Giving notice of marriage or civil partnership
When can I give notice?
Notice cannot be given until you have decided on a venue.
You must have lived at your usual address for at least seven days in the district where you are giving notice.
Legally a notice cannot be given more than 12 months in advance. The minimum period between giving notice and when a ceremony can take place is 28 clear days.
If you are a foreign national, or we can't confirm your EUSS status, note that the standard 28-day notice period may extend to 70 days, and there will be a fee.
If you do not give notice within the timescales outlined then your ceremony cannot go ahead.
Currently we are able to offer appointments for people who live in the Wakefield District to give notice of their marriage or civil partnership where their ceremony is scheduled to take place in the next 20 weeks.
We are unable to schedule appointments for anyone whose ceremony is more than 20 weeks away.
Where can I give notice?
One of the parties to the marriage or civil partnership must live in England or Wales. Where you can give notice will depend on your nationality. This is defined by the Immigration Service as: a relevant national and a foreign national.
A relevant national is:
- a British Citizen
- an Irish Citizen or a person who has been granted EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) status
A foreign national is:
- an EEA national without EUSS settled status, EUSS pre-settled or pending application to the EUSS OR any other person from any other country
If you are unsure where to give your notice, it is the register office in the local authority area to which you pay your Council Tax.
Relevant Nationals
If you are a Relevant National, you must give notice of your intention to the Superintendent Registrar in the District where you live. Please note this does not apply to the Church of England or Church of Wales.
If you and your partner are relevant nationals, a notice appointment will not be booked until you have booked a date, time and venue for your ceremony with the Registrar in the District where the venue is located.
Foreign Nationals
If you and your partner are foreign nationals, you must both give notice together to the Superintendent Registrar in the district where one of you lives.
We suggest you wait until you have a confirmed notice appointment with your local register office before booking a ceremony. Also, consider choosing a ceremony date that is more than 70 days after your notice appointment.
If you plan to marry in a Church of England or Wales and are a foreign national you will be required to give notice at the Register Office as outlined above. Banns cannot be read.
How do I arrange an appointment?
When your ceremony date is within 20 weeks, please schedule your appointment at Wakefield Register Office or Pontefract Registration Office.
Due to high demand and limited resources, appointment availability for notice of marriage/civil partnership is limited. The date shown on our online booking system is the earliest available. Please refrain from calling to seek an earlier date as this won't be possible. However, if the earliest appointment doesn't allow for 28 clear days before your marriage date, contact us at 0345 485 2888.
Please remember that the booking system is currently only for ceremonies in England or Wales.
If you are booking an appointment and you are getting married outside England or Wales, please contact us on 0345 485 2888 to book your appointment.
An appointment for a relevant national takes approximately 20 minutes. An appointment for any foreign national(s) (both parties) takes approximately 60 minutes.
If you have foreign divorce paperwork to prove you are free to marry/form a civil partnership an additional 20 minutes will be allocated for the appointment.
Cancelling or rescheduling an appointment
You are required to give 48 hours' notice to cancel or reschedule your appointment. Should you fail to give the required notice, fail to attend or are late for your appointment you will have to pay for and arrange another appointment.
The cost of giving notice for marriage or civil partnership
- Notice of Marriage / Notice of Civil Partnership (per person) - Monday - Friday £42
- Notice of Marriage / Notice of Civil Partnership (per person) – Saturday £54
If you are a foreign national and can't show a visa, claim to have documents you don't have, or can't give the right immigration statement, your application will be sent to Immigration Enforcement. You'll also need to pay an extra £15 per person at the appointment.
If your divorce, annulment or dissolution was granted outside the UK, Channel Islands or Isle of Man a full translation must also be provided, and a consideration fee will apply at the time of your appointment. If the document is considered at the Register Office the fee is £55. If the documents have to be forwarded to the General Register Office to be considered the fee is £83.
Essential documents to bring
There are certain documents that you must bring to your appointment. If you fail to bring them or if the documents you bring are not correct or have expired, we will be unable to complete your notice and you will need to book and pay for a new appointment.
You will discuss what evidence you will bring when booking your appointment but it is your responsibility to check that the documents you intend to bring to the appointment are valid. You must check the documentation you intend to bring against one of the following checklists.
If you are a foreign national you will need to attend with your partner to give notice at the same time. You cannot give your notices on separate days.
- recent passport photograph
- evidence of your name, age and nationality
- evidence of your immigration status
- evidence of your current address
- evidence of your usual address if it is different to the address you have provided in your notice
- evidence of your change of name (if applicable)
- documents required to provide evidence that you are free to marry/form a Civil Partnership (if applicable)
If you can't give a visa, claim to have documents you don't have, or can't provide the right immigration statement, your application will be sent to Immigration Enforcement. You'll also need to pay an extra £12 at the appointment.
Failure to bring the correct documents to your appointment will result in another appointment having to be made and the payment of another fee. If you have concerns that you are unable to provide the essential documents required for the appointment please contact us to discuss.
Your appointment
At the appointment you will be seen separately from your partner and will be asked to give information about yourself and them.
You will be asked to provide the essential documents as outlined above.
A notice of marriage or civil partnership must be given for a specific venue. Once given this cannot be changed. If you decide to change the venue of your ceremony you will have to pay for and attend to give notice again.
At the end of the appointment if you are getting married in the Wakefield district you will be issued with a guide to your ceremony. If your ceremony is in another local authority area they will be notified that you have attended to give notice on the national system 'Registration Online'.
The notice will be publicly displayed at Wakefield Register Office for 28 days.
Giving notice for a ceremony in a religious building
If you are planning to be married in the Church of England you will need to speak to the person in charge at the church.
If you are planning to marry or form a civil partnership in any other church or religious building you will need to give notice as outlined above depending on your nationality.
If the religious building is located in the Wakefield district, at the end of the statutory waiting period the Schedule would normally be sent by first class signed for post, which carries a cost of £2.50 which the Registrar will need to take at your appointment. You also have the option to arrange an appointment to collect the schedule after the date they are due down.
Alternatively, you can give written permission for a person from the religious building to collect these on your behalf, by completing the collection slip. They will need to make an appointment and provide identification to collect these.
If the religious building is located outside the Wakefield district the Schedule will be issued by the Register Office in the District the ceremony is taking place and you will need to contact them to discuss how to receive your schedule and buy copies of your marriage/civil partnership certificate.
You will not be issued a certificate on the day of your ceremony. The Schedule (which you will have signed) will be returned to the Register office by the person who officiated your ceremony within 21 days to be inputted onto our system. We aim to input all schedules within 7 days from receipt after which we will be able to process any application for a marriage certificate. To apply for a certificate you will be invited to visit our website and make an application online.
Getting married or forming a civil partnership abroad
It is important that you consult with the local authorities in the country where you are planning to be married or form a civil partnership to find out what you need to do
Some countries may require you to give notice of marriage/civil partnership to the Superintendent Registrar of the District in which you live. More online information can be found here on the GOV.UK website.
If you need to give notice in the District in which you live please ensure you have read the information on this page before contacting us to make an appointment on 0345 485 2888.
At the end of the statutory waiting period, the paperwork for the marriage or civil partnership would normally be sent by first class signed for post, which carries a cost of £2.50 which the Registrar will need to take at your appointment. You also have the option to arrange an appointment to collect the schedule after the date they are due down.