Legal situation
Due
to the amount of legal requirements for Notarised Weddings and possible
changes to the law, the easiest option for non-residents of Cape Verde (tourists/foreigners) is to have their marriage notarised and legalised in their own country. Some
couples may then choose to have a
Religious Blessing arranged by us
with the Evangelical Church on the
island of Sal or Boavista.
This means that citizens of the UK should have their
marriage legally performed by the Registry Office in the UK and then
they can arrange to have a Religious Blessing performed here by the
Evangelical Church. NOTE: The Religious Blessing is not a legal marriage
ceremony in Cape Verde.
The following information was obtained from a legal
source. It is meant as a guide only as laws change and it is not easy to
obtain information of changes.
Legal Marriage in Cape Verde
Legally,
Cape Verde Law only recognises a Notarised
(Civil) marriage that is officially recorded and performed by the
Notary (Civil Registry) in Cape Verde. Cape
Verde law only recognises the Catholic Church as being able to marry
people but the marriage must also be legally notarised by the Notary. The Notary (Registrar) is the only person legally authorised to marry couples.
Religous Blessing (symbolic) with the Evangelical Church (Church of the Nazarene).
The marriage performed by the Pastor of the
Evangelical Church is a Christian Religious
'blessing' . This 'blessing'
is not a legal marriage, as the Church is not
recognised by Cape Verde Law for providing legal marriages. This
'blessing' therefor cannot be Notarised. You
would have to have a separate legal ceremony
perfomed by and at the
Notary for a legal mariage with the following
conditions:
Non-Residents of Cape Verde (tourists and foreigners)
mostly visit Cape Verde for 7-14 days. To legally marry here you will need to have
been in Cape Verde for at least 30 days. We
cannot guarantee when the legal ceremony can then be performed after the
30 days as long as all the relevant documentation and
translations are provided and have been accepted by the Notary. Or 13 days if one
or both are residents of Cape Verde.
If you are a Citizen of Cape Verde and
have a Residents ID card you can present your official documents to the
Notary and that of your partners whether your partner is also a
Resident of Cape Verde or a Non-Resident (Foreigner) on the day of your
choice, and your non-resident partner does not have to comply with the
30 day rule.
If you are a non-Cape Verdean National (a foreigner) who wants to legally marry your Cape Verdean partner, he/she can make enquiries at the Notary as to the documents you both need to provide. The Notary will explain the procedure, you (the foreigner) will not be required to be on the island or for 30 days before you can legally marry a Cape Verdean, however, this is only if all the documents have been received by the Notary are correct.
If one or both of the partners has lived outside
their country for 12months or more, you may be required to provided 4
witnesses (in addition to a Certificate of No Impedement) to vouch for
your identity and your good good character.
A
Cape Verdean citizen may choose
to have a Christian Religious Blessing
performed by a
Pastor of the Evangelical Church,
however the wedding should also be Notarised at the
Conservatoria do Registo Civil (Civil
Registry) in order for the marriage to be legal in Cape Verde.
Notarised Weddings in Cape Verde:
We have not as yet
organised Civil Weddings at the Notary
in Cape Verde for tourist or Non-Residents of Cape Verde.
We have however worked on behalf of couples
to identify what is needed to have a legally recognised Notarised
marriage here in Cape Verde.
Legal marriages in Cape Verde can be arranged
however, as with some European countries the law requires tourists to be
here for at least 30days before legal marriages can be held at the
Notary.
We provide wedding services on Sal Island and
Boavista Island, such as Religious Blessings (non legal), Renewal of
Vows and 'Love and Devotion' Readings. These ceremonies can be held at
or near to venues on either Sal or Boavista. We can provide you with the
information you need and arrange your special day.
Legalities:
For Non-Residents (tourists/foreigners) to marry legally in Cape Verde, the Notary requires:
- Passport copies
- at least 30 days of residence
- Non-impedement of marriage
- Payment fee (different rates)
- Posting of announcement of marriage for 8 days at the Notary
Notes:
- Re above documents (original and translated) have
to be recognised and processed by the Embassy or Consulate of the
Country of origin.
- A Certificate of non-impedement may only be valid for a few months!
- We are checking whether one or both parties need
to be in Cape Verde for 30 days and whether it must be on the particular
island where the Civil Ceremony is to take place.
- All Civil marriages must be performed within 3 months from the start of proceedings with the Notary.
If
you are sending your documents to be officially authenticated or
translated to your Embassy or FCO, please allow enough time for this.
Please check the period of validity of all original
and translated documents as they may only be valid for a few months,
they need to be in date when they are presented to the Notary.
The Civil Registo and Cape Verde Law recognises Catholic marriages:
Cape Verdean citizens can legally get married by
also marrying in a Catholic Church with a Priest performing the marriage
ceremony. This marriage will also need to be registered with the Notary
and will be accepted as legal as long as all the necessary formalities
of a Notarised wedding are followed by the Priest of the Catholic
Church.
Non-Residents of Cape Verde (Foreigners) will need
to have their wedding Notarised here if they want it to be recognised by
Cape Verdean Law. Please see 30 day ruling for 'Non Residents of Cape
Verde' above.
Information on legalities
We are aware that the above may be subject to
change. We have not provided all the information for this reason. We
cannot provide information about the laws concerning the recognition of
marriages by other countries.There
are other conditions regarding certain situations and formal procedures
not quoted within this website. As we are not lawyers we can only
provide information as guidance and won't be able to provide accurate
information on the legalities of the laws of this country or other
countries.
We arrange Religious Blessings, Renewal of Vows and
Love and Devotion Readings, more information on Weddings Cape Verde
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