Greece is one of the most popular wedding destinations for couples from the US, Canada, Australia, the UK and the rest of Europe. For a civil wedding, the Greek municipality that performs the ceremony must receive your documents in a form it can accept – usually with an Apostille and a certified Greek translation.
Documents municipalities usually ask for
Requirements differ from municipality to municipality and depend on whether you live in Greece or are visiting. Commonly requested documents include:
- a valid passport for each partner,
- a recent birth certificate,
- a document proving you are free to marry – depending on your country, a marriage licence or a certificate of no impediment,
- where applicable, a divorce decree or death certificate of a former spouse,
- for residents of Greece, a residence permit and sometimes a public announcement of the marriage.
Apostille first, translation second
Public documents from countries that are party to the Hague Convention (for example the US, Canada, Australia and the UK) usually need an Apostille from the authority of the country that issued them. The Apostille is then translated together with the document. If your country is not part of the Hague Convention, the document is normally legalised through the Greek consulate instead.
Who can translate the documents?
Greek municipalities generally accept translations made by the translation service of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by a Greek consular authority, by a Greek lawyer who certifies the translation, or by graduates of the Ionian University translation department. Names must usually appear in both Greek and Latin characters, exactly as in your passport.
Practical tips
- Contact the town hall where you want to marry several months in advance and ask for its current list of documents.
- Check how recent the documents must be – some must be issued within a few months before the wedding.
- Make sure the spelling of names is identical across all documents.
- After the ceremony, the marriage must be registered with the Greek civil registry, and you may need a translated, apostilled Greek marriage certificate for your home country.
How Translatable can help
We translate birth certificates, marriage licences, certificates of no impediment, divorce decrees and other civil documents from English and German into Greek, with lawyer certification. After the wedding, we can also translate your Greek marriage certificate into English or German for use back home.
This guide is general information. Each municipality sets its own requirements – please confirm them with the town hall before ordering translations.
