Islington Council

European Economic Area (EEA) Citizens

If you are both EEA/EU Citizens and you wish to get married or form a civil partnership in England or Wales and one or both of you are not resident in this country, then you must first establish a residency of seven days within a district in England or Wales. On the eighth day you will then be free to give notice in the Register Office for the borough in which you have established that residency. You should both attend that Register Office, taking with you any relevant documents.

 

The Superintendent Registrar will interview you both and will verify your documents. The notices will be displayed on the public notice boards of the Register Offices where the notices were given for 15 clear days. Only then can the marriage authorities or schedule be issued. It is your responsibility to ensure that the authorities are in the possession of the registrar who attends on the day of your ceremony. Otherwise it cannot take place. (You do not have to remain in this country for the 15-day notice period, and may return and use the marriage authorities or schedule to get married or form a civil partnership up to a year after giving notice).

 

The cost for notices is £33.50 each, which must be paid to the Superintendent Registrar at the time of giving notice.

At the bottom of this page is a list of European Economic Area member countries.

Non-EEA/EU Citizens

If one or both of you are non-EU Citizens you will need one of the following before you can give notice:

• A valid Passport or ID Card issued from your country of origin
• A valid Marriage/Civil Partnership Visa issued by the British Embassy in the country of origin
  

For further information, click the link to the Home Office website, below.

Once you have obtained one of the above you will have to establish a residency of seven days within a district in England or Wales. On the eighth day you will then be free to give notice at a designated Register Office. You should both attend that Register Office, taking with you any relevant documents.

 

The Superintendent Registrar will interview you both and will verify your documents. The notices will be displayed on the public notice boards of the Register Offices where the notices are given for 15 days. Only then can the marriage authorities or schedule be issued. It is your responsibility to ensure that the authorities are in the possession of the registrar who attends on the day of your ceremony. Otherwise it cannot take place. (You do not have to remain in this country for the 15-day notice period and may return and use the marriage authorities or schedule to get married or form a civil partnership up to a year after giving notice).

 

The cost for notices is £33.50 each, which must be paid to the Superintendent Registrar at the time of giving notice.

It is your responsibility to ensure that you have enough time to complete all of the required paperwork and to give notice before the date of any ceremony you have booked. In addition, you must make sure that you have enough valid leave left in the UK to allow you to remain in the UK until the date of your ceremony.

Registration officers have a statutory duty to report any marriage or civil partnership they suspect has been arranged for the sole purpose of evading statutory immigration controls.

 

The minimum legal age for getting married or forming a civil partnership in England and Wales is 16 years of age but written consent will be required for anyone under 18.

Below is a list of European Economic Area member countries.

 

Austria	Hungary	Poland
Belgium	Iceland	Portugal
Bulgaria	Irish Republic	Romania
Cyprus**	Italy	Slovenia
Czech Republic	Latvia	Slovak Republic
Denmark	Liechtenstein	Spain
Estonia	Lithuania	Sweden
Finland	Luxembourg	Switzerland*
France	Malta	United Kingdom
Germany	Netherlands
Greece	Norway

 

*For the purpose of Marriages and Civil Partnerships Swiss Nationals are to be treated the same way as EEA nationals

 **although the whole island of Cyprus is a member state of the EEA and all Cypriots are EEA nationals, at the present time a person who can only present a travel document from “the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” (TRNC) is subject to immigration control unless they can also produce a document showing that they are entitled to citizenship of the Republic of Cyprus.

• Home Office