Marriage and civil partnership

If you wish to get married or form a civil partnership, you must give a formal notice to the local register office for the area where you live. This may be different to the area where you wish to get married or form a civil partnership.

You must have lived in that registration district for at least the past 7 days. You and your partner must give notice separately if you live in different registration districts. You don't have to do this on the same day.

You must give notice at least 29 calendar days before your ceremony or, if you are subject to immigration control, at least 70 calendar days before your ceremony. You must hold your ceremony within 12 months of giving notice.

Read the latest government guidance on booking the right appointment and the documents you must bring, at GOV.UK: marriages and civil partnerships.

Documents you must bring to the register office

You must bring originals of the following documents – photocopies will not be accepted.

The documents will be confirmed with you at the time of booking your appointment.

Proof of identity and nationality

You must bring proof of identity and nationality. This can be either:

• a valid passport
• a valid UK-issued travel document
• a biometric immigration document
• your full UK birth certificate

In addition, you must bring proof of any name changes – for example, a copy of a deed poll.

If you are not bringing a valid passport, you will need to produce your full birth certificate.

If you were born in the UK on or after 1 January 1983, you will also need to produce both:

• your full birth certificate showing your parents' names
• your mother's UK birth certificate

Proof of address

You must bring proof of address. This can be either a:

• valid UK driving licence
• gas, water or electricity bill dated within 3 months of your appointment
• bank statement dated within 1 month of your appointment
• council tax bill from the last 12 months
• mortgage statement from the last 12 months
• current tenancy agreement
• letter from your landlord – this must state you have lived at the address for the previous 7 whole days before the date you give notice, that the person providing the letter is the owner or proprietor, state their name and address, and be signed and dated by them

Previous marriage or civil partnership

If you have been in a previous marriage or civil partnership, you must also bring either:

• a decree absolute or final order
• your former partner's death certificate – if you are not named on this certificate, you must also bring your former marriage or civil partnership certificate

If your documents are not in English, you must bring a full translation. There will be an additional fee to clear these documents.

Fees

Fees to be paid are:

• £35 per person giving notice.
• £50 if a foreign divorce is for consideration at our register office
• £75 if a foreign divorce is for consideration by the General Register Office

All fees are non-refundable.

Booking an appointment

If both of you have one of the following, you can give notice as per the guidance above:

• British or Irish citizenship
• settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) – each of you for whom this applies must bring a valid 'share code' which you can get from GOV.UK: view and prove your immigration status (codes are valid for 30 days)
• an application to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) made before 30 June 2021, upon which you are awaiting for a decision – each of you for whom this applies must bring your certificate of application

If you do not have any of the above, you and your partner must give a notice together.

If your partner gave notice separately before 1 July 2021, they will need to give notice again with you. You must also to bring:

• a passport-sized photo of each of you, even if only one of you is from outside the UK
• proof of your current immigration status – for example, your visa
• a translation of any documents that are not in English

The notice period for this type of appointment may be extended to up to 70 days if a referral to immigration is needed. In this case there will be an additional fee of £12 per person.

Visas and permits

You can apply for a:

• marriage visitor visa – if you are not going to live in the UK and will stay fewer than 6 months – GOV.UK: Marriage Visitor visa
• family visa – to live permanently in the UK if your partner is a British citizen, settled in the UK, has refugee status or humanitarian protection – GOV.UK: family visa
• family permit – to join family member from the EU, EEA or Switzerland in the UK – GOV.UK: EU Settlement Scheme family permit

If you do not have a marriage visitor visa or family visa, you can still give notice of your intention to get married or form a civil partnership but Home Office immigration authorities will be informed.

Book an appointment

We are currently unable to take notice appointment bookings online. To request an appointment, please complete a form below and send it to us by email.