Marriage licence in Sweden: how the hindersprövning works

What is hindersprövning, the Swedish marriage impediment check?

• What is checked

  That neither of you is under 18, that you are not closely related and that neither of you is already married or in a registered partnership.

• Who applies

  You do it together. In Skatteverket's online service you both sign with an e-legitimation, the Swedish electronic ID.

• What you receive

  A certificate of impediment check and a form for a marriage certificate. The form belongs with the ceremony.

• What it costs

  There is no fee for the application.

How to apply for a marriage licence in Sweden, online or on paper

• Online with Skatteverket

  The online service works if you are both over 18, both registered in Sweden (folkbokförda), you both sign with an e-legitimation and neither of you has protected personal data.

• On paper

  The form is called Hindersprövning, Ansökan och försäkran (SKV 7880). You print it or order it from Skatteverket and send or hand in the original.

• How you get the certificate

  If you apply online and have a digital mailbox, the documents arrive there. Otherwise they come by ordinary post.

How long does hindersprövning take, and when should you apply?

Skatteverket says to hand in the application in good time before the ceremony and states how long it takes before your case reaches a case officer. The right-hand column is our suggestion, not Skatteverket's.

Marriage licence in Sweden if one of you lives abroad

If one of you is not registered in Sweden, that person has to hand in documents from foreign authorities. The online service requires both of you to be registered here, so the paper form is the route. Collect the documents first and apply afterwards, so the application is complete.

If you have already had an impediment check in another Nordic country, it is also valid when you marry in Sweden. If you are planning a wedding in another country yourselves, there is more in the guide to a wedding abroad.

After the impediment check: the ceremony and your name

The certificate and the form for a marriage certificate are needed for the ceremony, so keep them somewhere both of you and the person marrying you know about. How the day itself goes is in the guide to a civil ceremony.

If one of you will change surname after the wedding, see the guide to changing your name after the wedding. The certificate lasts only four months, so if you move the date, the check may have to be done again.

Put the impediment check in your wedding plan

The application is one of the few jobs with a time limit at both ends: too early and the certificate runs out, too late and it does not arrive. Add it to your checklist with a date and note which of you is applying. The bigger picture of what happens when is in the guide to planning a wedding.

The impediment check in your list

With Lysela, planning is in every tier. The list starts with suggestions dated from your wedding date, and one of them is to apply for hindersprövning at Skatteverket, three months before the wedding. You can reword the row, move the date or delete it, split the rows between you and tick them off. If you bought the site so close to the wedding that the date has already passed, the suggestion gets no date. You make the application itself at Skatteverket, not with us.

You pay once, SEK 795, SEK 1,795 or SEK 4,900 including VAT, and the site stays up for 12 months.

What usually goes on a wedding website, and what one costs, is in the checklist.

Frequently asked questions