away in many cases.  I had no idea when I first replied to this forum that it would still be going strong now!!!  Mabruk to the originator.  lol.

With regard to thetopic of would the marraige be legal in another country............the technical answer is yes but you really need to take legal advice on it.  A contract exists and therefore the marraige exists anywhere in the world.  It is all very technical and without going into legal jargon you should be able to record your marraige within your native land although it is not a registered marraige there.  The terms used are very important!!!!!  Anywhere where a contract exists either on paper or verbally is recognised in most of the world as exisitng after the fact regardless of its origin.

Insh Allah those who seek find and are granted the happiness that I found.

Ramadan Kareem to All

Hi, Does my Egyptian partner need any proof of his single status and where would he get that from? I know I need to go to the Embassy and get a statutory declaration but I am not sure what my partner needs. Thanks, Sharon.

SharH wrote:

Hi, Does my Egyptian partner need any proof of his single status and where would he get that from? I know I need to go to the Embassy and get a statutory declaration but I am not sure what my partner needs. Thanks, Sharon.

The Egyptian government does NOT require such proof.


However, some embassies REQUIRE such proof from the Egyptian partner as a prerequisite to grant the statutory declaration (for instance almost all but not all EU embassies, Russian Federation) . Some embassies don't require it (e.g. : Ukraine, Belarus). Some embassies even go as far as ask for criminal records (e.g.: Russian Federation) ! Some require documents that the foreign partner has to bring from their home country (e.g.: Belarus).

Consult your embassy/consulate in Egypt for the requirements to issue statutory declaration.


If it is required, he needs to obtain the following:

1- Family record for his father
قيد عائلي للوالد
2- Single record for him (#1 is a prerequisite to get #2)
قيد فردي للشخص نفسه
Another implicit prerequisite to #2 is that he has to be registered with the Egyptian government as single, widowed, or divorced. So if he was married before, and his status is not updated, he'd need to register his divorce or late wife's death certificate in order to get it.

He can get these from any Civil Status office (usually they are in police stations, but not all police stations have civil status offices).


He will need afterwards to sign it from the Legal Affairs officer at the Civil Status Head Office in Abbaseyya (for the sake of notarization), after that notarize it from any MFA-Notary office (Heliopolis or Mohandiseen)

Many Thanks for your quick reply! Will send a message to the British consulate to ask them if they require it or not. Thanks again!

SharH wrote:

Many Thanks for your quick reply! Will send a message to the British consulate to ask them if they require it or not. Thanks again!

Most welcomed.

Better yet, ask them for the complete list of requirements to get the statutory declaration. In order to avoid missing a document here or there.


An important point I forgot to mention earlier, the two documents I mentioned in my earlier post (family record, single record) take 1-2 weeks to be issued, however they expire in 3 months from date of issuance. So you need to consider that (I mean if they are required , ask your fiance to prepare them 3-4 weeks before your arrival)

alexscot wrote:

With regard to thetopic of would the marraige be legal in another country............the technical answer is yes but you really need to take legal advice on it.  A contract exists and therefore the marraige exists anywhere in the world.  It is all very technical and without going into legal jargon you should be able to record your marraige within your native land although it is not a registered marraige there.  The terms used are very important!!!!!  Anywhere where a contract exists either on paper or verbally is recognised in most of the world as exisitng after the fact regardless of its origin.

Believe me- I know by experience, this is NOT the case with Spain. Only the marriage that takes place inside the Embassy will be recognized by them.

By this rule, any orfi marriage would be valid and legal outside of Egypt (as it is a contract)which is NOT, and I can only imagine the faces at the Airport or at the Administration in Spain if I told them yes, we´re married "verbaly"...

Ramadan kareem

if its a second marriage it would not be legal in any country that does not allow polygamy. like in the states they will only recognize the first marriage. which in my opinion is wrong. an orfi marriage would be the same as living together and not being married really. lol correct me if im wrong

my question is.. marriage in islam is supposed to be a protection and give the woman marital rights and respect, but at the same time it can also be a trap because the man has more rights to terminate the marriage then the woman does.

layla1313 wrote:

if its a second marriage it would not be legal in any country that does not allow polygamy. like in the states they will only recognize the first marriage. which in my opinion is wrong. an orfi marriage would be the same as living together and not being married really. lol correct me if im wrong

my question is.. marriage in islam is supposed to be a protection and give the woman marital rights and respect, but at the same time it can also be a trap because the man has more rights to terminate the marriage then the woman does.

I am not talking about polygamy, just a regular 2 ppl marriage.

And yes, as for the Egyptian rules (I dont think they are too Islamic), a man has more rights and therefore, at least in my case, it is savier and oficial to marry at the Embassy eventhough the procedure will take forever.

Maa salaama

طيب هاتلى واحدة سويدية اتجوز انا كمان وانا اقولك تعمل ايه بالظبط ؟

@Muhammad Motaweh - In english please on this Anglophone forum!

Thank you,
Aurélie

Hello,

Can anyone tell me from the start how to get married in Egypt?
I'm British and living in UK and my Partner is Egyptian still there.
Who do I contact? what do we need etc etc
after a failed visa application this is our next step.
Also is it possible to avoid the embassy and get married in  church in Cairo? we are both christian.

Any help is greatly appreciated

Regards:D

vkblue1986 wrote:

Hello,

Can anyone tell me from the start how to get married in Egypt?
I'm British and living in UK and my Partner is Egyptian still there.
Who do I contact? what do we need etc etc
after a failed visa application this is our next step.
Also is it possible to avoid the embassy and get married in  church in Cairo? we are both christian.

Any help is greatly appreciated

Regards:D

Read the topic. It has become a manual

You have to get married in Ministry of Justice .... You can have your ceremony in the church before OR after that, but the church cannot marry you (give you a document of marriage I mean). It's the same for Muslims, if one partner is foreign, they have to go to MoJ.

You need to get the embassy letter of approval. There is no escaping it

Hi

I am British and married my egyptian husband in Cairo 6 years ago. It is right you do have to go to the british embassy first then to the ministry of Justice afterwards for the marriage. We had to have a solicitor with us which i think made things go without any problems. From what I can gather you also need to have a medical now before you can marry, that did not apply when we married.

It took my husband 1 year to get the visa to join me in the UK so I would advise you to make sure you gather as much evidence of your relationship as possible before you apply for any visas if your husband wants to come to the UK.

I hope everything goes well for you.

Hi,

Thanks for your replies.
So where is the ministry of justice and how to contact?
Can I arrange things here in the UK before I go?
This is very new to me and I really don't understand it, I don't
want to travel all way to Cairo for nothing.

Kind Regards

Assalamualaykum to all!!!

CAN ANYONE HELP ME???I JUST WANT TO KNOW IF MARRIAGE IN THE PHILIPPINES UNDER SHARIA LAW IS RECOGNIZED IN EGYPT AND WHAT IS THE STEP? sukran!!

shehann wrote:

Assalamualaykum to all!!!

CAN ANYONE HELP ME???I JUST WANT TO KNOW IF MARRIAGE IN THE PHILIPPINES UNDER SHARIA LAW IS RECOGNIZED IN EGYPT AND WHAT IS THE STEP? sukran!!

Yes it is .... You need to notarize it from the Egyptian embassy in Philippines (and before that, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Philippines).

Really your an angel...hehehe!!!thanks,i have one more question,
this permit to marry certificate or certificate of legal capacity to marry for my fiance egyptian can take in egypt?or he will take it in your embassy in our country?and you have an idea how many days it will take?

shehann wrote:

Really your an angel...hehehe!!!thanks,i have one more question,
this permit to marry certificate or certificate of legal capacity to marry for my fiance egyptian can take in egypt?or he will take it in your embassy in our country?and you have an idea how many days it will take?

In the Egyptian embassy in Philippines and he should contact them to find out if he needs any documents beforehand.

Time and cost depends and is different from embassy to embassy, and according to the requirements of the host country (in your case, Philippines).

hello.

im married to egyptian but i want go to my country he didn't allow me to go home do i need his signature in the airport so i can go home?

thanks

tey181984 wrote:

hello.

im married to egyptian but i want go to my country he didn't allow me to go home do i need his signature in the airport so i can go home?

thanks

No ..... The need for husbands' consent for wife's travel has been abolished long ago ......

The Egyptian wrote:

For point #11, if the wife-to-be does not have any means to get such visa (must be non-touristic), the following workaround can be done:

1- Obtain embassy approval per point #4 above. stamp it per point #6.
2- Get an Urfi marriage (common-law marriage) contract at a lawyer's office, costs around 500 EGP, must be stamped by the lawyer's office stamp.
3- Prepare the following : two copies of husband's ID card, wife's passport, wife's current visa, wife's entry stamp, embassy's approval, Urfi contract.
4- Proceed to Tahrir Complex - Office of Immigration, apply for a 6 month non-touristic residence visa using above documents.
5- After one week, couple will be interviewed by the Immigration Investigative services at the same place in Tahrir Complex. After that the documents will be sent to National Security for a background check.
6- After ~2 weeks, once visa is approved you can get the visa and pay the fees, after which you can proceed to get legally married.

I did exactly like what is written here, but Office of Immigration said this can't be done

CartooniZer wrote:

The Egyptian wrote:

For point #11, if the wife-to-be does not have any means to get such visa (must be non-touristic), the following workaround can be done:

1- Obtain embassy approval per point #4 above. stamp it per point #6.
2- Get an Urfi marriage (common-law marriage) contract at a lawyer's office, costs around 500 EGP, must be stamped by the lawyer's office stamp.
3- Prepare the following : two copies of husband's ID card, wife's passport, wife's current visa, wife's entry stamp, embassy's approval, Urfi contract.
4- Proceed to Tahrir Complex - Office of Immigration, apply for a 6 month non-touristic residence visa using above documents.
5- After one week, couple will be interviewed by the Immigration Investigative services at the same place in Tahrir Complex. After that the documents will be sent to National Security for a background check.
6- After ~2 weeks, once visa is approved you can get the visa and pay the fees, after which you can proceed to get legally married.

I did exactly like what is written here, but Office of Immigration said this can't be done

What was their reason? and where is she from?

Hello The Egyptian
I've read the most of the above,very useful tips,and I read what you said about that ex USSR countries not be given residence stamp from Tahrir,and they should do the Urfi thing,my question is,what about the countries were in the USSR and now in EU European Union such as Lithuania ? I'm Egyptian and willing to get married from a Lithuanian woman.
Thanks in advance

SherifG wrote:

Hello The Egyptian
I've read the most of the above,very useful tips,and I read what you said about that ex USSR countries not be given residence stamp from Tahrir,and they should do the Urfi thing,my question is,what about the countries were in the USSR and now in EU European Union such as Lithuania ? I'm Egyptian and willing to get married from a Lithuanian woman.
Thanks in advance

Same applies to all ex-USSR ...... Including Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia ......etc.

The Egyptian wrote:

CartooniZer wrote:

The Egyptian wrote:

For point #11, if the wife-to-be does not have any means to get such visa (must be non-touristic), the following workaround can be done:

1- Obtain embassy approval per point #4 above. stamp it per point #6.
2- Get an Urfi marriage (common-law marriage) contract at a lawyer's office, costs around 500 EGP, must be stamped by the lawyer's office stamp.
3- Prepare the following : two copies of husband's ID card, wife's passport, wife's current visa, wife's entry stamp, embassy's approval, Urfi contract.
4- Proceed to Tahrir Complex - Office of Immigration, apply for a 6 month non-touristic residence visa using above documents.
5- After one week, couple will be interviewed by the Immigration Investigative services at the same place in Tahrir Complex. After that the documents will be sent to National Security for a background check.
6- After ~2 weeks, once visa is approved you can get the visa and pay the fees, after which you can proceed to get legally married.

I did exactly like what is written here, but Office of Immigration said this can't be done

What was their reason? and where is she from?

One lady told me that this is not allowed for Indians
And she told me to marry outside Egypt only.

CartooniZer wrote:

The Egyptian wrote:

CartooniZer wrote:

I did exactly like what is written here, but Office of Immigration said this can't be done

What was their reason? and where is she from?

One lady told me that this is not allowed for Indians
And she told me to marry outside Egypt only.

What the H !!

Are you sure? try to contact a more senior officer in Immigration.


Anyways if this does not work, and you do not wish to marry outside Egypt, you have an alternative route.

Using the lawyer who got you the Urfi contract, you both will  make a proxy for him to legalize your Urfi marriage.

He will simply prepare for an appointment in court, where both of you will testify in front of the judge that you have both entered willingly into marriage.

Afterwards the court verdict will serve as your legal marriage certificate, and you can use it to apply for 5-year residence for your wife and/or citizenship.

Hi everyone! Thanks for all the great info that was posted! I'm supposed to get married next June and so ive been asking around for all the requirements and so on. i just have a quick question: what does the medical test consist of for females?
I heard from a friend that she had to undergo a virginity test. Is that really a requirement? If so, what happens if its negative? Ur not allowed to get married? Sounds strange to me. Does anyone know any details?
Thanks,
Nadine

Nafine87 wrote:

Hi everyone! Thanks for all the great info that was posted! I'm supposed to get married next June and so ive been asking around for all the requirements and so on. i just have a quick question: what does the medical test consist of for females?
I heard from a friend that she had to undergo a virginity test. Is that really a requirement? If so, what happens if its negative? Ur not allowed to get married? Sounds strange to me. Does anyone know any details?
Thanks,
Nadine

Only normal blood test.

Nafine87 wrote:

Hi everyone! Thanks for all the great info that was posted! I'm supposed to get married next June and so ive been asking around for all the requirements and so on. i just have a quick question: what does the medical test consist of for females?
I heard from a friend that she had to undergo a virginity test. Is that really a requirement? If so, what happens if its negative? Ur not allowed to get married? Sounds strange to me. Does anyone know any details?
Thanks,
Nadine

Complete BS

CartooniZer wrote:

Nafine87 wrote:

Hi everyone! Thanks for all the great info that was posted! I'm supposed to get married next June and so ive been asking around for all the requirements and so on. i just have a quick question: what does the medical test consist of for females?
I heard from a friend that she had to undergo a virginity test. Is that really a requirement? If so, what happens if its negative? Ur not allowed to get married? Sounds strange to me. Does anyone know any details?
Thanks,
Nadine

Only normal blood test.

In my case in Monira Public Hospital all we had to do was sign and give fingerprints LOL ...... Maybe they test to see if u can write and give ur fingerprint LOL

Can anyone please clarify the age restrictions pertaining to marriage between an Egyptian and non-Egyptian as there are more than 25 years between myself and my Egyptian fiancée and I have been told this will cause a problem

kittywhistle wrote:

Can anyone please clarify the age restrictions pertaining to marriage between an Egyptian and non-Egyptian as there are more than 25 years between myself and my Egyptian fiancée and I have been told this will cause a problem

In such case you will need an approval from the Office of Minister of Justice. I have no idea re the process and procedure of obtaining such approval, but I am sure it is required, I have seen myself couples being asked to get it first and come back later, and I have seen one couple who got it (they were getting married in the same room we were)

@kittywhistle: Sorry to say it, but I think he is after your money, as more Egyptians do in the Red Sea or Luxor area. Please read more about it before you decide to marry him! Remember: if he is a muslim, he can (officially) marry FOUR women, unofficially (orfi) as many as he wants.