I got married in Australia last month to a nice young (younger than me german. We now want to register our marital status here; something we have already done in Germany without a problem, but were told our marriage certificate is not acceptable. First we have to order an official marriage certificate from the Department of Births, Deaths and Marriages in Oz then we have to get an apostille on it from the Depart of Foreign affairs. Why can we be regonised as married in Germany and Australia, but not in Belgium? I thought the germans where the one who make things unnecessarily complicated, but this time the Belgiens take the prize!!!

What do you have to get registered as married in Belgium for?
We are a German married couple but it never occuried to us to get registered anywhere abroad just to live there and nobody has ever asked us to.

I think it's crazy too. Maybe because you've been married for some time, no questions were asked. Are you registered here as a married couple? The authorities want to see our marriage certificate, and because it took place in Australia, will not accept the certificate without a verification stamp from the Aust. Government.
I am not yet registered in Belgium. We have now deregistered from Germany. My registration in Belgium is dependant on our marriage (I have an Australian Passport). I also want to be insured under my husbands health insurance and to do that,we must be married. My husbands salary will also benefit significantly from a married status as opposed to single. Complicated!
In Germany I just showed them the certificate from Australia at the Einwohnermelderamt and they changed our status in the computer to married. Ungewohnlich einfach!

Would it be easier to get a German marriage certificate? Then they would have to accept it it´s an EU country after all.

Not really, as the wedding took place in Australia. Just spoke with the Melderamt in Hamburg; although they can see that we are married, because we have already abgemeldet, they can't see any details about when, where and with whom it was. We could apply for a Ledigkeitsbescheinung (these words only really work in german), but only in person. They won't post outside Germany. Still don't know if it would be accepted by the belgium authorities.

Looks like there is now way around it. Just have to go through the process. At least the insurance company accepts and believes that we are married, so if I get hit by a bus, I at least have health insurance!

I would register at a German address in Germany again. You´ll just need an official German address for all kinds of things. I am still registered at my parents´ place.

Besides a Ledigkeitsbescheinigung wouldn´t do much good because that would testify that youre not married.

Register at the inlaws´ address it could make futures issues a lot easier.

Thanks for the tip. We were talking about that last night, but weren't sure if it would work. What about tax in Germany? We are also thinking about keeping the car registered in Germany.