Get your Unabridged Marriage Certificate fast

Do you need to obtain a South African Unabridged Marriage Certificate from the Department of Home Affairs ? We’ll assist with the paperwork, submit your application, follow up with the DHA, collect it when its ready and ship it worldwide to you.

Peace of Mind

We take care of the entire process for you, from application, to communication, collection and delivery to your doorstep

Fastest Turnaround time

We ensure that the Unabridged Marriage Certificate is issued in as little as 3-4 weeks, and collect by hand as soon as it is ready

Additional Options

We can arrange additional translation, apostilisation or legalisation of the Unabridged Birth Certificate for your destination country

Free Consultation

Email us at [email protected], or fill out the form below and our experts will contact you to find out your exact requirements.

Name(Required)

Email(Required)

Phone(Required)

Service(Required)

Comments

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Price:

R2900 (6-8 weeks) or
R4200 (3-4 weeks)
Including Home Affairs fees

Apostille:
(optional)

R1150 (10-15 days)

Shipping:

R200 National

R850 International

Notes:

The DHA Unabridged Marriage Certificate often needs to be apostilled or legalised at DIRCO for use internationally. Click here for more details

Other:

Some countries will not accept apostilles and require specialist legalisation procedures.

Get your Unabridged Marriage Certificate from the Department of Home Affairs

Please note: We need a marriage register (BI-30 or DHA-30) in order to be able to guarantee that we can get this certificate. Please see further down this page for more information.

An Unabridged Marriage Certificate is an official South African government document that includes detailed information about a person’s marriage or civil union. It is a computer printed document signed by an official from the Department of Home Affairs.

Unlike an abridged or short-form marriage certificate, which typically only includes the basic information of the marriage in question, an unabridged marriage certificate contains the full names, dates and places of birth and original marriage status of the couple, as well as full details of the date and place of marriage as well as the marriage officer. This Unabridged Marriage Certificate is essential if you are planning on using it internationally

The Unabridged Marriage Certificate is required if the certificate is intended for use overseas or when applying for foreign citizenship. In most cases an abridged marriage certificate will be rejected by the overseas authorities. The certificate will also often need to go to DIRCO for apostilling or legalisation for use overseas, contact us for more details.

Download PDF Application Form

How To Apply For your Unabridged Marriage Certificate

Download the application form, complete it, scan it and email it to us along with a copy of your ID or Passport.
We will check the form and confirm receipt and send you an invoice.
Once we receive payment we will submit your application to Home Affairs the next day and confirm submission with you.
We follow up and ensure that everything is being processed and once Home Affairs has completed the process we collect it the following business day.
We follow and ensure that everything is being processed and once the HPCSA has completed the process we collect it the following business day.
We send you a high resolution scan of the verified document to ensure that all the details are correct and for your peace of mind.
Once you have confirmed that all details are correct we send it for apostilling (if you have ordered that option), or courier it directly to you. Local courier takes 1 business day, worldwide courier takes 4-5 days.

DIRCO Apostille Legalisation

The Unabridged Birth Certificate often has to be attested with an apostille at DIRCO for use internationally.

An apostille is a certificate that authenticates the origin of a public document so it can be accepted in countries that are party to the Apostille Convention

find out more about apostilles & legalisation

More Information about the Unabridged Marriage Certificate and why we need a marriage register (BI-30 or DHA-30)

Please note: We can apply for a Unabridged Marriage Certificate without you providing a marriage register. We just cannot guarantee that we will get the certificate.

The marriage register, which is also known as a BI30 or DHA30 (the name of the Home Affairs form that it consists of) is a document that you and your partner and marriage officer and witnesses sign on your wedding day. The marriage officer is responsible for providing you with a free copy of this form. The marriage officer submits their book containing all evidence of the marriages they officiate to the Department of Home Affairs when it is full. .

The marriage archives at Home Affairs have not been managed properly, especially since 2000, and in a lot of cases the original Marriage registry books were never properly filed there. In order to guarantee that the unabridged marriage certificate can be reissued we need to supply the BI30 or DHA30 from the marriage.

Copies of these books should be kept by the marriage officer or church where the marriage took place, and it is often, though not always, possible to obtain a copy of this document from them, even many years after the marriage took place.

If you do not have the marriage register and we are unable to obtain the marriage certificate we offer a refund less an administration fee. If you do have the register we can guarantee the application.

What is a BI-30?

A BI-30 says “MARRIAGE REGISTER” and has the number BI-30 in the top right hand corner. It normally consists of 1 page but can have 2. BI-30’s were replaced by the DHA-30.

What is a DHA-30?

A DHA-30 says “MARRIAGE REGISTER” and has the number DHA-30 in the top right hand corner. It consists of 2 pages and has the photos and fingerprints of both people on the first page

Download PDF Application Form

Frequently Asked Questions

What information does the Unabridged Marriage Certificate have on it?

The Unabridged Birth Certificate is a computer printed document that contains the full details of the couple (full names, ID number, date, town and country of birth), as well as the information about the date and place of marriage including the marriage officer.

What happens if Home Affairs cannot find the marriage register at the archives and cannot issue a replacement Unabridged Marriage Certificate?

If this is the case we offer a refund less an administrative fee. Unfortunately there does not seem to be a solution to this issue at Home Affairs right now.

Some couples have reported some success by approaching Home Affairs directly and trying to get the marriage re-registered, but as an agency we cannot assist in situations like this.

Does this birth certificate have an expiry date?

Unabridged Marriage Certificates are valid forever and do not normally have an expiry date. In some foreign country applications however, the foreign country requires the certificate (and apostille) to be issued with a recent amount of time (normally 3 or 6 months)

Please check with your local authorities or embassy whether the certificate has to be issued and submitted within a defined timeframe.

Is there any expedited or faster option to get this certificate?

The fastest turnaround time to get the certificate issued at the DHA is 3-4 weeks. The standard turnaround time is 6-8 wweeks. We collect the certificate the day that it is ready

Do I need to get this certificate apostilled or legalised for my current country?

Every country has different rules and regulations regarding apostilles. In general this certificate will need to be apostilled or legalised at DIRCO for visa or travel purposes

We strongly suggest that you check with your local embassy or government authority whether this certificate needs to be apostilled, legalised or translated..

Are you affiliated or accredited with the DHA or DIRCO?

Embassy Services (Pty) Ltd is a private company and not a government department or High Court issuing body or associated with the Department of Home Affairs or any foreign embassy. We provide consulting, submission and collection services, and charge for our expertise and for successfully and quickly obtaining and legalising documents.

While we endeavour to obtain and get all documentation processed and legalised in the shortest possible time, we cannot be held responsible for any delay at a government department or foreign embassy that is out of our control. Please see our terms and conditions for details

I have another question about this service

We would be happy to assist. Simply email us or call or whatsapp us on +27 10 500 5320 and we will respond asap!

About Embassy Services

We’re a document and legalisation services company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. We specialise in obtaining documents and legalising them for use internationally, from government departments such as Home Affairs to High Court notarisation and apostilles at DIRCO.

Our focus is on fast turnaround times and impeccable customer service, we keep you continually updated at every step of the process, and ensure that your specific needs are filled to your exact requirements

Call or Whatsapp us on +27 10 500 5320 or email us at [email protected].