Legal Requirements
- For a legal ceremony you MUST be in Panama for a total of 20 days before your wedding. The fee for a legal ceremony is $400 USD.
- Fill out the application for a marriage license before the competent court for the jurisdiction where at least one of the parties lives.
- Health Certificate for both parties, which includes
- General Medical Examlab tests: VDRL (Venereal Disease Research Laboratory), Biometría hemática (Complete Blood Count), Electroforesis de hemoglobin (Hemoglobin Electrophoresis), Urinalysis, HIV/AIDS test
- The health certificate must be issued within the 15 days prior to the ceremony by a registered physician. The fee is $200 USD.
- Birth Certificate, issued in your country of origin.
- Birth Certificates of existing children of either party.
- Divorce certificate or death certificate, if either party is divorced or widowed
- Passport with corresponding visa
- If the parties have not been previously married, a certificate of single status (Certificado de Solteria) to that effect must be presented. This certificate should be issued in the country where you have been residing the last 2 years. The American Citizen Services (ACS) unit does not issue such documents. Generally, this requirement can be satisfied by signing a sworn statement attesting to your single status in front of a Panamanian notary. Two witnesses, not related to you, must also make a sworn statement that you are single.
- Signed declaration by both parties (on a form provided by the court) expressing their intention to marry and which gives the following information:
- Full name
- Age
- Marital Status
- Nationality
- Profession
- Domecile or residence of future spouses
- Domecile or residence of their parents
- For Panamanian citizens: The aforementioned certificates can be obtained at the Civil Registry Office on Avenida Peru, telephone number: 507-8000.
- Two witnesses of legal age, not related to any of the parties (i.e. within the fourth grade of consanguinity or second degree of kinship or by adoption). This means the following people cannot serve as witnesses: brother/sister, cousin, uncle/aunt, nephew/niece, son/daughter-in-law, father/mother-in-law or brother/sister-in-lawof the couple to be married.
- Panamanian ID card (cedula) or passport with corresponding visa.
- There is a fee to have a symbolic ceremony of $320 USD. This fee is required for all the packages. Symbolic and non-legal ceremonies allow greater flexibility. Please speak with the wedding coordinator to discuss requirements.
