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Marriage

A citizen of the Czech Republic may enter into marriage with a foreign national in the Czech Republic through a civil or a religious marriage. A civil marriage is performed by a public official (the mayor, deputy mayor, a designated member of the municipal council, or a registrar, if permitted by law), while a religious wedding ceremony is officiated by a representative of a church or religious organisation.

Marriage is entered into by the free and full consent of a man and a woman who intend to marry (the fiancés), expressed through a declaration that they are entering into marriage. The declaration of consent is made publicly and solemnly in the presence of two witnesses.

Things to Do Before Entering into Marriage

First, decide on the place and the approximate date of your wedding. If you want a civil marriage, contact the civil registry office that has jurisdiction over the administrative district of your wedding ceremony venue. Civil registry offices can be found at town (city) halls or city district offices. If you would like a religious marriage ceremony, contact a person authorised by a church or religious organisation recognised by the state.

In Prague, the agenda of civil registry offices is performed by city district offices’ civil administrative departments – divisions of registers.

Civil Marriage

Contact the civil registry office well in advance to ensure that all required paperwork can be completed on time (for the required documents, see below). At the office, you will set the exact date of your wedding and learn all you need to know.

If one of the foreign-national fiancés does not understand Czech, the civil registry office needs to be informed. In this case, it will be necessary to have the wedding ceremony interpreted by a court-appointed interpreter, who will then sign the Protocol on Contracting Marriage.

Required documents

Before entering into marriage, the fiancés must complete the Questionnaire for Entering into Marriage. This form is available at the civil registry office and can also be downloaded here. The first part of the form is filled in by the fiancés (with the help of a civil registry official), and the second part is filled in by the civil registry official.

In addition, you must provide the following documents to prove your legal competence to enter into marriage:

  • The fiancé who has Czech citizenship submits:

1) Birth certificate (original or officially certified copy)

2) Czech identity card or a valid travel document (if the ID does not include information on personal status and permanent residence address, it is also necessary to provide this information by submitting an extract from the Information System of Inhabitant Records).

3) Extracts from the Information System of Inhabitant Records on personal status and the permanent residence abroad or equivalent documents issued by the state in which the fiancé(e) permanently resides (if issued by the foreign state).

4) Court final judgement of divorce of a previous marriage (if the fiancé(e) is divorced) or a death certificate of a deceased spouse, if the fiancé(e) is widowed.

  • The fiancé who is a foreign national submits:

1) Identification document

2) Birth certificate

3) Certificate of nationality (can be confirmed by a travel document)

4) Certificate of legal competence to enter into marriage, not older than 6 months on the day of the marriage.

The issuance of this Certificate is under the purview of your country of origin. Ask at your embassy if they can help and issue the document, or if you have to travel to your country of origin to get it.

5) Certificate of personal status and residence, if it is issued by the foreign country and if it is not part of the certificate of legal competence to enter into marriage.

6) Death certificate of a deceased spouse, if the fiancé(e) is widowed.

7) Court final judgement of divorce of a previous marriage (if the fiancé(e) is divorced).

8) No later than on the day of marriage: Confirmation of legal residence in the Czech Republic issued by the Foreign Police of the CR not earlier than 7 working days before the marriage. This does not apply, if the fiancé(e) is a citizen of the European Union, a citizen of a contracting state to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, or their family member.

Submitted documents issued by foreign authorities must be officially authenticated, unless stipulated otherwise by an international agreement, and must be officially translated into Czech. The civil registry office may waive the requirement for authentication of documents if it constitutes an insurmountable obstacle.

Protocol on Contracting Marriage

Based on the documents listed above, you will fill in the Protocol on Contracting Marriage at the civil registry office together with the registry official. The Protocol includes names, surnames, and national identification numbers of witnesses. Foreign nationals provide their date and place of birth instead of a national identification number.

During the wedding ceremony, witnesses are required to prove their identity by an identification document (ID or passport).

Religious Marriage

A religious wedding ceremony can only be conducted by an authorised representative of a state-recognised church or religious organisation.

The documents that need to be submitted are the same as the documents required for civil marriage (see above).

Come in person to the civil registry office with jurisdiction over the place of your religious wedding ceremony and submit a written application for a Certificate of no impediment to a religious marriage. You will then provide this certificate to the representative of your church or religious organisation. On the wedding day, this document must not be older than 3 months.

The church representative will deliver the Protocol on Contracting Marriage to the civil registry office within 3 working days after the wedding.

Foreign National’s Obligations after the Wedding

After the wedding, the registry office will issue you a marriage certificate.

Make sure that you keep your marriage certificate safe – it is an essential proof of your marital status.

If you are a third-country national, report the change of your personal status and the change of your surname (if any) to the Department for Asylum and Migration Policy (OAMP) of the Ministry of the Interior of the CR within 3 working days. All third-country nationals who hold a long-term visa, long-term residence permit, or permanent residence permit in the Czech Republic are required to report the change of their civil status.

EU citizens and their family members report changes in marital status and name within 15 working days.

If you change your surname after the wedding, you must apply for a new passport at your home country embassy. It is probable that the embassy will require that you first provide an official translation of your marriage certificate in the language of your country of origin.

Submit the new passport at the OAMP. The OAMP will most probably issue a new residence permit for you.

Community Property of Spouses

In the Czech Republic, once a couple gets married, their property rights change to a special statutory regime of co-ownership of property and financial obligations. It is called the community property of spouses. The community property of spouses includes everything acquired by one or both of the spouses during their marriage. Exceptions are, in particular, assets that serve the personal needs of one of the spouses and assets that were acquired as a gift or inheritance by only one of the spouses.

Spouses in the CR may agree on a matrimonial property regime different from the statutory one. The spouses may agree to expand or reduce the scope of the community property. Such an agreement must be executed in the form of a notarial deed.

If one of the spouses is engaged in business activities, it may be advisable to reduce the scope of the community property of spouses in order to limit the impact of that spouse’s business-related obligations on the joint property.

Property Settlement after Divorce

In the event of a divorce and the division of property in the Czech Republic, it is first necessary to determine whether the Czech Republic recognises the marriage concluded in the country where the wedding took place. To be able to file for divorce in the Czech Republic, both spouses, or at least one of them, must have their habitual residence in the Czech Republic. The spouses’ nationality and habitual residence are important factors in determining whether the property to be settled forms part of the community property of spouses.

In the event of a divorce involving an international element, matters relating to the division of property are assessed in accordance with the rules of private international law. In particular, the spouses’ nationality, their place of habitual residence, or an agreement between the spouses may be decisive factors. In individual cases, we recommend seeking legal advice.

In all other cases (i.e. one of the spouses is Czech and the other one is a foreign national / both spouses are foreigners with different nationalities), Czech law applies, providing that one of the spouses or both have their habitual residence in the CR.

Not sure which rules apply to the division of your property? Contact the Integration Centre Prague or another NGO for free legal advice.

11. June, 2026