Giving your notice of marriage or civil partnership

The council has a statutory duty to register births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships and to administer citizenship services on behalf of the Home Office. Your information will only be used to help us with your registration appointment, your ceremony or your application for copy certificates. We will not share this information with anyone else unless we are required to by law. Read more about how we process your personal data in our privacy policy.          

1.1 Your appointment booking is accepted subject to the terms and conditions set out in this document and on the basis that you agree to the terms and conditions in their entirety.         

1.2 An appointment booking fee (per person) is payable at the time of booking appointments for notices of marriage and civil partnership.         

1.3 An appointment will be considered confirmed when the Register Office sends you an email confirming the date and time of your appointment.         

1.4 You must bring all relevant original documents with you to the appointment. We do not accept photocopies, scanned copies, photographs or other digital versions.         

1.5 For more information on what documents you need to bring please see our Giving your notice of marriage or civil partnership page or contact the Register office.         

1.6 Customers with foreign divorces must provide the original documentation required by the General Register Office in order to assess if their divorce is valid in England and Wales. For more information see our Giving your notice of marriage or civil partnership page or contact the Register office.         

1.7 The names on all documents must match the names you provide to the Register Office. If they do not match, you must bring additional documents showing how the name was changed, such as a deed poll or marriage certificate.         

1.8 If any documents are not written in English you must bring an English translation from a third party.         

1.9 If you do not bring all the required original documents with you to the appointment, the Register Office reserves the right to cancel the appointment and you will need to pay a new fee.         

1.20 You must be able to answer statutory questions during the appointment. If you require an interpreter you must arrange for an independent interpreter to accompany you to the appointment.         

1.21 All customers who have appointments with Leeds Register Office must arrive at the agreed time for their appointment.         

1.22 If you do not attend your appointment, are more than 10 minutes late, you will need to re-book and will be charged for all further appointments.         

1.23 You must give notice no more than 12 months in advance of the date of your ceremony, and no less than 28 days before the date of the ceremony.         

1.24 Each person must attend an appointment in person.         

1.25 You must have lived in Leeds for at least eight clear days immediately prior to your notice appointment. If you have set up a temporary residence in order to give notice in Leeds you must spend at least eight consecutive clear days in Leeds and return each night to the Leeds address.         

1.26 If you are subject to Immigration Control your notice of marriage or civil partnership may be referred to the Home Office for approval. This may result in your waiting period being extended from 29 to 71 days.         

1.27 If at any point it is alleged that a legal impediment to a marriage or civil partnership exists, the Register Office will need to undertake an investigation before the ceremony can take place. Leeds Register Office cannot be held accountable for any resulting delay, postponement or cancellation and financial loss that may occur.         

1.28 If either party has gone through a divorce/dissolution of a previous marriage/civil partnership and books a ceremony or a notice appointment before the decree absolute has been issued, no refunds or financial compensation will be given if the appointment or ceremony cannot go ahead.         

1.29 If either party has gone through a divorce/dissolution of a previous marriage/civil partnership in a foreign country and books a ceremony before the divorce/dissolution has been approved as valid, no refunds or financial compensation will be given if the ceremony cannot go ahead.         

1.30 A ceremony booking or an appointment to give notice of marriage or civil partnership cannot be used as evidence to an embassy that you are intending to marry or form a civil partnership in the United Kingdom.         

1.31 Once you have attended your notice of marriage or civil partnership appointment it is not possible for the booking fee to be refunded.         

2 - Rescheduling appointments

2.1 If you are unable to attend your appointment, please contact the Register Office so that we can make alternative arrangements where reasonably possible.         

2.2 An appointment may be rescheduled once (subject to availability) without charge, provided more than 2 working days notice is given.         

2.3 Any further changes will result in the full fee being charged.         

2.4 Where less than 2 working days notice is given, you will need to re-book the appointment and pay the booking fee again.         

3 - Cancelling appointments

3.1 Booking fees can be refunded provided more than 2 working days notice of cancellation is given.         

3.2 Where less than 2 working days notice is given, no refund can be provided.