Tuesday, January 26, 2010

In Order to be Married in Cyprus...

... You need to get a bunch of things done. And they all depend on the other!
  1. Blood Tests - the couple needs to be tested to find out if they have the trait for Thalassemia, also know as Meditteranean Anemia, an inherited blood disease. I already know that I am a carrier of the trait as my dad also has it. The reason for testing is that if both partners have the trait, they are at risk for having children who have the full blown disease. And lets just say that that ain't pretty. It involves chronic blood transfusions and causes plenty of other complications. Luckily Mr. Milk is not a carrier so this isn't a concern for us. We were able to get this test done the other day (bypassing the 2 month wait time for an appointment because one of Mr. Milk's friends works at the center) and so can check it off our list.
  2. Certificate of Freedom to Marry - We will then need to take our blood test results and our birth certificates to the church of our district in order to be awarded this certificate (basically stating that you are single). In our case, since we aren't getting married in churches of our districts, the priest will give us a document stating that we have permission to be married elsewhere and we will need to make a "donation" to our district churches (also read as another way for the church to make more money). 
  3. Marriage License - We then take the certificate mentioned above to the diocese of our city to obtain our marriage license. This becomes tricky for me in particular, as my parents are refugees (in their own country, but thats another story) and I need to obtain my marriage license from the diocese of my dad's area before the war in 1974. 
All this paperwork will need to be submitted to the diocese of the area we are getting married in (in our case Paphos) a few days before the wedding. I am sure that there will be several curveballs thrown at us as we embark on this process sincbureaucratic things never run smoothly!

What kind of things do you guys need to get done in order to be married?

16 fabulous blogger's comments:

Salt said...

We had to do a Certificate of Freedom to Marry also! Except that they called it an Affidavit of Spinstership and Bachelorhood (Spinstership? How 1950's). Just like you, we needed that, plus copies of our passports and birth certificates in order to get our marriage license, but luckily we could just send all that stuff directly to Turks & Caicos and the wedding coordinator took care of it for us.

All our paperwork is done though and we should be good to go! We just have to make sure we hand carry birth certs and additional copies of the Freedom to Marry Certificates with us to the island.

I think the paperwork has been the most stressful part of all this so far!

Heather said...

Wow! That’s quite a process! I can relate to the church requirements, since we had to get permission from our home parish (where we live now) to take pre-marital classes here and then get married in the parish I attended as a child in California. We also have to fulfill a lot of interviews and paperwork through the church where we are having the wedding, including presenting baptism certificates and other certifications. It’s been a bit of a process, but I’m glad to say we’re nearing the end of these stages!

JazzWhispers said...

That's quite a bit to get done! We just have to get our license! That's it that's all! No church requirements as the Pastor isn't from our home church (mini-destination, 6 hrs from my hometown). Simple; seeing this post made me glad we have a simple process!

Kim said...

Just the marriage license for us as well! Though I'm sure it will involve waiting in line forever, just like all the other times I've gone to city hall.

chelsea said...

Wow! It was super easy for us. We did marriage counseling, but it was optional. Then we just went to the county clerk's office with birth certificates. No line. It took about 15 minutes. But it was super fun and special. :)

Born to be Mrs. Beever said...

Holy moly...what a pain...sort of I guess. Glad you are on top of it though.

We just did a few pre-marital counseling sessions with our pastor who is marrying us and will then need to go down to get our marriage certificate at the county clerk's office in a month or so.

I always find it funny when they ask you to have blood tests done for getting married...can I ask you if you honestly would have chosen *NOT* to get married if Mr Milk *had* been a carrier of that trait/disease? I think at worst, it would cause you to decide whether or not to have biological children together maybe, no? Too personal?

Chocolate Lover said...

@ Born to be Mrs. Beever: In this case they do it so that the couple is informed. No one can prevent you from getting married but like you mentioned, you then have the information you need to decide whether or not to have children together (or how to go about doing that to ensure the health of the child).

April Elizabeth said...

phew thats so much.

in MA i just need to apply fora liscence - 50 bucks, 3 days and signed certificate.

Stacy Marie said...

That's intense! Good thing you got the blood tests out of the way now so you aren't scrambling later!

Katie said...

Ummmm, I probably should find out! I know we need the license, I think birth certificates and just some cash!

Mrs T said...

Paperwork - what a nightmare! I'm having a hard enough time trying to get my name changed on everything I own. Can't wait till it's all done!

Katie said...

wowsers! They certainly make you work for it!

Cleo Shahateet said...

I live in Paphos, but we got married in Vegas. It was so much easier - we stood in line for 20 minutes or so, got the certificate then got married. 1, 2, 3!!! Highly recommended and lots of fun!

Krysten @ Why Girls Are Weird said...

Holy wow!

All we needed was a little marriage certificate. Seemed like a big deal back in the day but this is A LOT to do!

Ali said...

A blood test! Interesting!

buhdoop said...

Girlie I forgot about these things! We need a blood test and a marriage license. I'm not sure about a certificate of freedom to marry.