Getting married in San Marino as a foreigner

Marrying on top of a mountain, inside a medieval fortress, with the Adriatic on the horizon has an obvious pull. What surprised me when I read the rules is how carefully San Marino has regulated it, and how openly it calls it wedding tourism. That works in a foreign couple’s favour, because the rules are written down and the fees are public.

Can foreigners marry here?

Yes, and the government puts it in exactly those words on its marriage page. The legal basis is Law no. 49 of 1986, the family law reform, topped up in 2015 by a delegated decree born of a provision literally titled measures to develop wedding tourism. That decree did three things. It widened the list of places where you can marry, spelt out which papers a foreigner can use and let more officials conduct the ceremony, including the Captain of the castello where you marry.

I’m talking about civil weddings here. Religious ones exist and the same office gives information on them, but the church side depends on the parish and I have no official figures for it. Whatever you’re planning, your contact point is the Civil Registry on Via 28 Luglio 196, which the government names as the office in charge.

The paperwork, and why to start early

The law asks each partner for a birth certificate, proof of citizenship and residence and a certificate of free marital status. For a non-resident foreigner it adds a declaration from their own authorities that nothing prevents the marriage, the famous nulla osta. This is where couples trip up. Many countries don’t issue a document by that name, so the 2015 decree accepts a certificate of no impediment plus a sworn statement before a notary, Sammarinese or from your home country, all translated and legalised.

For British nationals, the GOV.UK service lets you check and apply online for the document proving you’re free to marry, as long as you hold a valid British passport. Then come the banns, the public notice of the wedding. They go up on the Civil Registry board for at least eight days, the wedding can’t be before the fourth day after that and, if 180 days pass, you start again. You need two witnesses, who can be relatives. Your travel documents are a separate matter, covered in San Marino entry requirements.

Where you can marry

The standard venues are the Civil Registry, the Palazzo Pubblico and each castello’s town hall, the Casa del Castello. Since 1 July 2015 they’ve been joined by places chosen for their landscape and heritage, inside the UNESCO-listed old town and Mount Titano and in the historic centres of the other castelli.

The official list covers the First and Second Towers, outdoors or in a room inside the Guaita and the Cesta, with the Piano dei Mortai, the Orti Borghesi garden, the Cava dei Balestrieri, the cloister of the Convent of Santa Chiara, now home to the University of San Marino, and the Palazzo Kursaal. For photos I’d go for the Cava, a green hollow between the wall and the rock. One catch, though. At outdoor venues, setting up the space is your job and has to follow the Civil Registry’s instructions, so the fee isn’t the only cost. For the reception, the Salone Camino at the Grand Hotel San Marino seats up to 200 guests.

And a note on timing. The Palazzo Pubblico is closed for restoration until 31 October 2026, according to the State Museums. I found nothing official on weddings during the works, so if that’s your venue, ask before fixing a date.

What does it cost?

The fee is set by decree and depends on venue and day. For two non-resident foreigners, the Civil Registry office costs €300 on a weekday in office hours. The Palazzo Pubblico and the UNESCO sites cost €500 midweek, €800 on Saturday and €1,000 on Sunday. A Casa del Castello costs €300, €500 and €700. If one of you is Sammarinese or resident, it’s halved. These are the 2015 decree figures, the latest the government links to, and they may have been updated since, so I’d confirm with the office.

Two bits of small print I’d take seriously. The available dates are set by the Secretary of State for Internal Affairs with the Civil Registry, not by you. And if you change venue or day after paying, nothing is refunded, while a pricier new venue means paying the difference. Separately, for €300 and up to two hours, you can ask for these venues for a symbolic ceremony or an anniversary with no legal effect, if they’re free.

Back home in the UK

The UK government is clear on recognition. A marriage abroad counts in the UK if it was lawful where it took place and would be allowed under UK law. What you won’t get is a UK certificate, because only UK marriages are registered there, so the document you keep is the Sammarinese one, which you may want translated. If a UK certificate matters to you, the government’s own suggestion is a legal ceremony at home and a commitment ceremony abroad. With the paperwork sorted, I’d look at where to stay in San Marino for the guests, ideally inside the old town.