Overseas Marriages and Civil Partnerships
ListenIf you have decided to marry or form a civil partnership abroad, contact the relevant Embassy or Consulate for the country where you are having the ceremony to ensure that you are aware of, and comply with, the legal preliminaries for your ceremony.
If you are both British Subjects and wish to get married abroad, you may still give notice in the district where you live. Please note that your notice is posted on public display for the statutory time for the purpose of objection, and the certificate of no impediment will not be issued until the 16th day after notice.
However, if only one party is British and the other is from a foreign (not commonwealth) country, then the notice can only be given by the British party in the district where they reside, This must remain on public display for 21 days, and the certificate of no impediment is issued on the 22nd day after notice. Please note that the period of residency prior to the notice must be 21 days in the district of the notice.
Please check with the country of your ceremony how long in advance notice can be given, each country sets their own limit and we cannot give advice regarding timescales. You will also need to check if the country concerned requires you to have the document legalised by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, or translated by an official translator. Again, we are not able to give advice on this as each country is different.
Details of the documents required can be found on the giving notice page elsewhere on this website.
What to do if you have married or formed a civil partnership abroad
You cannot register an overseas ceremony in the UK.
However, you can apply to have your documents sent from the relevant country via the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and deposited with the General Register Office (GRO). You can then get copies of your marriage or civil partnership record more easily.
What you need to do
You can create a record of your overseas marriage or civil partnership at any time after the ceremony. You need to get the original documents, or certified copies, issued by the foreign authority – this is not an automatic process. Depositing you marriage or partnership documents with the General Register Office is not a legal requirement.
To create the record:
- One of you must be British – only that person can apply to deposit the certificates.
- You must have been married in a foreign country, but not a Commonwealth country.
- You can deposit a civil partnership document from any country in the world.
If you are abroad, only the consul for the district where the marriage took place can send the documentation to the General Register Office.
If you are in the UK, you need to contact the Foreign and Commonwealth Office about depositing your certificates.
The General Register Office does not release original documents once deposited. You receive confirmation when the documents have been deposited with GRO. Overseas marriages and civil partnerships are noted in the public indexes.
Getting copies of your overseas marriage or civil partnership record
Once recorded, you can request copies of the documents, which saves you having to contact the overseas authority. These are black and white photocopies of the material GRO holds and are not presented in the form of a British style certificate. Photocopies are issued under the seal of the General Register Office and are usually acceptable as official evidence of your marriage or civil partnership.
For further information on the legalisation of documents, contact the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
If you need any other information about marrying or forming a civil partnership abroad, contact the General Register Office or your local register office.
 |
