Marriage in England or Wales
The legal preliminaries that are required before a marriage in England or Wales can proceed are as follows:

Both of the parties to the marriage must have lived in a registration District in England and Wales for at least seven days immediately before giving notice at the register office. If both parties live in the same district they should both attend their local register office together to give their notices of marriage. If they live in different registration districts then each of them will need to give notice separately in their own area. After giving notice they must wait a further fifteen clear days before the marriage can take place; for example, if notice is given on 1 July the marriage may take place on or after 17 July.

Please note that it is now possible to marry in a register office/approved Premise in any registration district in England or Wales and not just those in the district in which the party(ies) reside, although notice must be given at the register office in the registration district that the seven-day residence has been completed.

When a person attends before the superintendent registrar to give notice they will need to produce certain documents. They will need to produce evidence of their name, age, marital status and nationality. A current valid full passport would be the preferred document or, where appropriate, a Home Office Travel Document, a Standard Acknowledgement letter or a national identity card. If this is not available, two documents, such as a birth certificate issued at or near the time of the registration of their Birth, a utility bill, a driving licence etc may be acceptable. If a person has been married before they will also need to produce documents to confirm they are free to marry. These could include either a decree absolute bearing the court’s original stamp, or the death certificate of the former spouse.

Depending on individual circumstances other documents may be required. The local superintendent registrar will be able to advise further. Please note that photocopies are unlikely to be accepted.

These regulations apply to both British and foreign nationals.

It is always advisable to contact the Register Office concerned to ask what they require, and also to book the date for your marriage.

If you have any further enquiries, please contact the Marriage Section, General Register Office:

Tel: +44 151 471 4803
Fax: +44 151 471 4523

Marriage in Scotland
It is not necessary to be resident or present in Scotland to give notice of marriage.

The procedure is as follows:
Contact the Registrar in the first instance. The applicants can download the Notice of Marriage from the Internet (forms M10), which must be completed for each party: http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/

The forms must then be accompanied with:

• A birth certificate (translated by a certified translator if in a foreign language)
• A certificate of no impediment from their town hall
• If divorced, a decree absolute (again translated if necessary)

Once this notice of marriage has been submitted, 15 clear days must be adhered to before the marriage can go ahead.

The General Registrar’s Office in Edinburgh’s telephone number is:
+44 131 334 0380

Related topics

• Validity of your marriage in The Netherlands: the Dutch authorities accept the marriage certificate once it has been “apostilled”. This is a legalisation stamp on the back of the original marriage certificate, which can be done at:

The Legalisation Office
Norfolk House
437 Silbury Boulevard
Milton Keynes MK9 2AH

Telephone: 0044-1908-295111
Fax: 0044-1908-295122
E-mail: Legalisationoffice@fco.gov.uk
For Fast-track: Premium.Service@fco.gov.uk

• Where can I get a copy of my divorce papers?
  If you need legal proof of a divorce in any court, from 1858 to the present day, contact the Principal Registry of the Family Division, Decree Absolute Section, First Avenue House, 42 – 49 High Holborn, London WC1V 6NP (+44 (0)20 7947 7017 / 7016 / 6051). For a fee, they will access a union index to the registered court copies of decrees absolute for you, and either provide a certified copy of the information themselves (if the divorce was granted by the Supreme Court) or arrange for a certified copy to be sent to you from the relevant county court. If the divorce took place within the last 5 years, you can also contact the county court where it took place for a cheaper service. If you want information on the cause of the divorce, ask for the decree nisi as well. For more information please visit the National Archives website
• To replace lost certificate please visit the UK Official Services website