With a partner from Turkey, the Danish route works well: Familieretshuset needs no apostille on Turkish documents. You do have to get them translated, though, and a divorce decree needs the note that it is final. If your partner lives in Turkey, they need a Schengen visa. And after the ceremony the marriage must be reported in Turkey within 30 days, which has its own catches for a Danish marriage.
This guide is for couples where one of you lives in Germany, Austria or Switzerland and the other is a Turkish citizen: whether they live in Turkey or already live here with a residence permit. If your partner also holds a German or other EU passport, they apply as an EU citizen; the visa and the EES proof then fall away, but their Turkish documents still need a translation. The rules for every other nationality are on our page rules by country of origin, and whether a registry office in Germany or Denmark suits you better is compared in our guide registry office in Germany or Denmark.
Which documents does a partner from Turkey need?
You apply online to Familieretshuset, the Danish Agency of Family Law. It checks whether you are free to marry and issues the prøvelsesattest, the Danish certificate of marital status. The fee is DKK 2,100 (about €281) and is not refunded. Depending on the situation, it needs these documents from the Turkish partner:
| Document | When? | What matters |
|---|---|---|
| Turkish passport | always | colour scans of every page, including covers and blank pages; issued within the last 10 years, valid at least 3 months beyond the stay, at least 2 blank pages |
| Proof of legal stay | always | Schengen visa plus a printout of the EES calculator, after entry also tickets; or the residence permit of a Schengen country |
| Divorce decree (boşanma kararı) | for every previous marriage | reasoned decision with the finality note (kesinleşme şerhi), translated |
| Death certificate | if a former spouse has died | translated |
| Birth certificates | if you have children together | Turkish certificates translated, German ones as they are |
| Proof of address | if you live together outside Denmark | for example a German Meldebescheinigung, no older than 4 months |
As a rule, Familieretshuset does not ask for a certificate of no impediment, your own birth certificates or proof of single status such as the extract from the Turkish civil register (Nüfus Kayıt Örneği). If you have never been married, you confirm that in the application with your signature, under criminal liability; the agency only asks for proof in individual cases. The full list for both partners is in our guide documents for your wedding in Denmark.
No apostille, but a translation
Familieretshuset requires no apostille for Turkish documents. In its documentation requirements it names Turkey explicitly, together with the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, among the countries whose documents normally need neither an apostille nor legalisation. Why documents from many other countries need an apostille is explained in our apostille guide.
Turkish, however, is not one of the languages the agency accepts. An authorised translator must translate every Turkish document into Danish, English or German before you apply, including all stamps and endorsements. For couples in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, a German translation by a sworn or authorised translator is the obvious choice. The order is short: get a fresh document, have it translated, upload both. What a translation costs and who may do it is covered in our guide certified translations.
Formül A and B: do the multilingual extracts save the translation?
Turkish registry offices issue multilingual extracts, such as Formül A for a birth and Formül B for a marriage. They are based on CIEC Convention No. 16, which has applied in Turkey since 1985, as it does in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Denmark is not a party to the convention, and Familieretshuset does not mention Formül extracts on its pages. Whether it accepts such an extract without a translation is therefore open.
Turkish divorce decree: it does not work without the kesinleşme şerhi
Under the Danish administrative guidance, for a divorce granted outside the Nordic countries Familieretshuset needs a copy of the divorce document, proof that it is final and a translation including all endorsements. In Turkey, finality is shown by the note "kesinleşme şerhi" on the decision. Ask the family court (Aile Mahkemesi) that granted the divorce for a copy of the reasoned decision (gerekçeli karar) with this note, and have the decision and the note translated together.
The 300-day waiting period for women
Under Art. 132 of the Turkish Civil Code, a woman may only remarry 300 days after her marriage has ended. The period ends with a birth, and a court lifts it if it is established that the woman is not pregnant, or if the former couple want to marry each other again. Under Art. 154, a marriage concluded before the period ends is not void. For Familieretshuset the period plays no role, because Denmark has no such rule. If your partner was divorced less than 300 days ago, ask the consulate before the wedding whether registration in Turkey is affected. More on second marriages is in our guide divorced: a second wedding in Denmark.
Divorced in Germany, still married in Turkey?
If your partner was divorced in Germany, Austria or Switzerland, Familieretshuset accepts that decree with its note of finality, without an apostille. In the Turkish register, however, they may still be listed as married as long as the divorce has not been entered there. Under Art. 27/A of the Turkish Civil Registry Act, the Turkish mission in the country of the divorce registers a foreign divorce if it is final and both former spouses apply together; if the other spouse is a foreign national or has died, the Turkish spouse's application is enough. If that does not work, court recognition in Turkey remains. Settle this before the wedding in Denmark: otherwise the old marriage is still in the Turkish register, and registering the new one becomes difficult.
Schengen visa or residence permit
With an ordinary Turkish passport, your partner needs a Schengen visa (type C) for Denmark unless they hold a residence permit from a Schengen country. That leaves two routes (as of 3 November 2026):
- Your partner lives in Turkey: they apply for a Schengen visa, stating the honest purpose "wedding in Denmark". In the application to Familieretshuset they need the visa sticker and a printout of the data page and the result page of the EES calculator for the planned stay; after entry, plane tickets or boarding passes are added. The prøvelsesattest is valid for four months from issue, but not longer than the visa.
- Your partner already lives with you: a German settlement or residence permit, an Austrian residence title or a Swiss B or C permit is enough proof for Familieretshuset. Your partner then needs no visa for Denmark, and time spent on the permit does not count towards the 90 days of a short stay. The permit must still be valid on the wedding day.
Because the agency wants to see the visa sticker in the application, the visa comes first, then the application. How to apply for the visa is explained in our guide getting married on a Schengen visa, the proof of legal stay step by step in our guide EES proof for your wedding. With a German Duldung (toleration), on the other hand, a wedding in Denmark is not possible; why is explained in our guide getting married with a Duldung.
After the wedding: registration in Turkey within 30 days
Right after the ceremony you receive two international marriage certificates in five languages (Danish, German, English, French, Spanish), but not in Turkish. Under Art. 24 of the Turkish Civil Registry Act (Nüfus Hizmetleri Kanunu), a marriage that Turkish citizens conclude before foreign authorities is valid if it complies with the Turkish Civil Code. It must be reported within 30 days: the husband, or the wife if the husband is a foreign national, hands the certificate in at the Turkish mission in that place or sends it to a mission. Alternatively, it can go through a civil registry office (Nüfus Müdürlüğü) in Turkey if the certificate has been translated into Turkish, duly certified and confirmed by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For a Danish marriage there is a catch. The Turkish Consulate General in Cologne writes that it can only register marriages from third countries if Turkey has an agreement with that country on multilingual extracts (Formül B). Denmark is not a party to CIEC Convention No. 16. The law names as the place the mission where the marriage took place, that is the Turkish Embassy in Copenhagen, which lists the registration of marriages among its services, or a civil registry office in Turkey.
The apostille on the Danish certificate costs DKK 250 and takes about 5 to 7 working days; how it works is explained in our guide apostille on the Danish marriage certificate, and as an add-on we take care of it for €149.99. On the surname: according to the consulates, a Turkish man cannot take his wife's name. The Turkish Constitutional Court annulled the rule that the wife takes the husband's name (Art. 187 Turkish Civil Code), with effect from 28 January 2024; some consulate pages still describe the old rule. So ask the consulate which name the register enters today before you make a name declaration (more in our guide changing your name after the wedding).
And in Germany, Austria or Switzerland?
In Germany, the Danish marriage is as a rule recognised without any procedure of its own; registering it in the German marriage register is optional. Austria requires registration in the Central Civil Status Register, and Switzerland a report through the competent Swiss representation. More in our guide on recognition in Germany and in the overview married in Denmark: what now?.
If your partner still lives in Turkey, moving to a German spouse as a rule requires a spousal reunification visa and basic German. A Schengen visa for the wedding does not replace that visa. Which exceptions exist is explained in our guide family reunification after the wedding.
Typical pitfalls with a Turkish partner
- The divorce decree comes without the kesinleşme şerhi.
- Documents are not translated, or only partly, for example without stamps and endorsements.
- A Formül extract is submitted without a translation and without asking first.
- The application goes in before the visa, or the visa ends before a possible wedding day.
- A divorce from Germany has not yet been entered in the Turkish register.
- The 30 days for reporting the marriage in Turkey run out because the apostille on the Danish certificate is missing.
Which documents your case needs is shown by our free eligibility check; in the Complete package we check every document and every translation before it is submitted (all prices). More pitfalls for binational couples are summed up in our guide binational wedding in Denmark.
