🛂 Step 1: Choose Your Country
Every Schengen nation offers a unique blend of romance and bureaucracy.
🇫🇷 France – Suffering required
🇮🇹 Italy – Paperwork moves slowly
🇩🇪 Germany – Love, but documented
🇪🇸 Spain – Romance first, schedule later
🇳🇱 Netherlands – Bike to your wedding
🇬🇷 Greece – Fell in love at uni, survived bureaucracy together
❤️ Step 2: Do the Extremely Romantic Legal Stuff
Before love can be officially recognised by governments, it must first
be approved by a register office.
- You must give legal notice of marriage or civil partnership in person.
- Both partners attend a register office in the area they live.
- Notice must be given at least 29 days before the ceremony.
- If immigration checks apply, this may extend to up to 70 days.
- The notice is valid for 12 months and tied to one venue.
You will be asked to bring:
- Passports (strong and emotionally weak ones alike)
- Proof of address
- Immigration status documents
- Evidence that this relationship did not start yesterday
Romance level: low. Importance: extremely high.
📄 Step 3: Prove This Is Real Love™ (Again, But Louder)
- Years of uni photos with bad hair and worse fashion
- Messages about assignments, deadlines, and actual feelings
- Hospital visits, check-ups, and "did you take your meds?" texts
- A shared Google Doc titled “Future Plans (Health First, Visa Later)”
👰 Step 4: The Wedding
Expect close friends from uni, relatives asking invasive questions, and
at least one aunt who thinks Greece is "near Italy".
Pro tip: When love is obvious, paperwork still isn’t.
🧠 Step 5: Embassy Interview
Officer: How did you meet?
You: University. Studying, stress, and bad coffee.
Officer: How long have you been together?
You: Long enough to survive exams and health scares.
Officer: What do you love most about your partner?
You: His resilience. Also… Greek food.
✅ Acceptable answer.
📊 Success Rate
Calculating outcome…
Status: Still stressed.