Legal Requirements for a Marriage or Civil Partnership
Book your appointment online!
To book an appointment to register a Notice of Marriage or Civil Partnership please click below.
You can book your ceremony for the Garden Room at Feltham Lodge or the attendance of the registrar at any one of the approved venues in the borough, online! Its a simple form to complete and you pay the fee at the same time.
Book your appointment (citizenship ceremony, births and notices)
Due to the demand, there is a considerable wait time for appointments and ceremony dates. Please factor this in when booking your ceremony so that you will be able to give your notices within the statutory timeframe.
We would like to thank you in advance for your co-operation and patience.
Before booking your appointment to give notice, please read the following, as it is your responsibility to ensure that the legal formalities below have been met:
- You must both attend the register office in the district/borough in which you live to inform the Registrar of your intention to marry or enter into a civil partnership. This is called 'Giving Notice'. This means declaring you are both free to marry or enter a civil partnership with each other; you will be required to provide certain documents.
- Where either party is a foreign, EEA or Swiss national, without a relevant visa for marriage/civil partnership or pre or settle status, you may be subject to immigration control. The Home Office will investigate sham marriages and civil partnerships. You must attend the register office together to give your notice of marriage or civil partnership.
- If you are a relevant national i.e. British, Irish or a person been granted EU settlement status (either settled, pre-settled or has a pending application submitted before 30th June 2021) you must give your notices of marriage or civil partnership to the superintendent registrar for the district(s) in which you have lived for the proceeding 9 days immediately prior to giving your notices. Without attesting the legal preliminaries your ceremony cannot go ahead.
- You must be over 18 years, not related to each other within the prohibited degrees of relationship and not in an existing marriage or civil partnership.
- You must give your notice at least 29 days before your ceremony date to the Register Office (or 71 day if you are subject to the Immigration and Referral Scheme) in the district you reside in. The notice is displayed on a public notice board for any legal objections that anyone may want to raise. After this time, if there are no objections, your ceremony can proceed in some cases you may be given a document called a 'schedule'.
- You must know the venue for marriage/civil partnership. Your notice will only allow for you to be married or enter into a civil partnership at the venue stated on the paperwork. If you change venue, new notices must be given.
- The notice is valid for one year.
- At the interview with the registrar, you will be asked questions about yourself and your partner; full names and any other names you or your partner may use or have been known by, date of birth, whether you or your partner have been through any form of marriage or civil partnership before in this or any other country, occupation, nationality and address. You may not refer to notes and must answer the questions independently.
Getting married or enter into a civil partnership
If you wish to marry or enter into a civil partnership in England or Wales, you may do so either by civil or religious ceremony. Please note not every religious domination can offer a civil partnership in a religious building.
Please follow Gov.uk for information, setting out the similarities and differences between civil partnership and marriage as it applies to same-sex and opposite-sex couples.
Civil ceremony
A civil ceremony can take place at any register office or other approved premises in England or Wales.
For a marriage or civil partnership in an approved premises, you will need to:
- contact the venue to ensure availability
- contact the register office to confirm if a registrar is available to attend your venue
- give formal notice of marriage/civil partnership to the superintendent registrar of the districts where you live
There is a fee payable for a registrar to attend your marriage or civil partnership at an approved premises.
GOV.UK hold a full list of all licensed marriage and civil partnership venues across England and Wales. Enter your post code to view the venues.
Outdoor Ceremonies
Approved venues will be able to conduct proceedings for marriage and civil partnership registration in the room or rooms inside the built structure for which approval has been given, and also in any outdoor areas within the boundary of the land on which the built structure stands.
Other land which may be owned by the Approved Premises but which is not the grounds in which the built structure stands cannot be used for legal civil marriages or civil partnership registrations.
Venues should also consider contingency arrangements if guests need to move inside the premises due to inclement weather.
Venues will be under no obligation to offer outdoor proceedings if they do not wish to do so.
Please discuss with your venue whether they can accommodate outside ceremonies.
Religious ceremony
If you wish to be married in an Anglican church you will need to speak to the vicar of the church to arrange your ceremony date and time; they will also be able to advise you of the process and costs involved. You do not usually need to give notice of marriage at a register office if you are getting married in an Anglican church if both you and your partner are British or European nationals with settled or pre-settled status.
If the vicar has asked for you to give civil preliminaries as they cannot read banns then please email registeroffice@hounslow.gov.uk for advice and the further documents you will need to provide.
Other places of religious worship
If you wish to marry by a religious ceremony other than the Church of England or Wales you should arrange to see the minister or person in charge of ceremonies in that building. However, the church or religious building in question must be in the registration district/borough where you or your partner live or be your usual place of worship.
Some religious buildings have an authorised person who is responsible for registering marriages there. However, if the building where the ceremony is due to take place does not have an authorised person or that person is not available, you will need to book and pay for a registrar to attend instead.
If you require a registrar, please contact us as soon as possible to book their attendance.
You will also have to give a formal notice of marriage/civil partnership to the superintendent registrar in the districts where you live.
Giving notice of marriage or civil partnership
To give notice of a marriage or civil partnership you must:
- have both lived for at least 9 consecutive days at a UK address
- both give separate notices even if you live at the same address
- give your notice at least 29/71 days before the marriage/civil partnership date. The waiting period is assessed on the individual persons Immigration status. You may be subject to the Home Office Referral and Investigation Scheme if you do not have a relevant visa for marriage/civil partnership or idenfinate leave to remain or settled or pre settled status. This was introduced in March 2015 to tackle sham marriages and civil partnerships. More information can be found on GOV.UK
- a notice is only valid for 12 months once issued, so your ceremony must take place within 1 year of the date you give notice
- know the venue for marriage/civil partnership
When you attend to give your notices you will need to bring your documents:
1. ID documents - originals only
- A valid passport
- a passport sized photo each - (if you are both British nationals or both EU nationals with settled or presettled status you will not have to bring a photograph)
If you are a EU passport holder from 1 July 2021 you’ll also need to bring:
- Your settled or pre-settled status – you will need to bring a ‘share code’ which you can get from the ‘view and prove your immigration status’ service www.gov.uk/view-prove-immigration-status which will be valid for 30 days.
Please do not email the share code to us, just have it with you on the day of your appointment.
- an application to the EU settlement scheme you made on or before 30 June 2021. You will need to bring your certificate of application
If you do not hold a valid UK passport, you may provide your full/standard UK birth certificate with one of the following documents as proof of your current use of name:
- utility bill (Gas, Electricity or Water) dated no more than three months of giving notice
- bank/building society statement dated no more than one month of giving notice
- current council tax bill dated no more than 12 months of giving notice
- mortgage statement dated within 12 months of giving notice
- a current residential tenancy agreement
- valid UK photo driving licence.
If you were born in the UK on or after 1 January 1983, your full UK birth certificate must be produced, together with the full UK birth certificate of your mother, or father where your parents are or have been married to each other, to prove your nationality. If father's UK birth certificate to be shown, you would also have to provide an original copy of the marriage certificate. If mother is unmarried, mothers full UK birth certificate.
If you have a certificate of naturalisation or registration from the Home Office confirming you are a British national, you should produce this with one of the documents listed above.
If you are currently using a different name to that shown on your birth certificate, certificate of naturalisation or registration from the Home Office, you will need to demonstrate your name change by providing your marriage/civil partnership certificate(s) or change of name document.
2. Proof of address: one of the following – printed, originals only
- recent bank statement (no older than one month at the time of your appointment)
- photo driving licence (valid and registered at your current address)
- Council Tax Demand (current year)
- utility bill (Gas, Electricity or Water) for services received at the property (no more than three months old)
- current residential tenancy agreement
- If you have only recently entered into the UK, and do not have a proof of address, a letter can be provided from the person you are residing with stating how long you have been living at the address along with their original council tax demand. (Please note you must have set up a 9 day residency before attesting a notice)
3. If either party has previously married or entered into a civil partnership in the UK or any other country the following will be required:
- divorce documents / dissolution papers bearing the court’s original stamp
- if the divorce / dissolution papers are not in English, you must provide a translation in addition to the original documents
- Your previous marriage/civil partnership certificate(s) where your current name does not appear on the decree absolute, final order or death certificate.
- Foreign divorce documents - Divorce documents issued outside the British Isles are subject to an additional fee for consideration. The fees are payable at the time of giving the notice of marriage/intent appointment. £55.00 - £83.00 Please note the statutory fees are for consideration of a foreign divorce and not the outcome.
Photocopies are not acceptable.
If your previous spouse or civil partner died you will need to bring an original death certificate and marriage / civil partnership certificate (if your current name does not appear on the death certificate).
Other documents may be required depending on the circumstances
For example any change of name documents such as a deed poll.
Weddings abroad
If you wish to marry or enter a civil partnership abroad according to the laws of that country, you must ensure that you find out and follow the regulations. To marry or enter a civil partnership in another country, there may be minimum residency requirements and this should be built into the overall length of your stay. Most countries will need to see certain documents; your travel agent or embassy will be able to tell you which are required.
In some cases you will be asked for a certificate of no impediment(CNI). This can be obtained by giving notice to your local Register Office and you must give up to 28 clear days’ notice before the certificate can be issued. Although there is no expiry date printed on these authorities, different countries have their own rules and the certificate may only be valid for a three month period from the date of giving notice.
The link below for the Gov.uk website, this guidance contains a simple online form to establish whether you need a certificate of no impediment (CNI) for the country you wish to marry or enter a civil partnership in.
More information about getting married abroad
Marriage/Civil Partnership Certificates
A certificate will only be issued after the details have been entered on to the electronic register. This means you will not be able to obtain a certificate on the day of your marriage or civil partnership. This applies whether you marry or enter into a civil partnership in a civil or religious ceremony. Your details will be entered onto the electronic registration register within 7 days of your signed Marriage/Civil Partnership Schedule being received at the register office, in the area where you got married/entered into a civil partnership. To obtain a certificate, you can order one online from the register office in the district where your ceremony took place. The cost £12.50 each.
Certificates are posted using the Royal Mail Postal Service, £2.00 within UK or £7.00 for Overseas.
Notices of marriage are by appointment only
Notices of marriage are attested on:
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 9am - 3.30pm.
Wednesday 9am - 12.30pm
Contact us
Email: registeroffice@hounslow.gov.uk
Telephone: 020 8583 2090
Hounslow Register Office
Feltham Lodge
38-40 Harlington Road West
Feltham
TW14 0JJ
When using a sat nav, house number must be used with postcode to locate us.
Opening hours:
- Monday 9.00 - 16.30
- Tuesday 9.00 - 16.30
- Wednesday 9.00 - 13.00 14.00 -16.30 afternoon by appointment only
- Thursday 9.00-16.30
- Friday 9am - 16.30
- Saturdays 10.00-14.00 by appointment only
External link
Marriages and civil partnerships GOV.UK
https://www.gov.uk/marriages-civil-partnerships
