The procedure for state registration of marriage in Ukraine

General information

Marriage is based on the free consent of a woman and a man. Coercion of a woman and a man into marriage is not allowed (Article 24 of the Family Code of Ukraine).

The presence of the bride and groom at the time of state registration of their marriage is mandatory. State registration of marriage through a representative is not allowed (Article 34 of the Family Code of Ukraine).

What is the Marriage Age in Ukraine?

The marriage age for men and women is set at eighteen years.

Persons wishing to register a marriage must be of marriageable age on the day of marriage registration (Article 22 of the Family Code of Ukraine).

Terms of state registration of marriage in Ukraine

Marriage is registered after one month from the date of submission of the application for marriage registration.

If there are valid reasons, the head of the civil registry office allows the marriage to be registered before the expiration of this period.

If the bride is pregnant, gives birth to a child, or if there is an immediate threat to the life of the bride or groom, the marriage is registered on the day of submission of the relevant application or on any other day at the request of the bride and groom within one month.

If there is information about obstacles to marriage registration, the head of the civil registry office may postpone the marriage registration, but not for more than three months. The decision on such postponement may be appealed to the court (Article 32 of the Family Code of Ukraine).

How to check if the woman from Ukraine is married.

Place of state registration of marriage

Marriage is registered at the civil registry office.

At the request of the bride and groom, the marriage is registered in a solemn atmosphere.

At the request of the bride and groom, marriage registration may take place at their place of residence, at the place of hospitalization or elsewhere if they cannot come to the civil registry office for valid reasons (Article 33 of the Family Code of Ukraine).

What an application for state registration of marriage in Ukraine looks like

What an application for state registration of marriage in Ukraine looks like

An application for state marriage registration can be submitted in person, online, or through a representative.

As a general rule, a man and a woman must personally sign and submit a joint application for marriage registration to the civil registry office.

In doing so, they must bring their identity documents, namely a passport of a citizen of Ukraine or passport documents of a foreigner or a document certifying a stateless person.

The law also provides for the possibility of performing these actions through a representative, by a man and a woman separately or jointly.

This requires good reasons. This may be a man and/or woman’s stay in hospital, a long business trip, etc.

There is no exhaustive list of such reasons.

To submit an application for marriage registration in the absence of the person wishing to enter into marriage, the following documents must be submitted:

  • Application of the person wishing to enter into a marriage to the Civil Registry Office for marriage registration.

The authenticity of the signature on such an application must be notarized.

If a person is, for example, in another locality, he or she may ask a notary to notarize his or her signature on the application to the civil registry office for marriage registration.

After verifying the applicant’s identity, the notary certifies the authenticity of his or her signature on the marriage registration application.

  • A notarized power of attorney for the submission of a marriage registration application by a representative, which confirms the representative’s authority to perform such actions.

In the power of attorney, the person indicates that he or she authorizes the representative to submit the marriage registration application (with the applicant’s notarized signature) to the relevant department of the Civil Registry Office.

The representative may sign the documents confirming the submission of the marriage registration application.

A certificate of dissolution of a previous marriage or a court decision that has entered into force on the dissolution of a marriage (if available).

Submitting an application for marriage registration through a representative entails the same legal consequences as submitting an application in person by the person entering into marriage.

In particular, from the date of filing such an application

  • the statutory period for marriage registration is calculated from the date of submission of such an application;
  • persons wishing to enter into marriage are considered to be brides and grooms;
  • the parties acquire the right to refuse to enter into marriage.

We emphasize that this refers only to the filing of an application for marriage registration, and not to the actual registration of marriage, since marriage registration requires the mandatory personal presence of the bride and groom.