Giving notice of marriage or civil partnership

• You will need to give your notice of marriage or civil partnership by attending the register office that covers the area where you live
• You and your partner will need to give notice separately if you live in different registration districts
• You do not have to give your notice on the same day
• Once the notice has been given, there will be a waiting period of 28 clear days, before the paperwork (Marriage or Civil Partnership Schedule) can be issued

• You will need to give your notice of marriage or civil partnership together by attending the register office that covers the area where you live
• If you live in different registration districts, you can choose which office to give your notice to
• You must give your notice on the same day
• Once the notice has been given, there will be a waiting period of at least 28 clear days, before the paperwork (Marriage or Civil Partnership Schedule) can be issued This may be up to 70 days if the Home Office decide that they need more time for their investigations
• Check if you can get married or form a civil partnership
• Find more information on the Home Office referral process

This usually means banns being read at the church. If one or both of you are from outside the UK and who are NOT British, Irish or have EUSS (settled status, pre-settled status or has a pending application for settled status submitted before 30 June 2021), you must give your notice together at a register office in the district where at least one of you lives.

• The Marriage or Civil Partnership Schedule is valid for 12 months from the date of giving notice
• It is only valid for the venue stated on your notice. This might cover the entire building for some venues, but for others it may be room specific, so you will need to know which room your ceremony is booked to take place in before giving notice
• You must have lived in that registration district for the past seven days. This really means eight nights residency before you can attend your appointment
• All appointments must be booked in advance as we do not offer a walk-in service
• The notice fee and any document referral fees are paid at the time of booking your appointment
• Please see our Terms and Conditions of Acceptance before you book your notice

• You will need to provide evidence of your age, name, nationality, address and condition (marital or civil partnership status) (this is not an exhaustive list, as every person is unique). Current list of documents required to give notice
• In all cases, you will need to provide original documents as photocopies are not acceptable
• You may need to have your documents translated ready for your notice of marriage or civil partnership appointment
• If you are a relevant national with EUSS (settled status, pre-settled status or has a pending application for settled status submitted before 30 June 2021) you will need to prove your status. You do this by creating a unique six-digit “share” code which you will bring to your appointment. You create your code online*

*Your unique six-digit “share” code is only valid for 30 days, but you can always re-create a new one if the time expires. Please make sure that you have your “share” code ready before you attend your appointment or you will charged for an additional document appointment.

• After the notice of marriage or civil partnership appointment, your details will be displayed for 28 clear days
• The date and time of your proposed marriage or civil partnership will not be publicised
• Once the 28-day notice waiting period has expired, your details will be removed from public display, and your Marriage or Civil Partnership Schedule are usually then produced (unless the Home Office have extended their investigations to 70 days, because you have been referred)
• If your ceremony is with Southampton Registration Services, we will send you a link to our website which guides you through the details of the day. This will allow you to complete your notes for ceremony online ready for the big day. The notes for ceremony tells us exactly what details are important to you, so that we can get it right