Getting Married in Norway

Are you planning to have wedding in Norway and a Filipino/a engaged to a Norwegian? If you answered yes, this blog entry is for you.

A destination wedding is surely a nice way to celebrate your special day. Thomas and I had to choose among three locations; Philippines(where I’m from), Thailand(where I reside during the planning), or Norway(where Thomas is from). Norway had a fairly easy process compared to the other two countries (given our situation).

Choosing a wedding ceremony

You can choose a type of wedding that best suits you. We opted for a civil/court ceremony because: 1, it does not require a big budget, and 2, preparations are at a very minimum. We are such a laid back type of couple — we don’t want hassles in life. LOL. You can read our wedding preps here.

If you have the correct documents and follow the right procedure, it will be an easy feat!

I’m making this post so that you won’t get intimidated so much with the process. Getting married with your Norwegian/Scandinavian fiance should be fun and exciting!

Note: Make sure that you and your fiance are really ready in tying the knot and are not being forced to marry! You should at least be 24 years old. These things have to be kept in mind because this can affect the result of the decision made by UDI. 

Guidelines:

Ensure that you have a valid visa (tourist, fiance, student, etc.)

5 Steps to follow:

For filipinos getting married in Norway

1. Pick a date for your wedding day. This is important because you will need to allow some time for gathering some government issued documents before you can apply for a marriage license (prøvingsattest via Skatteetaten).
2. For you who is a Filipino citizen, request for CENOMAR (Certificate of no Marriage) and Birth Certificate issued by NSO.  (I think NSO allows immediate family members to request for you without a SPA but just try to be ready with one in case they ask for it)
3. Authenticate CENOMAR and Birth Certificate (Red Ribboned)  – I was living in Bangkok when I requested for this. I needed to use a Special Power of Attorney so that my family in the Philippines can act on my behalf. My mom fixed this for me.

It takes 4 working days for regular processing and 1 working day if you want to expedite it. Note: CENOMAR is only valid for 6 months

4. Fill in declaration forms (Egenerklæring and Forlovererklæring) – The first one is the declaration for verification of compliance with the conditions of marriage. Each of you should fill in this form (make sure that the place and date of wedding are matching with your fiance). The second form is for the statement of the sponsor (statement by the sponsor declaring that he or she knows the said party) both parties should have at least one sponsor/s (witnesses)

4.1. If you’re marrying a Norwegian he/she can fix the Certificate of no Impediment online via skateetaten (so easy for them right?)

5.  Apply for Marriage License issued by Skatteetaten (Tax Office) – When you have the above documents, you can start to book an appointment at the tax office and submit all documents

Note: it is best to have legal documents photocopied since the tax office will collect these and hand over back the original copies.

I sent these documents to my fiance in Norway:

 – photocopy of valid visa and passport

 – authenticated birth certificate and CENOMAR

 – signed self declaration form along with declaration from sponsor (the witness who signed does not need to be present on the actual wedding day).

Let your fiance help you

My fiance was the one who handled everything that needs to be processed from Norway (Skateetaten). He arrived at the appointment in the tax office with the complete set of documents along with his declaration forms and just a valid identification (he is Norwegian after all so it’s easier)

Processing time could take around 2-4 weeks. Once you receive your marriage license, you are good to go! You can book at your chosen courthouse or specific wedding location for your big day. You just need submit the marriage license and follow the certain procedure required by your chosen place.

End notes

The civil ceremony can be in English or Norwegian. You just need to inform the marriage conductor on how you want it to be. Your wish is their command; just tell them however you like it to be i.e. exchanging rings, saying your own vows, etc. You can invite over some witnesses too if you wish. But they only require one to two witness/es.

That’s it! Enjoy your wedding day. I hope you find this helpful if you wish to get married in Norway with your Norwegian/Scandinavian fiance.

Let me know if you have questions and I will try to answer them.