British Citizen marrying Tunisian citizen

Hi there,


I am wondering what the process is of getting married in Tunisia.


I am British and my fiancée, he is from Tunisia.


I understand that I will have to go to the British Embassy but I am actually confused about the whole process. What do I do first? We are planning to get married next April and I will only have 2 weeks to be there. Is there any time scale I need to be there to and from?


If someone could list the documents we both need and the process step by step that would be really helpful.


We are both Muslim also so there will be a religious ceremony also. Does this have anything to do with letting the embassy know or is that just to we can it legalised?


Thank you

@anniesarmad Don't

@anniesarmad

congratulations !! I take it it once married you will be living in Tunisia ??


A lot of British Citizens marring there on the pretence they can then get their Tunisian Husband here to the UK ? Very very difficult and the chances are your visa for this will be declined for sure.


sorry to be so blunt

Just to add that a religious ceremony is not recognised legally.

Its a long and expensive process that has a high cost and possible long waiting time

Don't rush if you do get married

Wait for the visa process after because that will be the period u will see him

If he pressures you to start the process if he argues with u about it all see it as a sign

I told my hubby I'd like to live there with him he didn't want that he said yes OK but avoided that

I said if u love me it shouldn't matter where we live

He would say I hate Tunisia there is no work yet he never worked he was lazy

My advice is take you time



@Louisekhalil

I agree entirely with your comments Louise..


I've been married just over 20 yrs with my Tunisian husband and trust me it's no walk in the park and been very difficult and expensive to say the least however, I did put my husband to the test in the beginning and did say NO to a lot of things..



Thank you for your comments all however my fiancé and I have known each other for 2 years so we haven't rushed it. He has never once asked me for money or asked me for anything except patience.


I am quite simply not looking for advice on my relationship, I am needing help with the process. We are planning on staying here in the UK, however if the visa application is denied once we are staying in Tunisia as it is too expensive but we at least would like to try.


if anyone could help with how the process works, for example - what the British embassy visit is for and what documents I need and what I will get from them. Once I have an appointment will they give me something ok the same day to prove I can get married? I'm only going to be there for 2 weeks so need to work it around that appointment.   

From here you need  a copy of your birth certificate that is not more than 3 weeks old so I suggest you get that as close to the time as possible you need to do a certificate of impediment stating you are allowed to marry and also if you are divorced a copy of those.

He needs his id and birth certificate

You need to pre book before you marry an appointment at the embassy where they will stamp your papers and then you are free to marry within that time period

You will then need to translate all your documents and do blood tests and then get married


Hope thats helpful

And it's not about now how long you have known him its after the marriage how much pressure there is I hope you are happy inshallah

@Louisekhalil thank you for your reply, I appreciate it. I understand that and I pray to Allah SWT that nothing like that happens. He doesn't pressure me now. I am the one that wants to get things moving. He always says to me be patient. He is very understanding Alhamdulillah.









@Louisekhalil where do I get the certificate of non impediment?

I got mine from registered office but if you are getting married in April you don't get it till March

@Louisekhalil thank you so much.


so from the uk for me I need

  • birth certificate (no more than 3 weeks before)
  • passport
  • any other ID?
  • Certificate on non impediment


my fiancé needs

  • ID
  • Passport


will he need anything else or do I?


i need to make an appointment at the embassy to check my papers and then they give me a paper to say I'm free to marry? Do I have to get them translated before or after?


and does this all happen in the same day? As we are only there for 2 weeks and he lives in Sousse which is 2 hours away from the embassy I will need to know all of this so I can be prepared that's all. Thank you for yourself so far

@anniesarmad Congratulations! I am in exactly the same boat, I am a British getting married to a Tunisian (looking to go in a few months), its been a rollercoaster in terms of preparing documents though!

You will need:

Your passport/his passport or National ID card

Medical report for both

Birth certificate for both

You will need to provide a certificate of no impediment (book with your local council it will take a month, and then you will have to send it to FCO for  apostille (another 2 weeks)

You may need these documents stamped at the embassy in Tunisia (make sure to book an appointment soon because they get filled VERY quickly!)

Also, you will need your documents translated to French.

@gadearayed ooo congratulations to you too and thank you!!


I have seen that I will need all those documents however I don't know who needs what and in what order of importance.


going to the embassy with all those documents is just to get the certificate that I'm free to marry in the Tunsia is that right? And the actual legal marriage ceremony has to be done by a registrar is that correct? We will also be having an Islamic ceremony which I know is not legally recognised so that would be separate.


why do I need to send the CNI off?


thanks for your help so far!

@gadearayed I don't know what fco apostle means i never had to do that I just got the certificate which took 14 days

@anniesarmad Yes we will be doing an Islamic ceremony too. Ok this is what you do;


You need your partners info, full name address, job title and the city/borough you will be getting married in. You take this info and you contact your local council in the UK, you tell them you want to get married abroad and you need a certificate of no impediment, you book an appointment and there they will take your info and your partners info, and the certificate will be ready in a month. You get this legalised (i.e the apostille) check here: https://www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised this will take 2 weeks approximately. This certificate will be valid for 6 months in Tunisia, but try to get it closer to the date. This document takes the longest to get the rest are simple. When it is ready translate it into either Arabic or French - both works I believe.


If you have been previously married you will need proof of divorce.


For the medical certificate get your partner to book an appointment for you both, you can usually get that done in one day.


You will need your passport and his passport or national ID, and your birth certificates.


I would also suggest booking an appt with the embassy in Tunisia (I haven't done that and bookings in 2022 are all filled, so I am going to risk it and see if I can do without it)

@Louisekhalil yes that's the one, its the document legalisation.

why do I need to send the CNI off?


-@anniesarmad


Tunisian authorities are quite strict, and they would want to see the document legalised and stamped etc.

@gadearayed the embassy is a must i tried first time and they refused me I couldn't get an appointment so I even tried turning up calling and it was a no. They said keep trying on line appointments turn up and I came back k to UK and then found an appointment and went back

@Louisekhalil Oh no! I am going in October and 2022 appts are all booked. Can I ask which borough you got married in? Do you think they differ in rules?

@gadearayed this is the most helpful reply ive had! thank you so much


I have a question about the affidavit. What is that? Do i need to write anything out and take it or do I just go there will all my docs such as passport, birth certificate and CNI and then do they give me something that confirms im free to marry?


also the medical certificate...when my fiancee books that for us, do we have to ask for a specific thing? what do we tell the doctors/hospital?



oh another thing, going to the embassy doesnt mean we are legally married does it? that visit is solely for the purpose of giving us the go ahead to get married right? So how do I go about getting legally married under Tunisian Law? Would we have to marry at a register office or...

@anniesarmad Once you have all the documents book an registry appt with the local council (the one mentioned in the CNI) and it will cost approximately 300 TND.

Hi,


I had my appointment at the British Embassy in Tunis yesterday (18/10/2022) and received my CNI from them, I did not need to get one from the U.K, everything was done at the embassy in about 45 mins.


There is a lot of info on the web stating you need to wait 7 days for the CNI if done at the embassy, this info is clearly incorrect and also the info that you need to obtain the CNI from U.K is also not correct, I followed the guidance on the .Gov website and also called the embassy to confirm.


The Documents I took with me were;


  1. My Passport
  2. Her Passport
  3. Birth Certificate
  4. Divorce Certificate


You will also need you partners address in Tunisia to put on the affirmation which you will sign in the presence of a consular official and thats it. Once all this is done you will have your shiny new Certificate of No Impediment.


Hope this helps those who are also in the same boat as myself.


A note appointments, new dates seem to come available every week even though it may say nothing is available and they are for Tuesdays and Thursdays.

This is so good to read ThAnkyou

@shaz3567 omg..thankyou for this information. Because right now I feel I need to throw the towel in. I too hoping to marry in tunisa in February. I am English women, marriage to tunisian man. How did you get the appointment with tunisian embassy?because I try so hard to do this. What about your birth certificate??how old was it? I here it as to be no more than 21 days old? Please can you give me all the details 🙏

@lainahudson you can make an appointment on the following website, they only release the dates 3-4 weeks prior to the date you are looking for. When I first started looking in August there was nothing available for October, I kept checking every week and on the 20th of September the date I wanted became available.


https://www.book-consular-appointment.s … service=13


So I would start checking in January if you want a date in Feb, also the 21 day rule for the birth certificate is required by the Tunisian Officials not the British Embassy for the CNI. So you could get you CNI first and then do everything else,  think its valid up to 3 months.


My Birth Certificate was issued on the 24th of September, but since I had to get it from Pakistan, my partner spoke to the council and they said they will allow it to be older than 21 days. The British Embassy didnt say anything about it being older than 21 days

@shaz3567 wow! thank you so much for this information and so in detail. I really appreciate every bit of help, advice and info from anyone. I have a question about the appointment. The appointment is to receive a certificate to say we can get married isnt it? like legally in the country? and also do you have to be in the country a certain amount of days before the appointment or not? I was told it would have to be 3 days...so many different answers :(

@shaz3567 Hi

Thankyou so much for the information. Can I please ask you about the documents, do they need to be translated into Arabic? And if so, do you do that before going to your appointment? And also I here you have to go to medical center for blood test? Is this right? My husband to be is tunisian and lives in tunisa. Does his birth certificate need to be no more than 21 days old? Sorry I ask so many questions, but it is quite daunting. Any information you have that can help will be appreciated. 😁

@shaz3567 congratulations, I'm guessing you are happily married now. I was wondering if you have the time would you be able to write out step by step with the time frame you applied for everything and what order you done it all in. There are many things being contradicticed and it seems like you have the best knowledge and experience on this. I'm so lost on what to apply for and when and what language things need to be translated into, your help would be so appreciated. Wishing you all the best for your future. Thank you again

Ive been dating my partner nearly a year now.Im from Scotland UK and he's from sfax Tunisia. We are planning a get married within the next year. I wanted to ask several questions. We are going for a register office wedding. I am divorced from previous marriage. Can some tell me do I get all my documents over there at embassy. Or take my divorce papers passport and birthline from UK. And what the documents that need to be in french or Arabic.

@lorrainegillan hi Lorraine you need a CNI to prove you are divorced and a birth certificate valid within 21 days for the embassy :)

Hi I am also wanting to marry my Tunisian partner could someone please tell me how much money I need in my bank account as people are telling me I need 10,000 in my account otherwise we cannot marry , we will be living in Tunisia once married well hopefully of all goes to plan, congratulations to all the above I hope you will all be happy in love and life once married, if anyone could let me know that would be amazing suzie

Its a long and expensive process that has a high cost and possible long waiting time
Don't rush if you do get married
Wait for the visa process after because that will be the period u will see him
If he pressures you to start the process if he argues with u about it all see it as a sign
I told my hubby I'd like to live there with him he didn't want that he said yes OK but avoided that
I said if u love me it shouldn't matter where we live
He would say I hate Tunisia there is no work yet he never worked he was lazy
My advice is take you time


-@Louisekhalil

Hi would you be able go

tell me roughly how much money I need in my account to marry my partner, I've been told I need £10.000 I'm not sure how this is as surly if you are in love it shouldn't matter about how much money someone has

if you could help with any information that would be amazing

suzie

@suzielewis31 I don't think money got anything to do with it !!!

@Ozitoun

ok thank you I will continue to read up all i need to do

Hi I am also wanting to marry my Tunisian partner could someone please tell me how much money I need in my bank account as people are telling me I need 10,000 in my account otherwise we cannot marry , we will be living in Tunisia once married well hopefully of all goes to plan, congratulations to all the above I hope you will all be happy in love and life once married, if anyone could let me know that would be amazing suzie
-@suzielewis31

@Yolaine Rbt getting married is the easy part

if one day ( although u stated you're planning to live in Tunisia )you decide to move back

his visa won't be a piece of cake …good luck thou….

@suzielewis31 Hi




I have just come back from tunisa a week ago, I got married whilst I was there. You don't need any money in your account. No one asked to see my bank account. Wishing you lots of luck and happiness 😊