Marriage outside England and Wales including abroad
Important: Special rules apply to marriage outside England and Wales including abroad.
We cannot assist couples getting married in a Commonwealth country.
One of your first steps must be to refer to the Getting Married Abroad page at GOV.UK (external link) for information on what to do if planning a marriage or civil partnership overseas.
Please use this page only as a guide and seek advice from the country and local area that you will be getting married or forming a civil partnership in. You can find a list of Embassies and High Commissions in the UK on the GOV.UK website (external link). We can only assist Haringey residents that are British or from certain Commonwealth countries if you are getting married outside of England or Wales. Please read this page before booking an appointment which must be made by phone or in person at the Register Office. The telephone number can be found at the bottom of this page.
Please note that a Republic of Ireland national is neither British or foreign and there is no provision under UK law for us to take a Notice for a person who is from the Republic of Ireland and is getting married abroad.
Please also contact the British Consulate in the country of marriage for all marriages and civil partnerships abroad. Contact details can be found on GOV.UK website - Worldwide Organisations (external link).
Notice of Marriage must be given. Notice of Marriage is the legal process of informing a Registrar that a person wishes to marry. Please use the information below as a guide. Couples should check with the embassy or High Commission in the country of marriage in addition to the person marrying you for the exact requirements.
- Please note that some countries may require documents to be legalised. Information about legalising documents and getting an Apostille can be found on the GOV.UK website - Get your document legalised (external link).
Please choose where you wish to get married from the options below:
- Marriage in Scotland
- Marriage in Northern Ireland
- Marriage in the Irish Republic
- Marriage in a Commonwealth country, The Channel Islands or the Isle of Man between two British subjects
- Marriage in a foreign (not Commonwealth) country between a British subject and a foreign national
- Marriage in a foreign (not Commonwealth) country between two British subjects
- Making a Notice appointment for a ceremony outside of England or Wales
Marriage in Scotland
People wishing to get married in Scotland should give Notice of Marriage to the registrar for the district in Scotland where the marriage is to take place. No residential qualification in Scotland is necessary. Notice may be given by post or in person. In such circumstances, notice would not be necessary in England or Wales. Marriage of same sex couples is not currently available in Scotland, but Civil Partnerships are.
Notice can be given no earlier than three months and no later than 29 days before the planned ceremony date.
Alternatively a Registrar in England and Wales can take Notice for a marriage to take place in Scotland under the provisions of the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1956 as amended by the Marriage (Scotland) Act 1977.
One of the couple to be married must have resided in his or her district for at least seven clear days immediately before the giving of the notice. The other person will need to give notice to the registrar of the district in Scotland where the marriage is to take place at least 15 days before the date of the intended marriage. A religious marriage may take place anywhere but a civil marriage can only be solemnised in a Registrar’s office or an approved place.
- Please note that this provision does not extend to the marriage of same sex couples. Under Scottish law these are treated as civil partnerships.
Marriage in Northern Ireland
There is no provision under which an English, Welsh or Scottish Register Office may accept notice of marriage to take place in Northern Ireland. There is no provision under the law of Northern Ireland for a notice of marriage of a same sex couple to be attested. Under the law of Northern Ireland these are treated as civil partnerships.
A person resident in England or Wales who wishes to get married to an opposite sex partner in Northern Ireland can give notice by post to the registrar in the district where the marriage is to take place. No residential qualification is needed.
The party or parties living in England or Wales should complete the Marriage Notice form(s) and post them to the registrar of the district where the marriage is to take place. The notice forms can be obtained from the district registrar or from the General Register Office Northern Ireland website (external link).
Where the parties are planning a religious marriage in Northern Ireland, they should complete the marriage notice forms and at least one of the notice forms should be forwarded to the person who will be solemnising the marriage for his/her signature before both notice forms are delivered to the registrar by the parties to the proposed marriage.
At least 14 days, Notice of Marriage (subject to change) must be given to the registrar of the district before the solemnisation of a marriage. The notice of marriage is valid for one year.
Marriage in the Irish Republic
There is no provision under which an English, Welsh or Scottish Register Office may accept Notice of Marriage to take place in the Irish Republic. There is no provision for a same-sex couple to marry in the Irish Republic, although they may form a civil partnership there.
A person resident in England or Wales who wishes to marry an opposite-sex partner in the Irish Republic can give notice by post to any Registration Office in the Republic, not necessarily the office for the area where the marriage is taking place. However, the person(s) resident in England or Wales will need to obtain the prior approval of the Registration Office concerned before sending a postal notification. Otherwise, notification must be given by the personal attendance of the couple together before the Registrar.
These requirements apply to both civil and religious marriages. The notices must be given at least three months before the date of the proposed marriage, although an exemption from this requirement can be obtained on application to the Circuit Family Court. For details of how to apply for an exemption see the General Register Office Ireland website - Getting Married section (external link) or, alternatively the Courts website - Ireland (external link).
The postal notification forms can be obtained by either writing to or telephoning the relevant Registration Office in Ireland. Contact details of registration offices can be obtained from the General Register Office Ireland website (external link).
Where the parties have given a postal notification they will still need to attend at the Registration Office where they sent their postal notification, by appointment, at least five days before the marriage ceremony. At the meeting with the couple, the Registrar will take the required personal details from them relating to their names, address(es), marital condition, nationality, age etc. Photographic identification is required in all cases.
When all necessary details have been provided and the Registrar is satisfied that the couple are free to marry, the Registrar will ask the couple to sign declarations of no impediment and then issue them with a Marriage Registration Form. This is the civil authorisation for the couple to marry. There is no statutory waiting period between the giving of the notification and the issue of the marriage registration form. If notification is given in person, the Registrar may, if satisfied that the couple are free to marry, issue the marriage registration form on the same day. Alternatively, for example if they have a divorce granted outside the Irish Republic, it could take up to three to four weeks before the marriage registration form is issued.
On receiving their marriage registration form, couples who are having a religious ceremony should ensure that they show it to the priest or cleric who is solemnising their marriage and that that person is listed on the Registrar of Solemnisers. This can be checked on the General Register Office Ireland website (external link) or with any Registration Office. For couples having a civil marriage, the Registrar will make the arrangements regarding the ceremony with them and retain the marriage registration form for use at the ceremony. The marriage registration form is valid for 6 months after the date of the intended marriage.
Marriage in a Commonwealth Country, The Channel Islands or the Isle of Man between 2 British subjects
- Please note – 28 clear days notice must be given before certificates to allow a marriage to proceed can be issued.
The option to file paperwork under the Marriage of British Subjects (Facilities) Acts 1915 and 1916 has now been removed, please contact the relevant High Commisions and the people doing your ceremony for further advice. Please also see Gov.uk (external link)
Marriage in a foreign (not Commonwealth) country between a British subject and a foreign national
- Please note – 28 clear days notice must be given before certificates to allow a marriage to proceed can be issued.
A Superintendent Registrar may accept notice for a marriage to take place in a foreign country, under the local law of that country, between a British subject resident in their district and either a foreign national or another British subject
Marriage between a British subject and a foreign national in a foreign country is done under the Consular Marriages and Marriages under Foreign Law (No2) Order 2014. Where a marriage is intended to be solemnised in a foreign country, under the law of that country, between a British subject resident in his or her district and a foreign national, the superintendent registrar may accept Notice of Marriage and issue a certificate that no impediment to the marriage has been shown to exist.
The person giving notice must be a British subject from one of the countries below:
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Ascension Island
- Oeno Island
- Pakistan
- Papua New Guinea
- Pitcairn Island
- Rwanda
- St Christopher (St Kitts)
- Nevis
- St Helena
- St Lucia
- St Vincent and the Grenadines
- Samoa
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Solomon Islands
- Somers Island or Bermudas
- South Africa
- Sri Lanka
- Swaziland
- Tanzania (Tanganyika and Zanzibar)
- Tonga (Friendly Islands)
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tristan da Cunha
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- Tuvalu (Elice Islands)
- Uganda
- Vanuatu (New Hebrides)
- Windward Islands
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
They must have had their usual residence within the superintendent registrar’s district for three weeks immediately preceding the day on which notice is given.
For the purpose of taking a Notice of Marriage in these circumstances, a person is considered to be a British subject if he or she is a national of any of the Commonwealth countries listed above. A foreign country does not include a Commonwealth country or the Irish Republic. Nationals of those countries are not to be regarded as foreign nationals. The foreign national need not be a national of the country in which the marriage is to take place and they can be living either in this country or overseas.
If the British subject is living in a foreign country, he or she should contact their nearest British Consul.
Marriage in a foreign (not Commonwealth) country between 2 British subjects
Where a marriage is intended to be solemnised in a foreign country under the local law of that country between two British subjects one or both of whom reside in his or her district a superintendent registrar may accept notice of marriage under special arrangements agreed with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
A foreign country does not include a Commonwealth country or the Irish Republic. The person giving notice must be a British subject who has resided in the superintendent registrar’s district for at least seven days immediately before the giving of the notice. The other person must also be a British subject, and if residing in England or Wales, should give Notice of Marriage to his or her local register Office.
For the purpose of taking a notice of marriage in these circumstances, a person is considered to be a British subject if he or she is a national of any of the Commonwealth countries listed below:
- Anguilla
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Ascension Island
- Oeno Island
- Pakistan
- Papua New Guinea
- Pitcairn Island
- Rwanda
- St Christopher (St Kitts)
- Nevis
- St Helena
- St Lucia
- St Vincent and the Grenadines
- Samoa
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Singapore
- Solomon Islands
- Somers Island or Bermudas
- South Africa
- Sri Lanka
- Swaziland
- Tanzania (Tanganyika and Zanzibar)
- Tonga (Friendly Islands)
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Tristan da Cunha
- Turks and Caicos Islands
- Tuvalu (Elice Islands)
- Uganda
- Vanuatu (New Hebrides)
- Windward Islands
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
If the other party is a British subject living in a foreign country, he or she should contact their nearest British Consul where notice of marriage can be accepted under this procedure. The same conditions apply as if notice of marriage had been given in England and Wales.
Making a Notice appointment for a ceremony outside of England or Wales
Please call us on 020 8489 1775 when you are ready to book. Please also ensure that you contact the British Embassy / High Commission in the country of marriage and check with the embassy / High Commission of the country of marriage plus the people that will be marrying you to confirm any other arrangements that you may need to make. Please allow plenty of time.