Getting Married in Vienna as an American or British Couple

Can you marry in Vienna without living in Austria?

Yes. Under Austria's Civil Status Act (PStG 2013), any registry office in the country can handle your marriage, and the City of Vienna states explicitly that couples who don't live in Austria can marry in Vienna.

Who you contact depends on your history with Austria:

• Neither of you has ever lived in Austria: the office for tourist weddings at the City of Vienna's civil status department (MA 63), reachable at touristenhochzeit@ma63.wien.gv.at. Online booking isn't available to you.
• One of you used to live in Austria: you contact the Vienna registry office where you'd like to marry directly.

Austrian law decides the form of the ceremony. Whether each of you is free to marry is judged by the law of your own country, which is why the documents differ by nationality (Austrian Private International Law Act, sections 16 and 17).

How it works, step by step

1. Your first email. Write to the tourist wedding office with both partners' full names, your preferred date, country of birth, citizenship, home address and marital status. The office replies with the list of documents that applies to you.
2. Gather your documents. Birth certificates, passports, proof of residence, proof that you are free to marry and, if you've been married before, divorce or death certificates. Apostilles and any translations take time, so start early.
3. Registration of the marriage. Before the wedding, the registry office checks in a short hearing that both of you are free to marry. In principle both partners attend. If one of you doesn't speak enough German or lives abroad, the City of Vienna offers a form (Erklärung zur Ermittlung der Ehefähigkeit) that lets one partner register for both. Registration is possible no earlier than six months before the wedding, and your date is only confirmed after it.
4. The ceremony. In German, in one of Vienna's ceremony halls on a weekday, or as a Dream Wedding (Traumhochzeit), the City of Vienna's term, at an approved outside venue, Saturdays included. My guide to Vienna's registry offices covers the halls, venues and dates in detail.

Documents for US citizens

The United States doesn't issue a certificate of no impediment to marriage. According to the US Embassy in Vienna, American citizens usually need:

• Passport
• Birth certificate, original or certified copy, showing your parents' names
• Proof of residence, for example a driver's license or your latest tax return
• Divorce decree or death certificate if you were married before
• Marriage/Partnership Affidavit, signed before a US consular officer at the embassy in Vienna. It states that you are free to marry. It requires an appointment and a fee.

Apostille. The City of Vienna's country list requires an apostille on US documents. It is issued by the Secretary of State of the state that issued the document, not by a federal office, so a birth certificate from Ohio needs an apostille from Ohio.

Translation. Austrian rules require documents in a foreign language to come with a translation by a sworn court interpreter, or in an international format. For documents in Latin script that are easy to understand, the registrar may waive the translation (PStG-DV, section 11). Ask before you order translations.

Previous divorce. The embassy warns that a divorce granted abroad may need to be recognized in Austria first, which can delay the procedure. Mention it in your first email.

Documents for UK citizens

GOV.UK refers British citizens marrying in Austria to the Austrian authorities for the exact document list. Expect the same building blocks as for other nationalities:

• Passport
• Full birth certificate
• Proof of residence in the UK
• Proof that you are free to marry, in the UK usually a certificate of no impediment
• Decree absolute or death certificate if you were married before

Apostille. The City of Vienna's country list still says that UK documents needed no certification until Brexit, but doesn't say what applies now. Ask the tourist wedding office whether your documents need an apostille before you send anything off.

Citizens of other countries

The process is the same, the documents differ. The tourist wedding office tells you what it needs for your nationality. Documents from countries that are part of the Hague Apostille Convention usually need an apostille, others a diplomatic legalization. Your own embassy in Vienna knows how your country handles proof that you are free to marry.

On the wedding day

• Language: the civil ceremony in Vienna is held in German. If you don't speak enough German, you need an interpreter both for the registration and for the ceremony, and you pay for the interpreter yourselves. Ask the office whether it must be a sworn court interpreter; Austria's Ministry of Justice publishes the register of court interpreters.
• Witnesses: optional, up to two. They must be at least 18, bring photo ID and understand the language of the ceremony. If your best friend flies in from Boston and doesn't speak German, plan for the interpreter to cover them too.
• Length: the ceremony itself is short; the US Embassy mentions about 15 minutes.
• Photos: photos and filming are allowed as long as they don't disturb the ceremony. Images in which the registrar can be recognized may only be published online with their consent (City of Vienna).

After the wedding: certificate and recognition at home

Order an international marriage certificate together with the standard one. It is multilingual and makes life easier at home (oesterreich.gv.at).

• United States: US authorities need an apostille on your Austrian marriage certificate, according to the US Embassy. In Vienna the City issues it for €24.20 per document, by appointment (City of Vienna). Plan the appointment before you fly home.
• United Kingdom: a marriage abroad is recognized if it was lawful where it took place. You can't get a UK marriage certificate for it; your Austrian certificate is the document (GOV.UK).

Official fees

According to oesterreich.gv.at and the City of Vienna, as of October 2026:

• Determination of your capacity to marry: €74
• Submission of foreign documents: €193
• Ceremony in a Vienna ceremony hall: roughly €70 to €170, according to the City of Vienna
• Traumhochzeit at an approved outside venue: €670 Monday to Friday, €995 on Saturday, plus venue rental
• Marriage certificate: €11 plus €2.10 administrative fee
• Apostille on a Vienna certificate: €24.20

Not included: apostilles and translations at home, the affidavit fee at the US Embassy and your interpreter. Whether some fees apply per person or per couple isn't clear from the official pages, so ask the office for your total.

A timeline that works from abroad

1. Nine to twelve months ahead: choose your date and, for a Saturday or an outside venue, reserve your Traumhochzeit. The City of Vienna opens bookings for the whole following year in May. Send your first email to the tourist wedding office.
2. Six to nine months ahead: order birth certificates and apostilles at home. US apostilles come from each state separately, which can take weeks.
3. Up to six months ahead: registration of the marriage becomes possible. Agree with the office how and when it takes place.
4. A few weeks ahead: book your interpreter. Americans book the affidavit appointment at the US Embassy in Vienna.
5. Arrival: plan enough days in Vienna for any appointments before the ceremony. How many depends on your registration, so ask the office.
6. After the ceremony: collect your certificates and, for the US, the apostille before you fly home.

The simpler route: legal at home, ceremony in Vienna

In Austria only the civil marriage is legally valid; a purely religious or symbolic ceremony has no legal effect (oesterreich.gv.at). Some couples from abroad turn this around: they sign the papers at home, without guests and without stress, and celebrate their ceremony in Vienna in their own language, at a palais, in a garden or on a rooftop above the city. No apostilles, no interpreter, and the day in Vienna belongs entirely to you.

Same-sex couples

Marriage has been open to all couples in Austria since January 1, 2019. If your home country's law doesn't allow same-sex marriage, Austrian law applies instead (Private International Law Act, section 17). Whether your marriage is recognized at home depends on your home country.

Planning your photos from abroad

I'm a wedding photographer in Vienna and have photographed weddings here since 2014. With couples from abroad, our first conversation happens by video call at a time that suits your time zone, and we plan the day around your appointments, your guests and the light. The ceremony is short, so the photos afterwards are where Vienna comes in: a walk through the old town, a palais courtyard, a quiet corner most visitors never see.

Civil ceremony coverage in Vienna starts at €990 in Vienna for up to two hours, with the first images the next day. For a full wedding day, have a look at my wedding photography. And if the question has not been asked yet: proposal photography in Vienna.

This guide is not legal advice. All information was checked on October 8, 2026 against Austrian law, the City of Vienna, oesterreich.gv.at, the US Embassy in Vienna and GOV.UK. Rules and fees can change; the information from your registry office is always binding.