Useful Information

Legalities Of Planning A Wedding in Malta

The OurWedding guide:

• As a general rule, you will need to plan your wedding at least six months in advance – giving yourselves time for the various stages to come. This will include sourcing the locations for your ceremony and reception, as well as booking all the relevant service providers.
• Your ceremony – whether in a church or a civil venue – will need to be presided over by an official marriage registrar, priest or officer. You are also required to have two adult witnesses. The ceremony may be conducted in English or Maltese.
• You do not need to be a local resident to get married in Malta. If you are coming from overseas, we recommend that you get here a couple of days early so as to give yourselves time to go over the arrangements, as well as to meet with your officer or priest.
• Once you decide on a date, you will need to register between six weeks and three months in advance. In order to fulfil all the necessary legal requirements, both the bride and groom need to be at least 18 years of age, and cannot be related by blood, marriage or adoption.
• During this time, you will also need to request the publication of Marriage Banns at the Public Registry, and need to present form RZ1. At this stage you will need birth certificates showing your parents' names, your identity cards (with extra photocopies), as well as a copy of your witnesses’ ID cards.
• You will also need to provide form RZ2 (a Declaration on Oath). This must be signed in the presence of a Commissioner of Oaths, and sealed with their personal seal.  
• When applying at the Registrar’s Office, you will need to have various forms and documents with you, namely:

Forms RZ1 & 2
Passports and photocopies
Full birth certificates for both the bride and groom
A ‘Free Status Certificate’ from your local registrar or declaration that you are free to marry
An affidavit signed in the presence of a lawyer that states you have not remarried after the death of your former spouse, or your previous divorce. If you have been divorced then your first marriage certificate and the final divorce papers must be shown. If you are widowed then the death certificate of your previous spouse must be shown.

• Finally, the Marriage Registrar will also need: the date of your wedding, the name of the priest or celebrant, and the surname by which the bride will be known after the wedding. These documents will need to be collected 10 days before the wedding and presented to the Marriage Officer/parish priest in the locality where you are getting married.