Certified translation › Marriage certificate
Marriage certificate translation is billed at £45 per document and certified by a sworn, court-authorised German translator. The Standesamt (Germany), Standesamt/MA 35 (Austria) or Zivilstandsamt/Migrationsamt (Switzerland) accepts it with a signed certification statement; a multilingual extract under EU Convention 2016/1191 can sometimes replace it. Any apostille comes from the authority in the marriage country, not from us — this guide covers the facts. Fixed price includes certification and shipping.
Court-authorised (sworn) translators · recognised by German registry offices · binding fixed price, from £0.75 per standard line
A foreign marriage certificate needs a certified (Germany, Austria) or notarised (Switzerland) translation whenever a registry or immigration authority has to rely on it — for a name change, a residence permit based on the marriage, or naturalisation. Germany, Austria and Switzerland each recognise a different kind of certification and a different competent authority — see the comparison below before you order.
The translation has to come from a court-authorised (sworn) translator — in German an ermächtigter Übersetzer, authorised under Section 142 (3) ZPO — who adds a stamp, signature and certification note. Your own translation, or one without certification, is not accepted. termbase produces these certified translations into German; the exact list is set by your Standesamt, and we translate whatever they require.
UK marriage certificates come from three separate registers: the GRO for England & Wales, National Records of Scotland for a Scottish marriage, and GRO Northern Ireland for Belfast. The UK also has no state-sworn translator system — a "certified translation" produced there under a CIOL, ITI or ATC member's own statement of accuracy is self-certification, not a court appointment, and a German Standesamt does not accept it in place of a translation from an ermächtigter Übersetzer.
Step by step
Marrying in Germany is document-heavy but predictable. These are the stages, written as the questions people actually ask.
You register the marriage (Anmeldung der Eheschließung) at the Standesamt of your place of residence. They give you a document list based on your nationality, marital history and where your papers were issued — so the exact list is individual. Ask for it in writing first; it drives everything else.
Often yes. Foreign public documents may need an apostille or legalisation to be recognised in Germany. Where one is needed, obtain it in the issuing country first, because the apostille is stamped on the original and is itself translated as part of the document.
Only a court-authorised (sworn) translator may produce the certified German translation the Standesamt accepts. The translation carries a certification note confirming completeness and accuracy, and names in it are matched exactly to your passport spelling.
Under § 1309 BGB most foreigners must present an Ehefähigkeitszeugnis from their home authority; it is valid six months. If your country does not issue one, the President of the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht) can grant an exemption — and will usually want the same underlying documents translated.
You hand the originals (with apostille where required) plus the certified translations to the Standesamt at your appointment. Because certificates and the certificate of no impediment expire, translations are best timed close to the date. We plan delivery around your appointment.
A typical list for a foreigner marrying in Germany looks like this. Every item not in German needs a certified translation; each links to the service that handles it.
| Document | Why the Standesamt wants it | Certified translation |
|---|---|---|
| Birth certificate | Confirms identity, parentage and date of birth for the marriage register. | Certified translation if not in German — nearly always required. |
| Certificate of no impediment (Ehefähigkeitszeugnis) / single-status certificate | Proves you are legally free to marry under your home-country law (§ 1309 BGB). | Certified translation required; valid six months from issue. |
| Passport / national ID | Establishes identity and the exact name spelling used everywhere else. | Usually shown in the original; a certified translation if the authority requests it. |
| Divorce decree / dissolution of a prior marriage | Shows an earlier marriage was legally ended (if applicable). | Certified legal translation — court wording matters. |
| Death certificate of a former spouse | Proves widowhood where a prior marriage ended by death. | Certified translation if not in German. |
| Registration / residence certificate (Meldebescheinigung) | Fixes which registry office is competent for you. | German original if issued here; foreign proof translated on request. |
| Germany | Austria | Switzerland | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Competent authority | Standesamt (registry office); Ausländerbehörde for a residence title | Standesamt; Niederlassungsbehörde or, in Vienna, MA 35; citizenship authority | Zivilstandsamt (civil registry office); cantonal Migrationsamt; naturalisation office |
| Certified by | Court-authorised translator (ermächtigter Übersetzer), stamp, signature and certification note | Court-sworn translator (allgemein beeideter und gerichtlich zertifizierter Dolmetscher), round court seal (Rundsiegel) | A translator signs to certify accuracy; a Swiss notary (Notariat) then certifies that signature — no state-sworn system |
| Legal basis | § 142 (3) ZPO | § 190 (1) AußStrG, entered in the register at a Landesgericht under § 14 SDG | Cantonal notarial practice (Fedlex) — no single federal statute for the certification itself |
| Apostille | Issued by the competent German authority on request, for use abroad | Issued by the Amt der Landesregierung, the president of the Landesgericht, or the BMEIA, depending on document type | Issued by the cantonal Staatskanzlei of the canton where the notarisation took place |
termbase issues no apostilles itself; the competent authority in the country of origin does. We advise which of your documents need one.
Names must read identically across every document — passport, birth certificate and certificate of no impediment. A transliteration guessed by sound, or a middle name dropped in one translation, is the most common reason a file is sent back. We romanise and match names to your passport so the set is consistent.
Many registry offices require foreign public documents to carry an apostille (for states in the Hague Apostille Convention) or, for other countries, full legalisation. That confirms the foreign document itself is genuine — it is a different step from translating it.
The apostille is issued by the competent authority in the country that issued the document, not by a translation agency: termbase does not issue apostilles. Get the apostille placed on the original first; we then translate the document and the apostille together, so the Standesamt receives one consistent, certified set. If you are unsure whether your country needs an apostille or legalisation, ask the Standesamt — and we will sequence the work accordingly.
United Kingdom
A UK marriage certificate comes from the same three-way split as a birth certificate: the General Register Office (GRO) for England and Wales, National Records of Scotland for a Scottish marriage, or GRO Northern Ireland. Order from the register that recorded the marriage. For England and Wales, gov.uk gives “£12.50” for the standard certificate and “£38.50” for the priority service.
The UK also has no state system for authorising translators. A translation produced in Britain under a professional body's own statement of accuracy is self-certification, not a court appointment — which is why a German Standesamt asks instead for a translation from an ermächtigter Übersetzer authorised under the law of a German federal state (Land); under Section 142 (3) ZPO such a translation counts as correct and complete once the translator certifies it, an Austrian one for a translator sworn under § 14 SDG, and a Swiss office for a notarially certified translation.
Since Brexit, Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 — which lets civil-status documents move between EU member states without an apostille — no longer covers UK documents for Germany or Austria. For Switzerland this is not a Brexit change at all: Switzerland was never inside that EU exemption. Where the receiving office does want the original authenticated, the UK body that issues the apostille is the FCDO Legalisation Office. gov.uk gives the standard service as “£45, plus courier or postage costs” and “usually up to 25 working days, plus courier or postage time”. termbase issues no apostilles — we tell you whether you need one and translate the document and the apostille together once you have both.
We handle marriage paperwork from German and English into German. The most frequent source documents come from:
Documents in non-Latin scripts (Arabic, Cyrillic, Chinese, Amharic and others) need rule-based romanisation of names, matched to your passport — the point where a native-speaker specialist earns their place. See certified German ⇄ English translation →.
Common pitfalls
None of these is a spelling slip. Each surfaces at the Standesamt counter, and each is avoidable.
| Pitfall | Why it goes wrong | How termbase solves it |
|---|---|---|
| Name spelled differently across documents | Transliteration by sound produces one spelling on the birth certificate, another on the certificate of no impediment — the file is queried. | Names are romanised by the rules and matched to the exact passport spelling across the whole set. |
| Non-certified translation | A translation done by yourself or an uncertified service is refused; the note and stamp are missing. | A court-authorised translator issues a certified translation with certification note under Section 142 (3) ZPO. |
| Certificate of no impediment out of date | The Ehefähigkeitszeugnis is valid only six months; translating it too early wastes the window. | We time the translation to your appointment and flag the six-month limit up front. |
| Apostille forgotten or done after translating | If the apostille is added after translation, the apostille itself is untranslated — and rejected. | We advise apostille first, then translate document and apostille together as one set. |
| Divorce decree translated loosely | Legal wording (dissolution, finality, effective date) mistranslated can leave your marital status unclear. | A legal specialist renders the decree so finality and dates are unambiguous. |
| UK self-certified translation submitted instead | A translation carrying a CIOL, ITI or ATC member's own statement of accuracy is presented — it is UK self-certification, not a court appointment, and the Standesamt does not accept it. | We produce the certified translation from a German court-authorised translator directly, so nothing has to be redone. |
Wedding dates are booked; a returned document can cost weeks and, for some couples, a visa or residence deadline. Getting the set right the first time is the whole point of a certified professional translation.
The difference shows not in the text, but at the registry-office counter.
Certified, name-consistent, apostille-aware — so your set is accepted the first time.
Process with termbase
1 · Upload
2 · Fixed price
3 · Certified + shipping
We review the documents, language and volume and name a binding fixed price. Standard certificates — a birth certificate or certificate of no impediment — are usually a flat fee per document; longer documents are priced per standard line, certification included.
| Certified translation by a court-authorised translator | ✓included |
| Names romanised & matched to your passport | ✓included |
| Certification note recognised by the Standesamt | ✓included |
| Advance PDF & postal delivery of the original | ✓included |
| Specialist revision & final check | ✓included |
Standard certificates are billed at a flat fee per document; longer texts from £0.75 per standard line (55 characters incl. spaces). We name the exact amount after a brief review. How the price is made up →
Sources & legal basis
Every claim above rests on a primary German-authority or legal source. These are the ones that matter for marrying in Germany with foreign documents.
FAQ
I had already paid for a certified translation at home, notary's seal and all. The registrar did not have to accept it, and did not. termbase explained the difference — a translator authorised in Germany is accepted as routine, anything else is left to the office's discretion — and redid the set in the form that ends the discussion.
Maricel Bautista Reyes · intensive-care nurse, Cebu (Philippines) · marriage certificate → registry office
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