Information for Boys Marrying Tunisian Girls

It is a bit different when you are a boy marrying a Tunisian woman there are a number of hoops that need to be jumped through to be successful which in a way is good as you definitely cannot get married by accident to a Tunisian girl.

I have been told that less than 2-3 Tunisian girls marry British citizens in Tunisia a year!Now for those gentlemen who wish to know here is the information required as I have found it and it is a little different from what is on the British Embassies website as they have placed on there what has been agreed with the ministry in Tunisia and that is not always how it pans out (as different town halls change their mind to suit how they feel at the time it seems).

Now assuming your all in love and the families are all onside you will need?.

Certificate of Conversion to Islam:

No Muslim woman can marry a non Muslim man in Tunisia this is considered de facto in Muslim countries even though some obscure imams have been rumoured to allow it I have yet to see it and it is certainly not the case in Tunisia. If you're not willing to accept Islam at this point you may as well stop at this point, or decided to run away together and get married in your home country for good or bad it's the law.

Note:You will also need the certificate if your already a muslim!

Now that you have made your decision you need to speak with the Tunisian embassy in your country and ask for an appointment with the mufti (religious leader of Tunisia). That's right sir you now have to go see the main man in Tunis for an individual appointment in his office. Your embassy will give you a couple of badly printed forms (one in Arabic?) which you will fill in with your sweetheart and attached the required passport photos of yourself and return them to the Tunisian embassy, they will then forward these onto the ministry of religion.

After some chasing you will be given an appointment of their choosing so keep that diary free (usually a couple of months from sending the forms).

Now before this point if you are a very new Muslim you should have your shahada and Fatiha memorised (see the section on religion on the main site) along with another small Sura and know your prayer times and units of prayer within these, along with the pillars of Islam.

Now once you have your appointment book a hotel for a few days either side if you're not near Tunis as you will be given the traditional "come back tomorrow" when you arrive for your appointment all ready to go.

Once you are in the Mufti's office you may even be lucky enough to see him but if you are like me his assistant will question you and then after successful answers he will take your hand and go through shahada with you in the presence of a witness. "Mabrook" you are now a Muslim. You will then be given your certificate do not even think about loosing this certificate, not only will this be for your wedding all your Tunisian relatives will now love you more than before and want to read it. It will also be useful for when you go to Mecca so please keep it safe.

Certificate of no impediment to marriage:

Now this is a time sensitive certificate so give your-self time to get this done. You need to have the details of your wedding with your fiancées details and go to your registry office and they will (for a fee) place a notice in the window for 21 days. After you have this take it to the embassy of your country in Tunisia (this is for UK) and they will issue you (for a fee) a French certificate of no impediment and keep the one from the UK. This should be enough but if you're in Bizerte it seems that the 1978 agreement between the UK government and the interior ministry of Tunisia is ignored YEY they are wrong! however as right as you are you will still have to go back to the embassy and get a copy of the notice from the UK and bring that also.

TIP: Get the certificate from your embassy and translate your domestic one also by a certified translator before you give it to them.Birth Certificate: Now on the British embassy guide you are told to ensure that your birth certificate is of "recent issue" now to most people including banks, doctors and other institutions this means less than three months. However again if your in the magical land of Bizerte this is 15 days so considering it takes 5 days to get one in the UK you best be organised believe me if its 20 days old no deal.

Blood test certificate: You will need to have this carried out by a Tunisian medical practitioner soon before your wedding. I am having this next week on the Monday before the contract on the Thursday.

Copies of Passports ID etc: Not on the list but they will ask for all this so best to have your contact in Tunisia have loads of copies of you're id handy.