Getting married as a Foreigner in Belgium (to a local)

Hello!

well, let's not exaggerate. Even if I do understand your point of view on that matter~

Basically you've the conditions of age, celibacy, consent and each of the spouses must respect the conditions provided by their national laws at the time of the celebration of the marriage.

And you also have the "formal" conditions from the country you'll get marry in. (meaning Belgium)
In your case, the english laws apply, and Belgium authorities have to """"""""verify"""""""" that it comply with Belgian laws.
It's mandatory and written in the Code of private international laws (dunno if my translation is accurate, but it's the code of international laws about private stuff).......
They just don't have choice...

As you're not a national, you depends on the international code and not national one...
"National" peoples don't care with most of that and are not even aware about it..., because the governments know that everything is ok between nationals.
It would be exactly the same thing if I marry a English girl in England tomorrow...



So in the end, you'll need your certificate of birth (to proof you're 18 years old+), proof that you're single and most probably the custom certificate that annoy you so much...

Official documents (meaning with apostile!!!!) in english are recognized and do not need to be translated. https://diplomatie.belgium.be/en/servic … _documents
Don't worry that much, everything is easily done in your case, but it takes time to receive all the documents and you might need to go 1-2 time at your embassy in Brussels...

I'll live the same stuff in few months/years in Vietnam, where it's a bit more difficult than you and will take nearly one year...
Example: medical check that I'm not crazy in an asylum for the insane, verify that I'm not doing a white/grey wedding even if we're living together in Belgium together since xxxxxx, interview at the Belgian embassy then with vietnamese police.
I need the approval of Belgium first to get married, then Vietnam in a short timeframe because my certificates expire soon: I would need to go from 2 to 3 times at my embassy in Vietnam (11000km away) to fetch the documents and ask the next one, my significant other has to do the same even if it's easier for her as a national, and we need to make sure none of our document expire or we need to start nearly from the beginning... it's gonna be a nightmare compare to you! )

Yes, you're lucky even if you may not believe it, trust me!


Have a happy wedding