Foreign Marriage Registration (Jun, 2024)

An individual seeking to execute a Qualified Investment Project (“QIP”) is required to present a written application for Investment Project Registration to either the Council for Development of Cambodia (“CDC”) or the Provincial-Municipal Investment Sub-committee (“PMIS”). This is necessary to secure the associated incentives, guarantees, and protections in accordance with prevailing laws and regulations.

There are three (03) different types of marriage registration that may apply to foreign marriages as follows :

A. Marriage Between Two Foreign Parties

Two foreign partners who legally reside in Cambodia and wish to get married in Cambodia may register their marriage in accordance with the laws of Cambodia or may register their marriage at the Embassy of its own country located in Cambodia. To register their marriage in accordance with the laws of Cambodia, the couple shall request to the registrar at the place of their permanent residence, specifying the place and time of the wedding. They are required to complete the marriage application form and attach the certificate of single status, birth certificate, residential book and copy of their passport with a valid visa.

B. Marriage Between a Foreigner and a Cambodian Citizen

For a marriage between a foreigner and a Cambodian citizen in Cambodia, the foreign party must be present in Cambodia to complete the marriage procedure. The process begins with the completion of the marriage application by the future couple to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; the documents will then be sent to the Ministry of Interior (General Department of Identification) for further processing.
The foreign partner shall have:

1. Completed marriage application form with 4×6 facial photos (taken in front of the face within the last 03 months).
2. Copy of passport showing valid visa and legal entry into Cambodia.
3. Certificate of single status or widow issued by the authority of their country.
4. Health certificate issued by a hospital recognized by the Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
5. Letter of condemnation (criminal record check) issued by the authorities of their country.
6. Letter of condemnation (criminal record check) issued by Cambodian authorities.
7. Occupation letter that shows monthly income.
8. Work permit in Cambodia (if any).

The foreign partner shall have:

1. Completed marriage application form with 4×6 facial photos (taken in front of the face within the last 03 months).
2. Birth certificate.
3. Certificate of single status or widow status issued by the Commune/Sangkat Chief of their permanence resident (in case they are a widow, they must attach the death certificate of the deceased, and if they have divorced then they must attach the final verdict from the court).
4. Health certificate issued by a hospital recognized by the Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
5. Family book or residential book.

The process in the Ministry of of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation will take 15 days with an official fee of 500,000 Riels (approximately 120 USD) in order to review and approve the marriage application. They will then issue an official letter addressed to the Ministry of Interior. After receiving the documents from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Ministry of Interior shall review all the attached documents again, focusing on the required conditions contained in the Sub-Decree No.183 អនក្រ.បក. At this stage the couple must present themselves at the Ministry of Interior, and they will be interviewed by the concerned officials. The process at the Ministry of Interior will take at least 15 days with an official fee of 800,000 Riels (approximately 200 USD).

The approval of the marriage application by the Ministry of Interior (General Department of Identification and as the General Registrar) will result in the issuance of an official decision to allow the future couple to continue to register their marriage at the Commune/Sangkat at the permanent residence of the Cambodian partner. After receiving this official decision, the Cambodian partner shall submit the marriage application to the registrar with the following attached documents:

1. Marriage application,
2. Birth certificate,
3. Certificate of single status or widow status issued by the Commune/Sangkat Chief of their permanence resident,
4. Health certificate issued by a hospital recognized by the Ministry of Health of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

At this stage, the documents of Cambodian partner and foreign partner shall be submitted together to the Commune/Sangkat registrar at the permanent residence of the Cambodian partner and the registration will take around 02 weeks. The Commune/Sangkat registrar will review all the documents and if everything is correct, they will issue 05 copies of the “Marriage Proclamation”. The Marriage Proclamation shall be publicly posted for a 10 day period at 1) The permanence resident of the Cambodian partner, 2) The Commune/Sangkat at the permanent residence of the Cambodian partner, and the other three copies shall be 1) Kept in the archive at Commune/Sangkat at the permanent residence of the Cambodian partner, 2) Kept at the Consulate/Embassy of the foreign partner, if any, and 2) At the residence of the foreign partner in Cambodia, if any. If there is no complaint within the 10 days period of public posting, then the couple may register their marriage.

C. Marriage Between a Foreigner and a Cambodian Citizen

A Cambodian and foreign couple who have been issued with a marriage certificate from a foreign authority may have their marriage recognized by Cambodian law, as long as their marriage is not contradictory to the requirements and conditions stipulated in the laws of Cambodia. The couple can request re-registration of the marriage certificate in Cambodia by using their marriage certificate from the foreign authority as the prime supporting document. To do so, the couple need only submit the application to the General Department of Identification, and the General Department of Identification will then issue an official decision to allow the couple to continue to register their marriage at the Commune/ Sangkat at the permanent residence of the Cambodian partner.

III. Common Difficulties in Registration

As per our observation, there are some common complexities that arise from the filling of documents to apply for the marriage registration, and thus, preparing all of the supporting documents is a crucial stage. Some documents have a validity period, such as the criminal record check (03 months validity period), the Certificate of single status or widow status (03 months validity period), therefore the arrangement in obtaining these documents should be carried out timely manner so they do not need to be re-issued. The required supporting documents can often differ year-on-year, therefore the applicant should know beforehand whether the documents obtained are usable and/or can be replaced by a similar document. Some required documents of the foreign partner may need to be certified as a true copy from their consulate/embassy in Cambodia or may need to be certified as a true copy from a notary public in their home country, and thus this should be taken into account. It is also not uncommon for documents of the Cambodian partner to contain some typo errors of their identity information, which can also prove to be an obstacle of the entire process.

IV. Conclusion

1. The process to register a marriage under the laws of Cambodia can be smooth as long as the applicants understand how to prepare the required documents are well prepared prior to submitting the application to the competent authority.
2. You may look for legal assistance from a law office in Cambodia to prepare the required documents for submitting to relevant authority.
3. A foreigner who gets marries a Cambodian citizen and legally registers their marriage in Cambodia may request Khmer nationality by fulfilling the conditions in accordance with Cambodian Law on Nationality.