Marriage and civil partnership
Fees
If you want to get married or enter into a civil partnership abroad, you'll need to meet all the legal requirements of the country in question.
Making an application
Online questionnaire
To apply for a Certificate of Freedom to Marry, you must complete an online questionnaire about yourself and your upcoming marriage or civil partnership.
Statutory declaration
Based on this questionnaire, you’ll be presented with one or more statutory declarations to complete and a checklist of supporting documentation you'll need to submit with your application.
You need to:
- Print and sign your questionnaire.
- Print out a copy of each statutory declaration.
- Print out your checklist.
- Complete the declarations and have them witnessed.
- Post them to us with your supporting documentation, signed questionnaire and fee.
- Print off or save each form right after your online questionnaire, as you won't be able to retrieve them later.
When to apply
Submit your application a minimum of four months before the date of your marriage or civil partnership.
Your witnessed statutory declaration(s) cannot be dated more than six months before the date of your marriage.
Your application is not complete until we get hard copies of your questionnaire, statutory declaration(s), and all supporting documentation.
Supporting documents
Your checklist will tell you exactly what supporting documentation you'll need for your application, which may include:
- Your original long-form birth certificate
- A court order, if you are under 18 years
- Death certificate of your previous spouse, if widowed
- Petition and final decree of your divorce, if divorced
- A photocopy of your current Irish passport
- Your original naturalisation certification, if naturalised
Translating your documents
You'll need to submit certified translations of any of these documents, if the originals are in a language other than English or Irish.
Getting replacement documents
We need original documents (except for the photocopy of your passport) to process your application.
If you don't have the original certificates, you must get replacements from the General Register Office which issued your certificate.
General Register Office (GRO) Ireland
Getting your documents back
We will return all your original documents to you after we inspect them.
Remember...
If you haven't included all the necessary documents, your application will be returned to you.
Witnessing your application
Who can be a witness?
- A notary public
- A diplomat at the Embassy of Ireland or an Irish Honorary Consul
Your witness must:
- Know you personally
- Know a third party personally who can identify you
- Be able to verify your identity through your official documents (e.g. a passport)
- Provide a business contact number, address, and stamp
Your witness needs to:
- Witness you completing and signing your Statutory Declaration(s)
- Complete and sign the relevant part of your Statutory Declaration(s)
Remember...
It's against the law to make a Statutory Declaration that you know is false or misleading in any way.
Fees
The following fees apply for applications submitted to the Embassy of Ireland in South Africa:
Applications received more then 28 days before intended date of marriage: €60
Applications received 28 days or less before intended date of marriage: €120
The relevant fee will be deducted during the online application process.
Apply now
We strongly encourage you to gather all the required documents prior to completing the online form – incomplete applications will not be accepted.
Send your completed application to:
Embassy of Ireland,
2nd Floor, Building A,
OMK House,
238 Florence Ribeiro Avenue,
Nieuw Muckleneuk,
Pretoria,
South Africa, 0181