Canberra

If you have recently married in Australia or New Zealand, your marriage must be entered in the Estonian Population Register. This service is free of charge and can be completed through the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in Canberra if your place of residence in the Population Register is registered in Australia or New Zealand.

If your place of residence in the Estonian Population Register is registered in Estonia and you wish to register your marriage through an Estonian foreign mission, you must first update your residence details in the Population Register. Alternatively, you may submit your civil status documents in Estonia to the local government of the county centre corresponding to your registered place of residence.

For the marriage to be entered in the Population Register, the original marriage certificate or divorce document issued in Australia or New Zealand must first be apostilled.
Instructions for apostilling Australian documents
Instructions for apostilling New Zealand documents

Once the document has been apostilled, please send it by registered post to the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in Canberra together with copies of both spouses’ passports. Each passport copy must be marked “True copy”, dated and signed by the passport holder. In Australia please also include an unused, paid and self-addressed Express Post envelope for the return of the original document.

If you wish to take a new surname following your marriage, please also send a name change application together with the marriage certificate and passport copies. The Consular Officer will enter the surname change in the Population Register, after which you can apply for new identity documents in your new name.

More information about applying for a new passport can be found here.

Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in Canberra
12 Darwin Avenue
Yarralumla ACT 2600
Australia

If you have any questions, please contact us by telephone on +61 2 6152 1420 or by email at [email protected].

 

Frequently Asked Questions

I live in Australia, but my place of residence in the Population Register is registered in Estonia. Can the Embassy assist me with updating my Population Register details and registering my marriage?
If an Estonian citizen’s place of residence is registered in Estonia but they nevertheless wish to have their marriage entered in the Population Register through an Estonian foreign mission, they must provide a valid reason, complete the relevant application and send it to the Embassy for consideration. Only after the residence details have been updated in the Population Register can the Embassy enter the marriage in the register and where applicable record a change of surname.

A marriage should be registered in the Population Register within 30 days. How is this possible in Australia or New Zealand?
Depending on the Australian state or territory, obtaining a marriage certificate may take several weeks or even a couple of months. The apostille process may then take a similar amount of time. We therefore recommend beginning the necessary steps as soon as possible after you receive the required documents. If the issuing and apostille process takes longer, exceeding the 30-day period may be unavoidable. In such cases, the Embassy recommends registering the marriage in the Population Register as soon as reasonably possible.

I am divorced. What do I need to do?
A divorce must also be entered in the Estonian Population Register. The process is similar to registering a marriage. You must first obtain the final court decision or other official document confirming the divorce, have it apostilled and then send it to the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in Canberra. If you wish to return to your maiden surname following the divorce, please also include a free-form written application requesting the surname change.

Can I use an e-apostille?
An Australian or New Zealand e-apostille is not the preferred option, as an e-apostille alone may not allow the authenticity of the underlying document to be verified in the manner required for registration in the Population Register. For this reason, an e-apostille may not simplify the process and could result in additional steps or costs. We recommend having the original document apostilled in paper form and sending the apostilled original document to the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in Canberra.

Who needs to certify and sign the passport copies?
Passport copies must be signed by the passport holder. They do not need to be notarised or otherwise officially certified.

My spouse has never had a passport. What should I do?
A copy of the spouse’s passport is generally required in order to make an entry in the Population Register. Australian or New Zealand civil status documents may not contain all the information required for the entry, such as complete birth details. If your spouse does not have a passport and has never held one, please contact the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in Canberra at [email protected].

I urgently need my marriage to be registered in the Population Register, but the waiting time for an apostille is almost two months. Can I bring the marriage certificate to the Embassy in person to speed up the process?
Unfortunately, no. Without an apostille, a marriage certificate issued in Australia or New Zealand cannot be accepted in Estonia as an official foreign document. Bringing the marriage certificate to the Embassy in person does not replace the apostille requirement and therefore does not speed up the registration process. The document must be properly apostilled before it is submitted to the Embassy.

My marriage has already been entered in the Population Register and I have ordered a new passport. As the new passport will take some time to arrive, can I continue travelling with my passport in my maiden name?
Yes. You may continue travelling with your valid passport in your maiden name until a new passport in your married surname has been issued and you have physically received it. Your passport must be still valid for the period required by the country you are visiting.

I was actually married 10 years ago. Can I still send the Embassy an apostilled marriage certificate and take my spouse’s surname?
Although it is preferable to register a marriage without significant delay, a marriage can still be entered in the Estonian Population Register even if many years have passed since the marriage took place. However, a very late registration may create additional complications in some circumstances. One important example is where, after the marriage, new Estonian identity documents were issued in the person’s pre-marriage surname. In such a case, the marriage itself can still be entered in the Population Register, but the change to the spouse’s surname can no longer be made as part of the marriage registration process. A separate name change procedure must then be completed in Estonia and the Embassy is not able to carry out that process on the applicant’s behalf. More information about the name change procedure can be found here.