Giving your notice of marriage or civil partnership

Before you can get married or register your civil partnership you and your partner must give notice by appointment.

A notice of marriage is where you sign a legal statement at your local register office to say you intend to get married or form a civil partnership.

You must give notice at least 29 days before your ceremony. Your ceremony must be held within 12 months of giving notice.

Where to give notice

The office you can attend will depend on whether you are subject to immigration control.

If you live in Leeds and are not subject to immigration control, you will need to give notice in Leeds.

You are not subject to immigration control if you are:

  • a British citizen
  • an Irish citizen
  • a person who has been granted EU Settlement Status (EUSS), either settled or pre-settled, or has a pending application submitted before 30 June 2021

Find your local register office on GOV.UK external link.

If you or your partner are subject to immigration control

You will need to give notice together in either of the registration districts you live in. Bring passport style photos for both of you and your EUSS share code if you have one. Find more information about the EUSS share code on the GOV.UK website external link.

To prove your immigration status, you will need to bring proof of your:

  • indefinite leave to remain (settled or pre-settled, or pending application submitted before 30 June 2021)
  • right of abode
  • military or diplomatic exemption
  • marriage or civil partnership visa

You must have lived in the registration district for 8 days before the notice appointment.

Find more information on the documents you need to bring when you give notice.

You may need to wait 70 days before getting married if you are referred to the Home Office.

Cost of giving notice

A notice costs £42 per person.

There may be extra costs added, for example if your notice of marriage is referred to the Home Office. Check the full list of fees.

What you'll need at the appointment

When you give your notice you'll need to:

  • let us know where and when you want to get married
  • show proof of your name, age, address and nationality
  • bring a recent passport style photo for each of you if you or your partner are subject to immigration control

You will lose your fee if you do not bring all of the correct documents or are unable to prove your immigration status.

Name and date of birth

To prove your name and date of birth, we will accept a valid:         

  • passport of any nationality
  • Home Office travel document
  • UK photocard driving licence, full or provisional
  • full British birth certificate combined

Born on or after 1 January 1983

If you were born on or after 1 January 1983, to use your birth certificate as proof you will also need supporting documents that prove the identity and British citizenship or settled status of one of your parents. If this parent was born on or after 1 January 1983, you will also need proof for one of their parents (your grandparent).         

To prove a parents or grandparents identity and British citizenship or settled status, you will need:         

  • a full British birth certificate
  • a British passport, issued before your birth
  • a British naturalisation certificate, issued before your birth
  • proof of their settled status issued before your birth such as permanent residence, right of abode or indefiniate leave to remain or enter

You should also bring a copy of your deed poll if you have ever changed your name.         

Address

To prove your address we will accept original paper copies of your:         

  • utility bill within the last 3 months (gas, electricity, water, broadband, cable, landline)
  • bank or building society statement within the last 1 month
  • valid UK driving licence, full or provisional, paper or card
  • most recent council tax bill
  • most recent mortgage statement
  • current residential tenancy agreement

If you're new to the UK

If you have recently entered the UK you will need both:         

  • a letter signed by the person you are living with which confirms you have spent at least 8 consecutive days at their address
  • proof of their address

You should seek immigration advice because:         

  • you may need to apply for a marriage or civil partnership visa before you give notice
  • marriage or civil partnership in this country, even if it is with a British citizen, does not give you automatic right to remain here

Nationality

To prove your nationality we will accept a valid:

  • passport of any nationality
  • Home Office travel document
  • naturalisation certificate if you have become British
  • full British birth certificate with photo ID

If you were born on or after 1 January 1983, to use your birth certificate as proof you will also need supporting documents that prove the identity and British citizenship or settled status of one of your parents.         

Immigration

To prove your immigration status we will accept a valid:         

  • British passport
  • proof of indefinite leave to remain or enter (settled status)
  • proof of right of abode
  • proof of military or diplomatic exemption
  • marriage or civil partnership visa
  • naturalisation certificate, if you have become British
  • full British birth certificate combined with any supporting documents if you're born on or after 1 January 1983
  • your EUSS share code

Marital status

If you have ever been married or in a civil partnership in any country you must bring proof that you are now divorced or widowed or that your civil partnership has ended.         

Divorced or partnership dissolved in the UK

You must bring an original court stamped copy of your decree absolute. Find more information on how to get your decree absolute on GOV.UK external link.         

Divorced in another country

You will need to provide:         

  • the original document issued by the country where the divorce took place
  • an English translation of this document if it's in another language

We may need to carry out extra checks to make sure your divorce is valid. This can cost either £50 or £75 and will take longer than the 28 day notice period. It may delay the date of your ceremony.         


Spouse or civil partner has died

You will need to bring the death certificate for your former civil partner or spouse, with an English translation if the certificate is in a different language.

If you are not named as spouse or civil partner on the death certificate, you will also need to show us your marriage certificate or civil partnership certificate, with an English translation if it's in a different language.         

What we do with your information

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.          

         
         

Book an appointment

Book a notice of marriage appointment Book a notice of civil partnership appointment

Location of register office

Leeds Register Office
Merrion House
Merrion Way
Leeds
LS2 8BB

Find the register office on Google maps. external link

Cancel or rearrange your appointment

If you need to cancel or rearrange your appointment, you must contact us more than 2 working days before your appointment date.

Terms and conditions

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.         

         
         

Contact us

Phone

0113 222 4408
(Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, except Wednesdays when we're open from 10am)

Email


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