Getting married in Ivory Coast

Hello Armand,

We got married in Abidjan (foreigners). the procedure is quite easy:

1. You prepare all papers for the embassy of your country ( Birth Certificate, Certificate that you or your future spouse were not married before, proof of residence in Ivory Coast, copy of all pages of your passports, and fill up special forms from the embassy)

2. After embassy will give you a permit paper to get married. Depends on the embassy or conculate they can arrage your marriage in the embassy or consulate ot you can get married in one of the mairies in Ivoru Coast.

3. After you took a permit from embassy you go to the local mairie and apply for marriage ( they will ask you approx. the same set of document as in embassy, so better to make copies of all). After they will tell you when is availability and you book a day.

4. On the set day- Wedding itself.

5. After you need to cobe back to marrie and pick up your official certificate.

6. If you a foreigner the coy of this certificate you need to return to your embassy.

All this takes about 3-4 weeks, depends on your papers.

ADVICE:

To give papers to embassy and mairie at the same time, it will save you alot of time( and when a permit from embassy is ready, just bring it to mairie after)

Look for photographer and video operator in advance, better to ask an advice of local friends, if you have an opporunity to buy dress and wedding rings in Europe, because here is very complicated to find something.

Thank you!

All this looks so complicated,
I wish there could be much simpler way for couple to get merried in Ivory Coast.

Its a lot easier to do and get documented

thank you Lulumia, your name is beautiful

we got married in July, I am glad they were happy to merry us in Abidjan city even without the required papars that the marriage celebrants asked for at first.

They asked for my 'CERTIFICATE OF NO IMPEDIMENT TO A MARRIAGE' which had to be double authenticated... so the embassy of Ivory Coast in London took long time and has returned it to nz because they do not send documents to Ivory Coast, almost two month after our marriage when I was already in nz I received my certificate.

Anyway we are happy that somehow things and document have worked out.
The lady working at the department of internal affairs of new zealand has never had a bride requesting certificate of no impediment to a marriage to marry in Ivory Coast, which makes our case rare

hope this information is useful for another couple