Cyprus Moments – Summary of legal requirements for Orthodox weddings in Cyprus.

Letter of Freedom – This is obtained from your local church & district. You will need one each. If one of the two is not of Orthodox religion but of Anglican you will need to conduct a civil wedding before the church wedding as the Wedding license is accepted as your Freedom to marry certificate. If one of the two is of other religion then an Orthodox Baptism must be conducted and then you too can obtain a Letter of Freedom from the Orthodox Church accompanied with your baptism certificate.

Stigma Certificate (Thalassemia) – This certificate can either be obtained in your home country either through a state or private hospital or here in Cyprus recommendable 3months before your wedding date.

Birth certificates - For both Bride & Groom Passports for Bride & Groom - Passport photocopies of both passports plus for the two witnesses, if you do not have witnesses this can be arranged in Cyprus. The originals may be asked for when finalizing the wedding date, if the witnesses are not arriving until later this still does not propose a problem. Decree Absolute - (If either party has been married before) this has to be the original document. Death Certificate - (If either party is widowed) and previous Marriage Certificate. For those who will also need a Civil wedding you both must also have:-

Affidavits - One for each Bride & Groom. Declaration of being single, from their country(s) of origin. These declarations (or certificates) can be obtained from the registry office / parish registry, the Ministry of the Interior (Home office) or Foreign Ministry (Foreign Office) of their countries or even from their Embassies. The documents must be translated into Greek or English. Applicants who are holders of UK passports can obtain their Affidavits in resort at a charge of 2CY pounds per person approximately form the Supreme Court or from a lawyer in England. The translated documents must be certified and signed by the above mentioned legal persons.

NEW - For persons living in Cyprus - for more than 8 months and/or are holders of a residential or work permit (pink slip) or for persons marrying to Cypriots must obtain apart from the paperwork mentioned above a Confirmation of being single/divorced certificate issued by the Ministry of Interior Nicosia. In order to apply for this certificate you first need an affidavit signed and countersigned by the Supreme Court in Cyprus which needs to be taken together with your passport, pink slip and your partner’s

passport. The cost of the above certificate costs 35 Euros and can take up to 14 working days to be issued.