International {couples} flock to Denmark to get married, much more than locals

By JAMES BROOKS, Related Press

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Going through advanced forms at house in Poland, Magdalena Kujawińska and her Colombian fiancé Heinner Valenzuela traveled to Copenhagen to develop into husband and spouse.

“We realized that it’s not that simple to get married in Poland,” the 30-year-old Kujawińska mentioned because the couple waited for his or her 10-minute ceremony on the Danish capital’s Nineteenth-century Metropolis Corridor.

“You want a certificates that you’re not married,” she mentioned. “We tried to get it from Colombia, nevertheless it’s solely legitimate for 3 months, and it couldn’t get to Poland from Colombia in three months. It was simply not possible for us.”

The couple, who dwell in Krakow, had been engaged for greater than three years when Kujawińska heard about Denmark’s comparatively relaxed marriage legal guidelines from a colleague. Working with a web-based wedding ceremony planner, the couple ready the required paperwork.

“And in 4 days, we had the choice that the wedding may very well be executed right here,” a smiling Kujawińska mentioned.

Copenhagen attracts {couples} from world wide

{Couples} who don’t dwell in Denmark, each mixed- and same-sex, are more and more getting married within the Scandinavian nation — prompting some to dub Copenhagen the “Las Vegas of Europe.”

The pinnacle of the wedding workplace at Copenhagen Metropolis Corridor, Anita Okkels Birk Thomsen, mentioned that about 8,000 wedding ceremony ceremonies had been carried out there final 12 months. Of these, some 5,400 of them had been for {couples} wherein neither associate was a Danish resident.

“That’s virtually double what we noticed 5 years in the past,” she mentioned. “They arrive from everywhere in the world.”

Metropolis desires to make sure room for locals

However the metropolis sees a draw back to that: demand for ceremonies at Metropolis Corridor now far exceeds the variety of slots accessible.

Mia Nyegaard, the Copenhagen official in control of tradition and leisure, mentioned in an announcement to The Related Press that the “important rise” within the variety of international {couples} getting married within the capital “poses challenges for Copenhagen-based {couples} wishing to get married.”

Native authorities plan to take motion. Nyegaard mentioned about 40% of wedding ceremony slots accessible at Metropolis Corridor can be reserved for Copenhagen residents ranging from the top of October. Whereas reserving a slot there may be the obvious option to get married within the metropolis, arranging a ceremony with a non-public registrar can also be an possibility, and that gained’t be affected.

Copenhagen lawmakers will take care of the summer season break at what else they’ll do to alleviate total strain on wedding ceremony capability within the metropolis.

Liberal legal guidelines

Denmark’s marriage legal guidelines are liberal in a number of methods. In 1989, the nation turned the world’s first to permit the registration of same-sex civil unions. The legalization of same-sex marriage adopted in 2012.

For unions of all types, Denmark — in contrast to many different European nations — doesn’t require a start certificates or proof of single standing to acquire a certificates that grants the correct to get married in Denmark inside 4 months. Officers would possibly, in instances the place divorce papers don’t present clearly {that a} divorce has been finalized, ask for a civil standing certificates.

Functions to Denmark’s company of household regulation price 2,100 kroner ($326), and {couples} are issued with a certificates inside 5 working days in the event that they fulfill the necessities.

Non-resident {couples} can journey to Denmark and get married with only a legitimate passport and, if required, a vacationer visa.