Myself (British) and my Fiance (Swiss) are trying to organise getting married. We just want it to be the two of us, simple and not cost a fortune.

We were looking into getting married in CH but I'm having trouble getting a certificate of no impediment as I am in Switzerland as a tourist currently, not offically resident anywhere .

Looking at going to Scotland now as there are no residency requirements, does anyone know how complex it is to register a foriegn marriage in CH?

Alternatively Vegas is suddenly looking very attractive... are Vegas weddings recognised in CH?

Why we didn't do this before we left the UK I have no idea.... stupid mistake!!

If you are from the UK, have you considered just asking the consulate to provide you with said certificate?

I rang the consulate/embassy this morning. They said they'd ring back and .... nothing! But I think the problem will be that I am not resident offically here at the moment, so I don't think they'll do it!

Can't you just write to someone in the UK then?

If you get married in another country, your wife needs to contact the Swiss embassy BEFORE you get married to tell them that she is getting married and wishes to retain her Swiss citizenship, otherwise she risks losing it (or at least make things much more complicated to keep it, been there/done that).

Otherwise, it's no problem at all to register it here.

Tom

A lady that started at our company misunderstood the criminal record check (i.e. because she was CH resident at that time she could have got one from her Gemeinde/local authority, same as any Swiss or resident). Instead she went to the trouble of getting her local police force from where she was last resident in the UK to produce one for her which was admirable but unnecessary.

The point is that perhaps you could get in touch with the police in the UK where you last were resident, explain to them the problem, then perhaps they can cobble one together for you.

Is there a reason you don't want to become resident here in Switzerland? It might solve a lot of your issues and make the whole to-ing and fro-ing of documents a lot easier. If you want to settle here with your future husband you are going to have to go through the (not difficult) process sooner or later.

To answer one of the questions -

My wife (German) and I (USA) are both currently Swiss residents. We decided to get married in Germany instead of Switzerland - it wasn't a problem at all. Switzerland recognizes EU marriage certificates.

I had to go to the US consulate in Bern to sign an affidavit that I was eligible to marry (I had to take along the divorce papers from my first marriage), then submit those to the German authorities. It took a couple of weeks, because a judge had to rule that we were allowed to marry. It cost us a couple of hundred Euros in court fees, but it wasn't much hassle (I didn't have to appear in court, the judge made his ruling based on the papers we submitted).

When we were married in the UK we needed to register our wedding with the Swiss consulate in London as my wife was currently living in the UK - best to check on this also.

My husband (Swiss) and I (Canadian) got married here in Switzerland with him and his family at cityhall... I was living in Germany at the time and really the whole thing was quite simple and inexpensive. I needed to send his Gemeinde a long copy birth certificate (I ordered it over the Internet on the Canadian government website... I think that cost me about $60). I also needed proof of my residence in Germany (5euro), passport, etc. Because the proof for marriage from country to country and gemeinde to gemeinde may be different..., best to get your future wife to ask them exactly what documentation they need ahead of time. Set a date and time with them and they will do a lovely short ceremony for you at city hall (Í believe it was less than 200chf). We even had 5 or 6 of my husbands family members there. We chose to dress nicely.. But you can probably wear what you want to. We threw a small family party afterwards at his parents house. Iguess al the food and drinks cost around 250chf... So a really nice, inexpensive way to get married with family and friends... I don't regret it at all and the price really was ok... it will be less if you choose to not throw a party or dress-up. Good luck to you and your future wife

I am quite happy to be a resident here, I have been before. But until December I do not have a job, therefore no contract and therefore no permit!

Thanks for all the advice guys. I have managed to speak to the embassy, looks like I'll be making a trip to Bern to get a certificate of civil status! Hopefully that will be that, all sorted... but my experiences with Swiss authorites make me doubt this .

Fingers crossed!!

PS: I'm the future wife, marrying Swiss man. I don't think the UK would be daft enough to take my British Citizenship

PPS Where did the myth come from that the Swiss are efficient?

UK: New birth cert = ordered online in seconds, including postage £23.

CH: Sign a bit of paper to say I'm single = 101chf plus trip to Bern.

Efficient at parting you from your money?

You don't give up your British citizenship even through marriage.

Wow...where did you get married for under 200chf? We were married in Basel Stadt at the city hall and it was 600chf and quite a lot of paperwork (This is not meant to be critical...I am genuinely curious. I wish I would have known of another option when we were married!)

We paid CHF 170 last year, at our municipio, maybe another 100 for various paperwork.

Tom

Sorry, i don't know why... I just assume every poster is a guy unless I saw something stated otherwise *oops* But strange about this paper saying you are single... we needed no trip to Bern. I will ask my hubby when he gets home about this part.

The clue was 'fiancé' and not 'fiancée' on the first post!

My (english) son needed an expensive bit of paper from the British Consulate to say he was 'unencumbered' when he married a swiss girl a few years ago.
I'm not sure if you only need it if you're marrying a swiss person though or if it applies to all nationalities who plan to marry on swiss soil.

All the info you need should be here.

http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-...NI-nulla-ostas

Thanks!
I just hope this Certificate of Civil Status is the same as a Certificate of no Impediment & Visp Zivilstandsamt accept it!

Swiss marrying other Swiss don't need it.

Tom

Okay, so I asked my husband and it seems my status was stated in my Passport or my long form Birth Certificate from Canada. This is why we didn't need the trip to Bern. Apprently the Gemeinde proofing his papers, my papers and the ceremony together cost around 300chf... He says about double what a Swiss/Swiss city hall marriage costs because of my paperwork and checking probably was 1-2 days work for them. Hope this helps...