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Somali marriage in the Netherlands

In the Netherlands only a registrar can create a marriage, and the civil ceremony at the gemeentehuis must come first. Dutch law does not merely ignore a religious-only ceremony -- it requires that a religious marriage take place after the civil one. So a nikah held before the civil ceremony is not simply legally empty, it is out of order under Dutch law.

How to be legally married in the Netherlands

  1. 1Register your intention to marry (ondertrouw) with the municipality where one of you lives.
  2. 2Hold the civil ceremony at the gemeentehuis. That is the moment you are married in law.
  3. 3Hold the nikah afterwards. Many couples do both within the same week.

Somali communities in the Netherlands

5 cities listed.

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