Interpreter at the registry office: marrying an Arabic speaking partner

Marriage is a legally binding declaration. The registrar must be certain that both partners understand what they are declaring: their intention to marry, the instruction on the legal effects of marriage and their decision on the family name. If one partner cannot reliably follow the conversation in German, an interpreter is usually brought in. This concerns two appointments: the assessment of capacity to marry, commonly called the registration of the marriage, and the ceremony itself.

How much German is enough is for the registrar to judge during the conversation. Everyday German is often not sufficient, because the registration involves questions about previous marriages, children, nationality and name choice, and the answers are recorded in an official protocol. If you are unsure, ask your registry office before the first appointment whether an interpreter is expected. It saves you a postponed appointment.

The registry office wants someone who is linguistically qualified, independent and not a party to the marriage. Relatives, friends or the other partner are usually not accepted, even if they speak both languages. They have their own interest in the outcome, which is exactly what should be excluded.

Some registry offices explicitly require a court sworn and certified interpreter, others accept any professionally qualified, uninvolved person with identification. Practice differs from municipality to municipality, sometimes even between offices in the same city. Ask in advance what exactly is required and whether proof of qualification should be brought along.

In substance, the interpreter must render everything that is said, in both directions, completely and without summarising. At the registration this means the registrar's questions and the partner's answers, at the ceremony the instruction and the question of consent. The interpreter frequently co-signs the protocol, confirming that the interpretation was accurate. They should therefore know the vocabulary of civil status law: capacity to marry, impediment to marriage, name determination, double name. Dialect matters just as much: your partner should be understood in their own variety of Arabic, whether Levantine, Egyptian, Iraqi or Gulf Arabic.

To assess capacity to marry, the registry office checks identity, birth and marital status of both partners. Foreign language documents must as a rule be submitted with a certified translation. These translations are produced by court sworn and certified translators and carry a stamp, signature and certification clause. Every part of the document is translated, including stamps, annotations and reverse sides.

For an Arabic speaking partner, the registry office typically asks for the following:

A translation confirms the content of a document, not its authenticity. The registry office, however, must be sure that the birth certificate or certificate of single status was really issued by the competent office. For documents from Arab states an additional authentication is therefore usually required before they can be used in Austria.

Which form this takes depends on the issuing country. Some Arab states have joined the Hague Apostille Convention, among them Oman, Bahrain, Morocco, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia. There an apostille from the competent authority in the issuing country is generally sufficient. For documents from Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Jordan or Lebanon the usual route is legalisation: first certification by the foreign ministry of the issuing country, then certification by the competent Austrian representation abroad.

The order matters. Have the original authenticated first and translated afterwards. The translation can then also cover the apostille or the legalisation stamps, and you avoid paying for a second translation. Whether authentication is needed at all in your case is a question for the registry office conducting your marriage.

Before the appointment the interpreter needs only a few details: the partners' names, place and time, whether the registrar plans a speech and whether guests would also like a translation. On the day, the interpreter arrives a few minutes early, shows identification and introduces themselves to the registrar, who usually checks identity and records the interpreter in the protocol.

Interpreting is consecutive, sentence by sentence after the registrar. A longer speech can be whispered and interpreted simultaneously on request so that the ceremony does not take twice as long. The question of consent and the answer are rendered word for word. Afterwards the protocol and, depending on the office, further declarations are signed, usually by the interpreter as well. Allow about half an hour in total.

One point many couples forget: the interpreter is there for the partner, not for the wedding party. If relatives from abroad should be able to follow the speech, mention this beforehand. It is possible, but it changes the way of working and sometimes the seating arrangement.

In many Arab states a marriage is first concluded religiously, before a sharia court, a ma'zun or a church, and registered with the state afterwards. The religious marriage contract contains details that do not exist in Austrian documents: the dower, split into an immediate and a deferred part, the witnesses, occasionally a proxy who declared on behalf of one partner. In translation these terms must be rendered precisely and not reinterpreted into European concepts.

For the registry office such a contract becomes relevant in two situations: when a couple has already married abroad and wants the marriage recorded or proven in Austria, or when a previous marriage has to be documented. In both cases the registry office usually requires the state issued marriage certificate or an extract from the marriage register, not only the religious document. Whether a purely religious marriage counts as valid depends on the law of the country where it was concluded and is examined by the registry office.

The reverse applies in Austria: a religious ceremony, for example conducted by an imam, has no civil effect here. You are legally married only after the ceremony at the registry office. Many couples therefore plan both, the religious ceremony and the civil appointment, and have the marriage contract translated and certified so that it can be used later with authorities at home and abroad.