Marriage

If you wish to marry in Egypt, the Certificate Non empidement to marriage (CNEM) is required by the Egyptian authorities.

To apply for a CNEM, the following documents must be submitted:

• a full extract from the population registers of your place of residence in Belgium showing your surname, given names, place of residence, nationality and marital status;
• the extract from the population register must be certified by the issuing authority and must be less than six months old;
• a copy of your passport (an identity card is not sufficient for a marriage in Egypt)

Your partner must submit the following documents:

• a certificate of unmarried status ("keid ferdi") issued by Segel el Medani, legalised by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and translated by a translator sworn at the Embassy;
• an extract from the family register, legalised by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and translated by a translator sworn at the Embassy;
• a copy of his/her identity card or passport.

Once you have collected these documents, contact the Embassy of Belgium in Cairo and send a scan of the documents by e-mail. The Embassy will then invite you for an interview with you and your partner. On the day of the appointment, together with the requested documents, you will present yourself and your partner in person.

The purpose of the interview that takes place at the Embassy in the context of the application for a certificate no impediment to marriage is to establish whether all the legal conditions for marriage have been met. Several factors are taken into account in this process.

It is not possible to make any statements or determinations before a personal interview with both parties took place. In case the stipulated conditions were not met or in case of doubt, the request is submitted to the Public Prosecutor.

The Public Prosecutor must make his decision within three months of the embassy receiving notification of the application. He may extend this period by a period of two months. Based on the submitted file, the Public Prosecutor decides whether or not to issue the certificate.

Usually the Ministry of Justice requests the following (issued less than 6 months ago):

• a sworn translation of the certificate no impediment to marriage;
• an official document stating your marital status;
  
  NB: Documents issued in Belgium (issued less than 6 months ago) must be legalised by the FPS Foreign Affairs in Brussels.
   
• translated by a translator sworn at the Egyptian Embassy in Brussels - please contact the Egyptian Embassy for this purpose;
• then legalised by the Egyptian Embassy in Brussels;
• finally legalised by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Egypt.