For Denmark, what counts is the country that issued a document, not your nationality. Documents from the EU, the EEA, Switzerland, almost all of Europe and from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Türkiye need neither an apostille nor legalisation. For all others it is an apostille, legalisation or, for nine countries, a case-by-case decision. As of 3 November 2026.
Which documents does this list apply to?
The list concerns the documents you file with your application for the marriage approval (Danish: prøvelsesattest) at Familieretshuset, the Danish Agency of Family Law. Typically these are:
- the divorce decree if one of you was married before, or the death certificate of the former spouse,
- the birth certificates of joint children,
- proof of residence if you live together outside Denmark,
- a certificate of marital status, if Familieretshuset asks for one in your case.
Your passport needs no apostille: Familieretshuset asks for good colour photos of all pages. Which documents your case needs overall is shown in our guide Documents for your wedding in Denmark.
This list is not about your Danish marriage certificate, which you present at home after the wedding. For Germany and Austria it needs no apostille. When it does need one and who issues it is explained in our guide Apostille on the Danish marriage certificate.
What is an apostille, and what is legalisation?
Both confirm that the signature and stamp on a foreign document are genuine. Neither confirms that its content is correct.
| Apostille | Legalisation | |
|---|---|---|
| When? | The issuing country has joined the Hague Apostille Convention of 5 October 1961, and Denmark has not objected to its accession | The issuing country has not joined the Convention |
| Who issues it? | A designated authority in the issuing country, often the foreign ministry | First the foreign ministry of the issuing country, then the competent Danish embassy or consulate |
| Steps | one, in the issuing country | two, at two authorities |
The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Copenhagen does not legalise documents from other countries; the issuing country is always responsible. How legalisation works in a given country is explained by the Danish embassy responsible for that country (Udenrigsministeriet: Legalisation of foreign documents).
Familieretshuset's rule in four groups
Familieretshuset groups the issuing countries like this (Krav til dokumentation, checked on 3 November 2026). The fourth group comes from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs:
- No apostille, no legalisation: the EU, the EEA, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the other countries of the European continent with 13 exceptions, plus the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Türkiye.
- Apostille: all other countries that have joined the Apostille Convention, including the 13 European exceptions.
- Legalisation: countries that have not joined the Convention.
- Case by case: nine countries from which no Danish mission can legalise documents, including Pakistan and Bangladesh, whose accession Denmark objected to.
We use the same grouping on our page Getting married in Denmark by country of origin, together with the visa rules for each nationality. We checked accessions and objections on 3 November 2026 against the treaty register of the Netherlands, which administers the Convention as depositary.
Group 1: no apostille and no legalisation
Familieretshuset normally accepts documents from these 45 countries without proof of authenticity:
| Region | Countries |
|---|---|
| EU, EEA and Switzerland | Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland |
| Rest of Europe | Andorra, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, San Marino, Serbia, United Kingdom, Vatican City |
| Outside Europe | Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Türkiye, United States |
For couples from Germany, Austria or Switzerland this means: your own documents usually need neither an apostille nor legalisation for Denmark, and documents issued in German need no translation either. Familieretshuset says "normally"; in an individual case it can ask for more. If your partner is from Türkiye or the US, the details are in our guides Partner from Türkiye and Partner from the US.
Group 2: apostille needed
From these 83 countries and territories, every document you file needs an apostille from the issuing country:
| Region | Countries and territories |
|---|---|
| Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (the 13 exceptions) | Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan |
| Asia and the Pacific | Brunei, China, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Macao, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Palau, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, South Korea, Tonga, Vanuatu, Vietnam |
| Middle East and North Africa | Algeria, Bahrain, Israel, Morocco, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | Botswana, Burundi, Cape Verde, Eswatini, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa |
| Americas and the Caribbean | Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela |
Hong Kong and Macao issue their own apostilles. Some of these countries have their own guide, for example Partner from Ukraine, from the Philippines or from India.
New members: accessions since 2019
These countries have joined the Convention since 2019. The date is the day it entered into force for the country, according to the treaty register:
| Country | In force since | What it means for Denmark |
|---|---|---|
| Thailand | 28 Feb 2027 (announced) | legalisation until then, apostille afterwards, unless Denmark objects |
| Vietnam | 11 Sep 2026 | apostille instead of legalisation; the practice is new, so ask Familieretshuset to confirm it briefly |
| Algeria | 9 Jul 2026 | apostille instead of legalisation |
| Bangladesh | 30 Mar 2025 | Denmark objected: case by case (group 4) |
| Rwanda | 5 Jun 2024 | apostille |
| Canada | 11 Jan 2024 | for Denmark still neither apostille nor legalisation |
| China | 7 Nov 2023 | apostille instead of legalisation |
| Senegal | 23 Mar 2023 | apostille |
| Pakistan | 9 Mar 2023 | Denmark objected: case by case (group 4) |
| Saudi Arabia | 7 Dec 2022 | apostille |
| Indonesia | 4 Jun 2022 | apostille |
| Singapore | 16 Sep 2021 | apostille |
| Jamaica | 3 Jul 2021 | apostille |
| Palau | 23 Jun 2020 | apostille |
| Philippines | 14 May 2019 | apostille |
| Guyana | 18 Apr 2019 | apostille |
A word of caution about German lists: Germany and Austria have objected to some accessions, for example those of Vietnam and Algeria. For documents you file with Familieretshuset, that does not matter. Only a Danish objection counts, and Denmark has so far objected only to Pakistan and Bangladesh (objections in the treaty register). More on the new rules is in our guides Partner from Vietnam and Partner from Morocco, Tunisia or Algeria.
Group 3: legalisation needed
These 62 countries and territories have not joined the Convention. Their documents must be legalised:
| Region | Countries and territories |
|---|---|
| Asia and the Pacific | Bhutan, Cambodia, Kiribati, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Micronesia, Myanmar (Burma), Nauru, Nepal, North Korea, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu |
| Middle East and North Africa | Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Syria, United Arab Emirates |
| Africa | Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Kinshasa), Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
| Americas and the Caribbean | Cuba, Haiti |
Thailand is listed here until the Convention enters into force there on 28 February 2027. From then on, a Thai apostille is enough, provided Denmark does not object to the accession before then (more in our guide Partner from Thailand). This is how legalisation works:
- Obtain the document from the competent office in the issuing country.
- Have it certified by the foreign ministry of the issuing country.
- Have it legalised by the Danish embassy or consulate responsible for that country. The mission explains the procedure and fees.
- Have the document, including all stamps, translated if it is not in Danish, English or German.
Group 4: Familieretshuset decides case by case
According to the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, no Danish mission can legalise documents from nine countries. Whether Familieretshuset accepts a document from these countries is decided case by case:
| Country | Reason |
|---|---|
| Pakistan | joined the Convention in 2023; Denmark objected on 2 January 2023, so a Pakistani apostille is not valid in Denmark |
| Bangladesh | joined in 2025; Denmark objected on 24 January 2025, so an apostille from Bangladesh is not valid in Denmark |
| Afghanistan, Cameroon, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, South Sudan, Yemen | no Danish mission can legalise documents from these countries |
Allow more time for these countries. What is typical for Pakistani documents is described in our guide Partner from Pakistan. If documents are missing altogether, for example after fleeing a country, see our guide Getting married with refugee status.
Translation: the apostille must be translated too
Documents not issued in Danish, English or German must be translated into one of these three languages by an authorised translator. According to Familieretshuset, this explicitly includes the apostille; on legalised documents, all stamps must be translated as well. The translation must be finished before you submit the application.
Who may translate and what it costs is covered in our guide Certified translations for the wedding. How to obtain an apostille step by step is shown in our apostille guide.
The issuing country counts, not your nationality
The group depends on the country that issued the document. Three examples:
- A Vietnamese woman was divorced in Germany: the German divorce decree needs no apostille.
- A German man was divorced in Thailand: the Thai decree needs legalisation until 27 February 2027, and most likely an apostille after that.
- Your joint child was born in the US: the American birth certificate needs no apostille.
If your documents come from several countries, each document follows the rule of its issuing country. What your case needs exactly is shown by our free eligibility check; in the Complete package we check every document before it is filed (prices).
As of 3 November 2026. New accessions to the Convention only apply from their entry into force, and Denmark can object within six months of an accession. We record changes in our overview Getting married in Denmark in 2026: what has changed.
