Alexander's

As some of you might know I'm getting married this December[^1] -- in Taiwan.

The great thing about getting married in a foreign country is that you get to fully appreciate the bureaucratic hurdles and quirks of both countries.

For example to get my single certificate[^2] I just had to go to some Austrian government office and ask for it, but since I want to use it in a foreign country, I needed to verify my government issued document. Verification in this case means that I had to pay 33,90 Euro to the very same office that just gave me the document, just so they put one more stamp on it and make it more official.

Great so now that there is a government issued stamp on this government issued document it's really official -- right?

No sadly not. Only if you have collected enough stamps -- four in my case -- will it magically become valid and legal.

But let's be honest -- these days the Austrian government gives these legalized papers to almost everyone,[^3] so it's better to check once more. That's where the Taiwanese consulate will help you.

So after finally holding my magically verified, translated (also verified) single certificate in hands, I asked at the Taiwanese consulate if there are any other documents I need.

I have no idea -- maybe the birth certificate[^4] -- yes some people need that!

[^1]: I have quite a backlog of blog posts [^2]: Some sheet of paper to testify that not yet married [^3]: who can pay for the stamps [^4]: In Taiwan they don't even have birth certificates!