Giving notice of marriage or civil partnership

A minimum of 28 days' notice is required. You must sign a legal statement at your local register office to say you intend to get married or form a civil partnership. This is known as giving notice. You cannot book an appointment by telephone.

Before you book an appointment

You must have read and understood all of the information on this page, particularly the section about what information you need to bring to your appointment.

1. The marriage/civil partnership can only take place at the venue you name on the notices.
2. If you change the venue you will have to give, and pay for, the notices again. You need to have booked your venue before you can give notice.
3. The notices will last for exactly 12 months from the date of the appointment.

What is a notice of marriage?

A notice is a signed legal statement that is displayed on the register office notice board for 28 clear calendar days. It includes the names, age, marital status, address, job, and nationality of the people who want to marry or form a civil partnership. It also states the venue for the ceremony.

What documents do I need to provide?

We will not be able to process your application if you cannot provide all the required documents at your appointment. You will need to provide evidence of your name, age, nationality, marital status, address, and immigration status.

You must bring originals of the following documents to your appointment:

• details of the final venue for your ceremony
• a valid passport (or UK birth certificate if you were born before 1 January 1983)
• proof of your home address
• proof of any name changes (for example, a copy of a deed poll)

To prove your address, bring one of the following:

• valid UK or Irish driving licence
• gas, water or electricity bill from the last 3 months
• bank or building society statement from the last month
• council tax bill from the last 12 months
• mortgage statement from the last 12 months
• current tenancy agreement
• letter from your landlord (dated within the last 7 days) confirming you live there and including your landlord’s name, address and their signature

If your normal address is outside the UK, you’ll need to give details of a UK contact address. For example, this could be your partner, friend or family member’s address.

If you’ve been married or in a civil partnership before

You’ll also need to bring one of the following documents:

• a decree absolute or final order
• your former partner’s death certificate

You need to bring proof of your divorce, annulment or dissolution if it was granted outside of the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man. You’ll have to pay a fee of £50 for the local register office to check your documents or £75 if the General Register Office needs to check them.

If you or your partner are from outside the UK

You’ll also need to bring:

• a passport sized photo for 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

If you’re from the EU, EEA or have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme

You’ll need to bring confirmation of either:

• your settled or pre-settled status - you’ll need to bring a ‘share code’ which you can get from the ‘view and prove your immigration status’ service (the code will be valid for 30 days)
• an application to the EUSettlement Scheme you made on or before 30 June 2021, which you’re waiting for a decision on - you’ll need to bring your certificate of application

How much will the notice cost?

• £35 per person or;
• £47 per person if referred to Home Office Immigration

Booking an appointment to give notice

By submitting the appointment booking form you are applying to give notice; you are not actually giving notice. We will contact you when we have received your submitted application (this may be several weeks after you have submitted the application) and, after checking the details and what documents you have available, arrange an appointment for you to come in to give notice.

Once you have given notice you must wait a minimum of 28 days before you are married or joined in a civil partnership.  Please, therefore, bear these timeframes in mind when requesting wedding or civil partnership ceremony dates.

Please only book an appointment if you have all documents prepared.

Frequently asked questions