Getting married in South Africa

Go to a police station, it should be fairly easy to have the Police officer signed/stamp.

He should just type the letter and take it to the closest to him.

After what I thought was a plain and simple process has just resulted in a nightmare and hard work for my minister while I'm back in the UK. I did a lot of research before I (south african) got married to my husband (british) on the 22nd of feb in cape town. The blogs and reviews are mixed, some say you need a CNI (certificate of no impediment), some say you don't. I think it very much depends on who is behind the counter at the south african office. To make matters worse the UK does not provide this CNI for british citizens who wish to marry in a commonwealth country. So after much phone calls and panics prior to leaving for cape town I spoke to someone at the general register office (0300 123 1837) here in the UK (don't call your local council, they have no clue) they provided us with a certificate (process takes 3 weeks) that basically checks if my husband has been married supplied only up until may 2013. We had this in our possession all along but did not give it to the minister as he said we don't need anything and only had to sign the B1 -31, which is like an affidavit saying you no of no impediment to marry. Today my minister informed me that when he tried to register our marriage today at the interior ministry in South Africa they refused to help him as he did not have a CNI for my husband and they told him that we had to have an interview prior to marriage to prove my husband has no convictions with interpol (much to my and my ministers surprise never heard of this, apparently a new rule made by SA 1 week ago). So for now I have sent him the certificate that the general register office UK has sent and I'm hoping this will help him to register our marriage in South Africa, only then can I (in person) either in South Africa or at south africa house in trafalgar square apply for an abridged certificate. I know this story has no ending and I plan on updating once I hopefully succeed in registering my marriage because marriage should be a happy time and not plagued by this rubbish and if I can help someone with the advice then great.

Speaking of Home Affairs offices ....some are efficient some not. I would say ask your colleagues or friends when you arrive. And it always helsp to get a patient conversant local to accompany you first time (just makes the rapport easier).

All the best good people!

Sebe

Silvana what kind of officer helped u?. I'm mexican n I would like to explain to my boyfriend that alternative to get married. Thanks in advance!!!!

Hi Chikabi, I am Colombian

The officer was an authorized minister, he did the ceremony for us and filled all the documents with Home Affairs.
If you are getting married here in South Africa check all the documents you need beforehand with the new immigration act things are getting a bit difficult.

Let me know if you need anything else

Silvana

[Moderated: english pls ] sorry :p

Hi there

I'm South African, my fiance is British.  I know he needs a certificate of no impediment to get married in SA.  Do I also need one?

Hey Staceydob

Sounds like you are in the same situation as me, but a little ahead of me in the process.  Did you only deal with a marriage officer and not home affairs?  I'm getting married in SA in Aug, fiance also British, I'm South African.  Can you not get a marriage certificate in SA after you are married?  Have you applied for a spousal visa for the UK?

The letter of no impediment is required for all except unless u are a commowealth citizen wherein a notarized affidavit should suffice. Secondly i would recommend that when applying for the marriage certificate, u should do so outside of major cities because DHA officers tend to be neurotic in major cities than the one's in small towns

Hi Bigpickle

I would like to know how you got around providing letter of non impediment. Im South African and my hubby is British and Home Affairs and British Consulate is giving us the run around. Basically, British Consulate gave us a letter stating that they dont do certificates of non impediment and that an affidavit at a local police station in Cape Town should suffice, but when going to home affairs they do not want to budge. How can we get around this without having to go to England just to get this piece of paper.

Hi everyone, I'm currently on holiday in Romania. My plans was to get married to my fiance, but due to the fact that I don't have a full birth certificate we can't get married... My mother applied for a full birth certificate at South African home affairs, seeing that I'm from South Africa... And to get this certificate it will take 21days and must have a apostile stamp on the b.c ... Eventhough we get married this certificate must be cutum which takes 3-6months... It's so stressful getting married in Europe

Hie im new here bt i want to get married here in south africa and we are both foreigners, what must i do?

Please give me your phone number and I'll call you right away....It is a long process and I will take up half the day typing it out Better to call

Mine is  0744 290 497 just in case I see your reply late

Thanks

Hello this is my fiance number+49 176 37439117 , I can't receive incoming calls as I'm using my South African number to chat and read emails via wifi... Thank you very much for getting back to me, we are so fed up for the long wait we even asked at South African embassy if we can't get married there but they still coming back to us:( i will give you a call as soon as my fiance is home then we can talk:) or you can phone my fiance and you can tell him the whole process

Okay cool. Let me try to call him now.

I'm trying to call the number but it's a little strange and goes to voicemail.
We can talk when he comes back home. Just give me a buzz.

And I'm really sorry to hear about what's going on. I really hope I can help somehow, but reading your other message and seeing that you don't have an unabridged birth certificate will/might delay your marriage.

But lets talk later

Stay positive. I know EXACTLY what you're going through and ... well...it's normal

I am trying to get married right now and i need a letter of no impediment for me and him(hubby from germany)

Silvana,
Would love to know what minister you used as well.  Will be getting married in South Africa soon too.

hi there,

Boyfriend is South African en me, Belgian. Boyfriend wants to move to Belgium. But we want to get married in Cape Town. Now I have been doing a lot of searching on the internet. Still confused. If i'm right, because one of us is a foreigner, we need to do a "immigration check interview" with a officer of HA? Is that true? Even if we don't intend to live in SA? And i read that it takes up to 4 months to get an appointment?? Does anyone know a HA office that is a bit quicker? And we have a hard time finding a marriage officer who has the stomach to get through all this red tape because I'm the foreigner. Anyone have good experiences with a marriage officer?

thank you!

plz sir wanna knw abt south african people. Are they trustworthy cx i start loving someone... if i get marry with a south african what ll b the way to get a legal nationality...cx i m foreigner,

Hello plz if u could guide me abt getting marriage with south african...I m from Pakistan i hav my fiance overther she is an african bt she doesnt knw the method hw to invite me overthere cx we want to hav marriage cermony in south africa...i need ur help plzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Hello Kami000! 

Please read this thread as from the start and you will definitely find some answers or useful links to help you know which procedures to take.

Regards
Kenjee

This is correct - people from Commonwealth countries sign affidavid that they are single, people from outside of Commonwealth still need tp supply the Certificate of non-Impediment (I had to).

I don't think this is true - if you apply for spousal visa they might interview you, but not before. I got married in SA (I'm a foreigner) and didn't have to go through any interviews.

I married to south African citizen in 2012. Under the Islamic law. When I went to home affairs, they asked me to bring impediment latter. So I come india with my wife to ask a latter . But india home affairs ecxpet Islamic marriage certificate.  And now my wife's name is written in my passport.  I have got  one child, born in india. Now we want to go back south africa. I don't know what
should I do.

Hi, could anybody confirm if South Africa recognise a relationship between 2 people as " common marriage" though not officially married. My partner is from Morocco and myself have been living /working in Africa for the last 10 odd years. I need some kind of official document stating that South Africa recognize our relationship....hope my explanation makes sense !!
Thank u

hey everyone!
I am an Indian citizen. Me and my fiance are planning to get married in march in SA. He is a South African citizen and i wish to settle there with him. I will be on a visitor's visa and i am required to present a "letter of no impediment" which is something the indian government doesn't issue. Can you please tell me where must I get that?
And do we have to notify the home affairs in SA one month before we get married? is that mandatory?
what is the waiting period for the marriage certificate since I will have to come back to India after the expiry of my tourist visa, to apply for the spousal visa. 
looking forward to hearing from you.

Can u help me what the original merriage certificate in south Africa look like , because we couldn't find

evening

i am a female living in south africa and my boyfriend his from nigeria ,we decided that we want to get married in south africa and we both have a son together who was born 06 november 2014 . the problem is that his study permit has expired on december 2014 and also the visa expired to . wanted to find out what are the necessary things to have in order for us to get married?and is it possible for us to get married without him not having a visa and a permit?

Hi all

Me and my Dutch fiancee are planning on getting married in March.

We have been told we have to do an interview. Unfortunately our local home affairs office is not helpful at all in terms of finding out where the interview needs to be done.

They told our marriage offices that we need an immigration official but could not say where we can find one.

Doesn't anyone know where in Gauteng we  can do the interview?

Any help will be much appreciated!

Hi

When my Polish wife and I got married we stayed on the East Rand and were told to go to the Springs Offices as they dealt with immigration queries but were told that any large office would do.
Worth a shot but be patient.

Hi am assan kwena pls help me my father was a south African my was Malawian and both died with a car accident in South Africa and because I born in Malawi where my parents they was leaving my problem am only one child in my father's family so am in South Africa at my father place and I have also girl friend which I want to get married with her bat still now I have no south African citizenship any my passport that I use to come here Is expire what can I do? I can not go back because I don't know any their my ground mother she also passed away  help and this is true problem.

You can't get married in South Africa without legal documents. I don't think anyone can help you here, tough but simple. You have to obtain legal documents.

Hi
Could you help, me and my wife we got married 2 weeks ago in joburg. She requires 6 months salary slip from work to put application through. Can you advise if you used any lawyer from SA, as her work have given her wrong payslips and process is getting really frustrating.
thanks in advance

Hi !

Can any one please clarify if an Apostille stamp is absolutely necessary for Letter of No Impediment, to get married in SA? I can get the letter from a court official here in India, but if I get it attested by the Indian Embassy in SA, would that work or do I still need to get an Apostille stamp in India.

Really appreciate any advice/suggestions.

Cheers
Shab

Hi! Im from Durban and my feance is from Malawi bt he is staying in Durban, we want to get married bt nw homeaffairs told us that He must go back home(malawi) get a letter shows dat hes nt married, bt nw the problems is hes working n he cant jst liv the job n to go dat side is not gona take a week to come back. Can anyone help if der is anything else we can do.

Hi everyone ...i really need help.Anyone can help i need to know how long does it take to get a married Status if you re a South African and you want to marry a East European.my Fiernce is from Romania and we were planning to get married this month but in Romania they ask me to to bring the letter from Home Affairs that i'm Single +my Certificate to be Apostilled so..now i'm very depressed course i dont know where can i get this letter or u'm must come back in South Africa .And I need to know which Certificate i must Apostille?

Please guys help me

No ways,he has to go obtain the letter.im from zim and just got married in july,to a south african woman.i had to go to harare and get the letter.