Legal framework for marriage registration |
Law 61.025 (9 October 1961) amended by Law 90.015 (20 July 1990)
Law 2007-022 on marriage and matrimonial status |
Official authorities in charge of registering a marriage |
Mayors of the urban and rural communes, Deputies, Special assistants (Municipal Ordinance, 24 August 1960, article 72)
The national coordination authority is the Ministry of Interior and Decentralisation (Municipal Ordinance, 24 August 1960, articles 94–242). |
Organizational structure |
Decentralized |
Legal age for marriage |
18 years old for both sexes;
Exemptions: The President of the Tribunal Court of First Instance may authorize marriage before age 18 on serious grounds at the request and consent of the father and mother or the person exercising authority over the child and the consent of the child. The consent shall be given to the President of the First Instance and found in the court decision authorizing marriage.
(Law No. 2007-022, article 3) |
Is there a legal obligation to register marriages? |
Yes, with the occurrence of a ‘marriage’ defined as:
– When a man and a woman appear before the Civil Registration Officer who receives their consent;
– When a man and a woman complete the ceremonies in traditional forms for permanent union between them (Law No. 2007-022, article 2) |
Is an official marriage certificate issued as a result of marriage registration? |
Yes, immediately;
At the time of registration of the marriage, the spouses are to be provided free of charge a family record book showing the identity of the spouses, the date and place of the marriage and, if applicable, if a contract has been drawn up or not. This first page is signed by the spouses and the registrar. On the following pages are inscribed: births and deaths of children, adoptions and rejections, recognition and legitimation of natural children, death or divorce of spouses. In the event that a civil status document is corrected, it must be mentioned in this booklet (Law 61.025, article 60). |
Legal informant to register a marriage |
Spouses |
Time allowed for registration |
No, because marriage is celebrated by the Civil Registration Officer |
Fee for marriage registration |
No |
Can the fee be increased or waived? |
No |
Fee for marriage certificate |
Yes |
Penalty for late registration |
No |
Other official fees involved in the marriage registration process |
Yes, the fee varies by civil registration centre and the day of celebration |
Additional registration requirements or fees if one spouse was born outside the country or has dual citizenship |
No |
Requirements for marriage registration |
Consent of future spouses, with each spouse providing or transmitting to the registrar a certified copy of his or her birth certificate prior to the celebration or registration of the marriage (Law No. 2007-022, article 11) |
Information collected |
The marriage certificate must state:
– Surname, forename, profession, age, date and place of birth, filiation and residence of the spouses;
– Consent of the parents, under the conditions laid down by the Marriage Act;
– Nationality declared by the future spouses on the question referred to them by the civil registrar;
– Declaration by the civil registrar that the contractors have declared or agreed to take the spouse;
– The first names, names, ages, occupation and habitual residence of the witnesses.
(Law 61.025, article 35) |
Processing |
Manually (on paper) |
Place of registration |
Registration office in the commune where the marriage occurred
(Law No. 61.025) |
A marriage certificate is required for: |
Inheritance, Obtaining social assistance |
Process for establishing vital statistics on marriage |
The civil registrar must establish an annual alphabetic table of civil registration acts, but the law does not cover exploitation or utilization of those data (Law 61.025). Secondary legislation states that vital events are notified to National Institute of Statistics (INSTAT) by statistical forms, which are signed by the civil registrar and standardized across the country. The transmission of statistical bulletins by the civil registration centres should be done monthly. Data processing is done manually because the Vital Statistics Department is not equipped with computer equipment; due to manual processing of data and inadequate numbers of staff, tabulation is limited to the priority tables provided in the United Nations Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System. |