Giving notice of civil marriage or civil partnership

You must give notice at least 30 days before your ceremony, and hold the ceremony within 12 months.

You need to make an appointment to give notice at your local register office, and you must have lived in that registration district for the past 7 days. You and your partner will need to give notice separately if you live in different registration districts; you must do this on the same day.

If you live in North Yorkshire, you can give notice at any of our registration offices. 

If you are a non-EEA National or an EEA National subject to immigration control, you must give notice at a Designated Register Office. Within North Yorkshire, these are Harrogate, Northallerton, Scarborough, Skipton and Selby. To book an appointment for a Designated Notice, please contact us.

If you live in England or Wales but outside North Yorkshire, you will need to contact your local registration office to make your appointment, as this must take place in the district where you live.

If you live outside England, Wales and you want to marry in North Yorkshire, you must live in England or Wales for 7 clear days before the date of the notice appointment, excluding your arrival date and the date of the notice. Both you and your partner must be resident at the same time before giving notice, and you must both give notice on the same day.

Where one of you is resident in England or Wales and the other is resident in Scotland, the party residing in England and Wales gives notice to the superintendent registrar of the district in which they have been resident for 7 clear days immediately prior to giving notice. The party residing in Scotland gives notice of marriage to the registrar for the district in which they live.

However, this does not apply if either of you is subject to immigration control. If so, you must each complete the residence requirement in England/Wales before either notice can be given. You must give your designated notices together at one of the register offices in the district(s) where the parties have the residential qualification.

You will need to bring at least two documents to provide evidence of:

• your name, date of birth and nationality
• your place of residence
• if you had a previous marriage/civil partnership, a decree absolute, final order, decree of nullity or dissolution order, or a death certificate if you are a widow or widower 
• a full translation of any foreign divorce or dissolution documents (additional fees are payable for consideration of divorce or civil partnership dissolution documents obtained outside the British Isles) and the name and address of the translator (this cannot be your intended spouse)
• if you do not speak English, you must bring an interpreter to your appointment. This cannot be your intended spouse so it must be another person who can translate. The same person will also need to be a witness at the marriage/Civil Partnership Ceremony.

Any document, which is in a foreign language, must be accompanied by a complete English translation.

The appointment will not proceed without these exact documents. All documents must be original and valid (not expired). Photocopies, photographs or electronic versions will not be accepted. If any of the documents are in a language other than English, a certified translation in English must also be provided.

1 – Evidence of name, surname, date of birth and nationality

You must bring one of the following:

• valid current Passport (i.e. not expired) – non-UK Nationals should refer to Section 4 ‘Evidence of Immigration Status’
• certificate of registration or Certificate of naturalisation as a British citizen
• UK birth certificate if you were born before 1/1/1983 plus one official document from List 2 to confirm your current name.
• UK full birth certificate if you were born after 1/1/1983 which shows your parents’ details PLUS evidence of either your parent(s) British Citizenship or settled status at date of your birth plus one official document from List 2 to confirm your current name
  • if your parents were not married at the date of your birth, please bring your mother’s UK birth certificate
  • if your parents were married at the date of your birth, please bring either parent’s UK Birth certificate
  • UK Passport which states the relevant parent as a British Citizen or having Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) at the date of your birth. 
  • if you are using your father’s documents, you must also bring your parents’ marriage certificate
  • where your parent’s documents are in a different name to those named on your birth certificate, further documentation will be required to show the link of names

Please note, you cannot use the same document for proof of name and place of residence, and cannot use residency letter for proof of name.

If your name has changed since these documents were issued we need to see evidence from the list below:

• ‘Registered’ Deed Poll (3 stamps: in the Supreme Court of Deeds, Royal Courts of Justice)
• ’Unregistered’ Deed Polls/Statutory Declaration
• Marriage Certificate(s)

2 - Evidence of place of residence

You must bring one of the following documents which shows your full, current name and address (within England/Wales):

• valid UK or Irish driving licence 
• gas, water or electricity bill from the last 3 months
• bank or building society statement/passbook from the last month
• council Tax bill from the last 12 months
• mortgage statement from the last 12 months
• current residential tenancy agreement 
• letter from the owner/proprietor/tenant of the property where you have been residing, which must:
  • confirm you have been living there for at least 7 full days directly before the date of your appointment (excluding the day of arrival and day of giving notice), and specify the date of arrival
  • confirm the owner/proprietor/tenant’s name, address and status as owner/proprietor/tenant
  • be signed and dated by the owner/proprietor/tenant on the day of the appointment to give notice
  • be supported by evidence of the owner/proprietor/tenant residence at that property, which must be one of the documents listed above

If your name has changed since these documents were issued we need to see evidence from the list below:

• ‘registered’ Deed Poll (3 stamps: in the Supreme Court of Deeds, Royal Courts of Justice)
• ’unregistered’ Deed Polls/Statutory Declaration
• marriage certificate(s)

3 – Evidence of ending of a previous marriage or civil partnership

If you have been married or in a civil partnership before, you’ll also need to bring one of the following documents:

• a decree absolute, decree of nullity, dissolution order or final order
• your former partner’s death certificate plus marriage certificate (if you are not named on death certificate)

If your name on your Decree Absolute/Dissolution/Final Order is different to the name you are using now, we need to see evidence from the change of name list in Section 1, to show the link of name.

Additional fees will apply to documents obtained outside the British Isles, which you can view on our registration service fees page. If these documents are not in English, you must also provide a full translation including any stamps and signatures, and include the name and address of the translator.

4 – Evidence of Immigration Status

All applicants must provide evidence of their nationality to support their statement i.e. valid current passport, in addition to the documents listed in the previous sections. You cannot give notice without a current valid passport - EEA. ID Cards are not acceptable.

If you are a ‘relevant national’, i.e. someone who either has settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS), or has a pending application for that status submitted before 30 June 2021:

• settled/pre-settled status: You will need to provide a valid EUSS ‘share code’ generated within 30 days of the appointment as evidence of this status for your appointment, which you obtain on the settled status Gov page.
• pending applications: You will need to present a digital copy or hard copy letter of the pending application with your ‘Certificate of Application’

If you are a non-relevant national i.e. not a British or Irish citizen or granted/awaiting EUSS, you must bring a recent passport-sized photograph for both parties where applicable, even if only one of you is from outside the UK, in addition to the following evidence: 

• valid Biometric residence permit 
• valid HO endorsement in passport 
• valid UK residence permit in passport 
• valid immigration status document bearing a valid photo-endorsed vignette 
• any other photographic status document issued by the Home Office or an immigration officer
• home office form IS96
• valid application registration card (ARC) with photos required from both parties
• valid UK visa/entry clearance in passport with photos required from both parties
• no evidence - party making a statement but cannot provide any supporting evidence with photos required from both parties

You must bring a translation by a third party of any documents that are not in English. If you do not speak English, you must bring also an interpreter to your appointment. This cannot be your intended spouse so it must be another person who can translate. The same person will also need to be a witness at the marriage/Civil Partnership Ceremony.

If you are a non-EEA national, or EEA/Swiss National with no EUSS Status, in some circumstances the notice period may be extended to 70 days.

What do I need to do if I am in the Armed Forces?

If you are a member of the Armed Forces and you do not have a driving licence or utility bill at your North Yorkshire address, you must get a letter from your Commanding Officer on forces official letterhead. This must include your full name, the address you are resident at, the date since which you have been resident at that address (which must be at least 8 nights or longer prior to your appointment to give notice) and be signed by your Commanding Officer. You must also bring along your forces ID to accompany the letter.

This does not apply to anyone who lives with you and who is not a member of the Armed Forces.

There is a fee for each person giving notice. View registration service fees.

If you have any ceremony fees to pay you can also do this at your notice appointment. Ceremony fees must be paid 3 months prior to your ceremony. Card payment is preferred and we do not accept cheque payments.

Terms and conditions of payment

If you change the venue of your ceremony after giving notice, you will need to give notice again and pay the fee again. It is your responsibility to ensure that you bring all the correct documentation and information required to give notice. If you are unable to make your appointment, please contact us to re-schedule as soon as possible.

If you are getting married or entering into civil partnership in Scotland or Northern Ireland, please contact us for advice. 

If you are a British national getting a marriage or civil partnership abroad, you might need certain documents from the UK government, for example, a certificate of no impediment (CONI). You can use the Government ‘Getting married abroad’ online tool to find out how to get the documents you need, and who to contact in order to confirm requirements.

Certificate of no impediment

A certificate of no impediment confirms there are no objections to a proposed marriage or civil partnership, and can only be provided for British nationals via the register office in the district in which you live.

You must find out, from the authorities in the country in which you wish to marry, how long the certificate is valid for in that country as it must be valid on the day of the wedding. These certificates vary in the length of time they are valid for, which can sometimes only be a few months. Certain countries require that certificates be no older than 2 or 3 months at the time of your wedding. You should also find out if they require you to contact the Foreign and Commonwealth Office once the certificate has been collected from the register office in the district where you live. You should also know how the relevant authorities require the ceremony location to be recorded on the certificate, along with any unusual spellings.

Once you have this information, you should contact us to arrange an appointment.

Fees are charged across England and Wales for the consideration of divorces, civil partnership dissolutions and nullities obtained outside of the British Isles i.e. the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

The fees charged will depend upon nationality and country of the divorce, dissolution or nullity. The consideration is for whether the foreign divorce, dissolution or nullity documents are acceptable for giving notice. Fees are to be paid at the time of the notice appointment, are in addition to the statutory notice fees, and are charged regardless of the outcome.

Some foreign divorces will need to be referred to the General Register Office. It can take up to 6 weeks for a decision, and you should factor this into your marriage or civil partnership plans.

Any document in a foreign language must be accompanied by a full translation of all wording, stamps and signatures. The translation can be undertaken by anyone other than the parties to the Marriage or civil partnership. The translator must add their name and address, and certify that it is a true and accurate translation.