If your partner from the Philippines is single and you have no children together, Familieretshuset usually does not need a single Philippine document for your wedding in Denmark: the passport, proof of legal stay and the online application are enough. It gets more involved if there was a previous marriage, and after the wedding, when you report the marriage to the Philippines and apply for family reunification.
This guide is for couples who live in Germany, Austria or Switzerland, or want to move there, where one partner is a Philippine citizen. The general rules for every nationality are on our page rules by country of origin. Here we cover what only applies to the Philippines: PSA documents, the apostille from the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, the visa, previous marriages and the Report of Marriage. We checked everything on the official pages on 3 November 2026.
Which documents does Familieretshuset need from your Filipino partner?
Familieretshuset, the Danish Agency of Family Law, checks before the wedding that you are both free to marry and then issues the approval, the prøvelsesattest (more in our guide Prøvelsesattest). The same rules apply to your Filipino partner as to every partner from outside the EU:
| Situation | What Familieretshuset requires |
|---|---|
| Always | Passport as colour scans of all pages; issued within the last 10 years, valid for at least 3 months beyond the stay, with 2 blank pages |
| Always | Proof of legal stay on the wedding day: a Schengen visa with a printout of the EES calculator and flight tickets, or a residence permit from a Schengen country |
| Single | No certificate: the partner confirms their civil status in the application by signing, under criminal liability. You only need a CENOMAR if Familieretshuset asks for one. |
| Marriage declared void or annulled in the Philippines | Proof that the marriage has ended: the court decision with a Certificate of Finality; we also recommend the PSA marriage certificate annotated with the decision |
| Divorced abroad | Divorce decree with proof that it is final, from the country of the divorce |
| Widowed | Death certificate of the former spouse; if it does not show the marriage, the marriage certificate as well |
| Children together | Their birth certificates, as PSA certificates if born in the Philippines |
| You live together outside Denmark | Proof of address, no older than 4 months, for example the German registration certificate (Meldebescheinigung) |
Every Philippine document you submit needs an apostille. On top of that come dated photos of you together and chat histories, which the application form asks for when a partner is from outside the EU; how Familieretshuset assesses a relationship is explained in our guide proof of relationship. The full list for all couples is in our guide Documents for the wedding in Denmark. You pay the fee of DKK 2,100 (about €281) with the application; it is not refunded.
You do not need a certificate of no impediment: the Philippine Embassy in Copenhagen only issues its Legal Capacity to Contract Marriage (LCCM) to Filipinos living in Denmark, and according to the embassy, Danish authorities do not require it for the wedding.
PSA documents: birth certificate, CENOMAR and Advisory on Marriages
Philippine civil registry documents are issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). Three of them matter to you:
- PSA birth certificate (Certificate of Live Birth): Familieretshuset only asks for it for children you have together, not for the two of you. For family reunification in Germany, however, the German Embassy in Manila requires the Filipino partner's birth certificate, legalised.
- CENOMAR (Certificate of No Marriage Record, CRS Form No. 4): the PSA certifies that no marriage of the person is recorded in its register.
- Advisory on Marriages (CRS Form No. 5): the PSA issues this instead of the CENOMAR when a marriage is recorded. It lists the recorded marriages.
Do not order the CENOMAR in advance just in case. Familieretshuset only asks for proof of civil status in individual cases (more in our guide certificate of marital status), and the German Embassy in Manila wants it no more than six months old for the visa, counted up to the appointment at the embassy.
DFA apostille: yes for Denmark, legalisation for Germany
The Philippines has been a party to the Hague Apostille Convention since 14 May 2019. Since then the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) issues an apostille. According to the Philippine Embassy in Copenhagen, the old red ribbon authentication and legalisation by the Danish Embassy in Manila are no longer needed for Denmark. For documents from countries that are party to the Convention, Familieretshuset requires exactly this apostille. How the process works in general is shown in our apostille guide, and which countries need an apostille or legalisation in our country list 2026.
New since 16 March 2026: PSA documents issued as an electronic PSA eCertificate only get an electronic apostille (e-Apostille); the DFA no longer issues paper apostilles for them. Every e-Apostille can be verified in the DFA's e-Register. Familieretshuset's pages do not say whether it accepts e-Apostilles; if in doubt, ask before you apply.
You usually do not need a translation. PSA documents and the apostille are in English, and Familieretshuset accepts Danish, English and German. Only a document in Filipino or another language must be translated into Danish, English or German by an authorised translator, including the apostille (see certified translation).
German authorities are a different matter: Germany objected to the Philippines joining the Convention, so a Philippine apostille has no effect there. Philippine documents for Germany first get a DFA Authentication Certificate and are then legalised by the German Embassy in Manila, for 36 euros per document according to the embassy. It cannot legalise e-Apostilles or electronic documents (embassy page as of September 2025). If you need the same document for both countries, for example the birth certificate of a child you have together, plan for two copies. Austria has withdrawn its objection, so the apostille has applied between Austria and the Philippines since 1 June 2023. In Switzerland, ask the competent authority which form it requires.
Does your partner need a visa for Denmark?
Yes, Philippine citizens need a Schengen visa for Denmark unless they already hold a residence permit from a Schengen country. Depending on where your partner lives:
- Your partner lives in the Philippines: they apply for a Schengen visa (type C) for Denmark. The Danish Embassy in Manila is responsible; applications are submitted at VFS Global in Manila (Makati) and Cebu, see the Danish embassy's visa page. State the wedding honestly as the purpose of travel.
- Your partner lives in Germany, Austria or Switzerland with a residence permit, for example as a nurse: the valid residence permit is enough as proof, and no visa is needed.
- Your partner lives in another country: they apply for the visa at the office responsible for Danish visas there.
The order matters: for partners who need a visa, Familieretshuset wants the visa sticker with the application, together with the printout of the EES calculator for the planned stay. First the visa, then the application. Since 10 April 2026 there are no more entry stamps; after entry, a new EES printout and your flight tickets or boarding passes prove your legal stay (see EES proof). The approval is valid for no more than four months and ends earlier if the visa expires earlier. So the wedding has to fall within the visa's validity; more in our guide Getting married on a Schengen visa.
Do not plan the visa too tightly. Familieretshuset usually decides complete applications within 5 working days. If it asks for more documents, the application joins a queue: as of 3 November 2026 it is working on applications from August 2026 after such requests (see requests for documents and rejection). On top of that comes the wait for a wedding date, which depends on the municipality.
Was your partner married before? Annulment and foreign divorce
According to the Supreme Court of the Philippines, Philippine law does not provide for divorce, so Philippine courts cannot grant one. And the marriage of two Filipinos cannot be dissolved even by a divorce obtained abroad (Republic v. Manalo, 2018). Depending on the previous marriage, there are two routes:
- Previous marriage to a Filipino or Filipina: a Philippine court must declare the marriage void (declaration of nullity) or annul it (annulment). The proof is the decision with a Certificate of Finality and the PSA marriage certificate annotated with the decision; this is also what the German Embassy in Manila asks for.
- Previous marriage to a foreigner, divorced abroad: under Article 26, paragraph 2 of the Family Code, the Filipino partner may then remarry too. In the Philippines this only takes effect once a Philippine court (Regional Trial Court) recognises the foreign divorce (Judicial Recognition of Foreign Divorce). According to the Supreme Court, this also applies if the Filipino partner filed for the divorce themselves.
What does this mean for Familieretshuset? For the Danish approval you submit the divorce decree with proof that it is final, from the country where you divorced; a German decree needs no apostille. Whether Familieretshuset also wants to see the Philippine recognition is its decision in each case; its pages say nothing about it. You will need the recognition after the wedding in any case: the German Embassy in Manila requires the Philippine court order recognising the foreign divorce for the spouse visa, and the Philippine embassy requires the court decision or the annotated PSA marriage certificate for the Report of Marriage.
If the previous marriage was dissolved outside the EU, Germany often also requires recognition of the divorce under § 107 FamFG. This and the other rules for divorced partners are explained in our guide Second wedding after a divorce. Widowed partners submit the PSA death certificate of the former spouse and the certificate of the previous marriage.
After the wedding: Report of Marriage at the embassy in Copenhagen
Right after the ceremony you receive two international marriage certificates in five languages, including English. Your marriage is not yet registered in the Philippines, though. Marriages of Philippine citizens abroad are reported with a Report of Marriage to the Philippine post responsible for the place of the wedding, which forwards it to the PSA. For a wedding in Denmark that is the Philippine Embassy in Copenhagen, not the embassy in Berlin. According to its checklist you need:
- the ROM form in four copies, signed by both of you,
- a copy of the Danish marriage certificate in English with an apostille from the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
- copies of both passports (data page and signature page),
- for a previous marriage, the relevant proof, for example the Regional Trial Court decision or the annotated PSA marriage certificate,
- the fee of DKK 280.
Report the marriage within one year of the wedding. After that the report counts as late, and you also need an Affidavit of Delayed Registration. The embassy requires personal appearance. If one partner cannot come, they sign the form beforehand and the other makes a declaration at the embassy (Affidavit of Non-Appearance). The embassy gives out appointments online. About six months after reporting, you can check with the PSA whether the marriage has been registered.
What else comes after the wedding is covered in our guide Married in Denmark: what now?
Family reunification in Germany: what the embassy in Manila requires
If your partner lives in the Philippines and is to move to Germany to join you, after the wedding they apply in person at the German Embassy in Manila for the national visa for spouses. The wedding in Denmark does not replace this procedure. According to the embassy's visa page, the requirements include (as of 3 November 2026):
- an A1 German certificate from an ALTE examination provider such as the Goethe-Institut, ÖSD or telc, no older than one year, unless an exception applies,
- the legalised PSA birth certificate,
- for a marriage abroad, a legalised CENOMAR or, if the marriage is already registered in the Philippines, the Advisory on Marriages, each no more than six months old,
- for a previous marriage, the relevant proof, and for a foreign divorce, the Philippine recognition order.
There is no visa fee if you are German or an EU citizen. For spouses of Germans, the authorities usually do not check income or housing; the details and the exceptions to the A1 requirement are explained in our guide Family reunification after the wedding. Austria and Switzerland have their own rules; ask the competent embassy and the migration authority there.
Typical pitfalls with Philippine documents
- Ordering a CENOMAR just in case: Familieretshuset usually does not need it, and for the German Embassy it is too old after six months.
- Apostille for Germany: what is enough for Denmark has no effect in Germany. There you need legalisation by the German Embassy in Manila.
- Different spellings: names or dates that differ between the passport and PSA documents can lead to questions.
- Foreign divorce without recognition: without the Philippine court order, family reunification and the Report of Marriage stall.
- Applying before the visa: without the visa sticker, the application to Familieretshuset is incomplete, and a request for documents currently costs months.
- Forgetting the Report of Marriage: after one year you need an extra affidavit.
Whether your case works in Denmark and which documents you really need is shown by our free eligibility check. What binational couples should know in general is in our guide Binational couples; whether a registry office in Germany or Denmark suits you better is compared in our guide Registry office in Germany or Denmark. In the Complete package for €649.99, including the Familieretshuset fee, we check every document before it is submitted.
