Requirements for foreigners getting married in Hong Kong? This a full guide you can print for yourself!
But why marry in Hong Kong in the first place?
Many people who want to live with a partner from a different country/nationality go through the same struggle:
How to get a visa for the partner?
Especially, western countries make it extremely difficult for Asians to simply come over.
And getting a marriage visa in your home country is also not a piece of cake, but in Hong Kong it is.
That is why many choose Hong Kong as a tool to surpass bureaucracy and fast-forward the marriage visa process.
We will go through the requirements in this article so you are aware of everything needed.
Requirement for foreigners getting married in Hong Kong: Your Age.
The first requirement for foreigners getting married in Hong Kong is your age (and your partner’s age).
You can only marry if you are above 16.
If you are between 16 and 21, you also need a legal statement from parents agreeing to your marriage.
Chances are you are that both you and your partner are older than 21, and you can simply ignore this.
If one of you are below 21, then contact us for a consultation, and we tell you the exact documents needed for this step and what to be aware of.
In case you like us to take over the whole legal process, let us know during our consultation.
Requirement for foreigners getting married in Hong Kong: Tourist Visa
The second requirement for foreigners getting married:
A tourist visa to enter Hong Kong to attend the marriage ceremony.
You can only get married in Hong Kong in-person. This requires you to actually visit Hong Kong and for this usually a tourist visa is sufficient.
People with a passport from 170 countries do not need a visa to enter Hong Kong (e.g. EU citizens, US citizens etc.), including the Philippines and India.
For Filipinos and Indians it is visa-free for up to 14 days, but this is completely sufficient for Filipinas and Indians to get married in Hong Kong as the whole marriage including the process usually takes less than 5 days.
But there are many more countries where an actual visa is required, e.g. Vietnam.
You can read more about the application process on the Hong Kong immigration website.
If you are worried about
- your specific country,
- how difficult the visa is and
- whether we can help out to obtain a visa to marry in Hong Kong, feel free to get in touch with us.
Requirement for foreigners getting married in Hong Kong: Single Status Certificate
Let us jump into the more serious requirements to get married in Hong Kong as a foreigner.
In order to get married, the Hong Kong government (just like anywhere) requires a single status certificate.
This also has other synonyms depending on the country, such as:
- Certificate of Marital Status,
- No Marriage Record, or
- Declaration of Freedom to Marry
This certificate is to guarantee that you are not married somewhere else as by Hong Kong law you cannot be married to two people at the same time.
This single status certificate can usually be acquired in your country of citizenship.
We will soon publish how to obtain a single status certificate in countries around the world. Until then, feel free to email us, and we give you a free consultation about the necessary steps.
If you like to reduce the headache, we can accompany you through the whole process to make sure everything goes smoothly and fast as we have helped 500 Germans, Dutch, Americans, and Australians to get married to in Hong Kong.
Requirement for foreigners getting married in Hong Kong: Timeline
You can marry any day of the year (weekdays or weekends).
But you should at least plan to stay in Hong Kong for 5 days as the process in Hong Kong includes:
- Day 1: Hand in documents at the marriage registry (wait for approval after 1 day)
- Day 3: Wedding takes place
- Day 4: Apply for international apostille to make the marriage certificate internationally recognizable
- Day 5: Receive the marriage certificate with an international apostille
Usually, we recommend our customers to take off from their job for the whole week (or even two) to then spend their honeymoon in Hainan. We have also helped customers for planning their honeymoon after their wedding.
As this is a very special package, we have not listed it on our website. But if interested, please contact us, and we can show you how this will look like.
Requirement for foreigners getting married in Hong Kong: Your Witnesses
You need two witnesses to sign during the marriage ceremony.
So if you come from abroad, you may either need to take two friends along with you or have two people come in from Hong Kong and sign.
If you work with us, we provide the two witnesses (in case you need them), so you don’t need to worry about it (included in our basic package).
Requirement for foreigners getting married in Hong Kong: Your Documents
Of course, you also need documents such as your passport in original form during the marriage ceremony.
Please make sure that your passport is at least valid for more than 6 months after the marriage ceremony – this is not for the marriage per se, but for traveling between countries and coming to Hong Kong.
Requirement for foreigners getting married in Hong Kong: Your Application Document
Another requirement for foreigners in order to get married in Hong Kong is to submit an application form, which is called the Notice of Intended Marriage.
This has to be submitted at least 15 days before the marriage ceremony and is only valid up to 90 days after its approval.
This means if your ceremony date is after 3 months of the Notice of Intended Marriage date, then you have to reapply for the Notice of Intended Marriage.
To make sure that everything goes smoothly, we usually discuss the date for the ceremony first with our customers and make a first call to the Marriage Registry office to make sure that spot is not reserved yet.
Afterward, we start the application of the Notice of Intended Marriage.
If you want to understand the complete process, feel free to contact us, and we show you the process.
Requirement for foreigners getting married in Hong Kong: Different genders
As Hong Kong law states same-sex marriage is still not legal in Hong Kong.
The government is being pressured by humanity groups, but so far bottom line is:
You have to be of different genders (male and female) to get married in Hong Kong.
In case you have more questions that have not been answered yet, read this article about all questions our customers have asked us before getting married in Hong Kong.
Watch the video of Carmen and Stefan getting married in Hong Kong.
FAQ
1 – How old do I have to be to get married in Hong Kong?
You have to be at least 16 years old.
But under 21 years old, you also need a legal written paper by your parents to approve of the marriage.
2 – What documents do I need to get married in Hong Kong?
The documents for getting married in Hong Kong are the following:
- Passport (original – take it with yourself to the ceremony)
- Notice of Intended Marriage (application to the marriage registry in Hong Kong) – this should only be not older than 3 months.
3 – How much time does it take until I can get married in Hong Kong?
Once you have decided to get married in Hong Kong, the earliest date would be in 2 weeks.
We may even be able to do it earlier as we are already quite well-known at the registry office in Hong Kong. Please contact us beforehand if you need a fast-track service, and we see what we can do for you.
4 – How many days do I need to stay in Hong Kong to get married?
You should stay at least 5 days in Hong Kong for marriage registration, ceremony to authentication of documents to be acknowledged in your home country.
We advise our customers to take off for 2 weeks and also go for a honeymoon in Hainan. We have a special package (not listed on website) for couples who like us to plan the marriage in Hong Kong and their honeymoon so they can just focus on being bride and groom.
That’s your day – so let others work and you just enjoy the show.
