Arranging your Marriage: Legal Requirements
The notice of marriage must be signed by you so you cannot ask a friend or relative to give your notice for you. A separate notice of marriage must be given personally by each party to the marriage. Once a notice is entered, it remains valid for a set period (normally twelve months), so you cannot give your notice until you are within that period from the day of your wedding. The notice will then be published in the Register Office for a period of 15 days. After this period, another document called a 'marriage authority' will be issued. This document is the legal clearance and allows your marriage to take place. Two authorities will be required for a marriage to take place.
NOTICE OF MARRIAGE
You must give your own notice of marriage personally at a Register Office.
A fee is payable at the time of giving notice.
You will need to make an appointment by ringing 0121 675 1000 - option 4
If either of you can not understand or speak English, you must bring someone with you who can speak English and your language fluently so they can interpret. You can not interpret for each other.
You must each have lived in the district of residence in England or Wales for seven clear days before either notice is given. It does not matter if you move to a different address after notice has been entered.
Even if you live in the same local authority area as the person you are marrying, each of you must give a notice of marriage. If you choose to marry in a Register Office outside your area of residence, you must give notice of your marriage usually in the district where you live. However first, you must contact the Register Office for the district where you wish the marriage to take place to ensure that you may be married on the date you have chosen.
If you both live in the same registration district it is preferable but usually not essential for you both to attend the office together.
If you live in Birmingham you must give notice at:-
The Register Office
Holliday Wharf
Holliday Street
Birmingham
B1 1TJ
You will need to make an appointment by ringing 0121 675 1000 - option 4
After you have given notice, you must wait for 16 days while it is displayed in the Register Office before the authority can be issued. If you marry outside your area of residence, you can collect the authority for the marriage from the Register Office once this waiting period is over. The authority is the legal document which allows your marriage to proceed and two authorities, one for each of you, will be required in the district where the marriage is to take place. The authority also shows the date on which it expires. Two authorities will be required for each marriage and both must be valid on the day of your marriage.
DOCUMENTS YOU NEED TO SHOW US
When you give notice of your marriage, you need to bring documents with you to prove your name, age, nationality, marital status and address. If you do not bring them, it may not be possible to take your notice of marriage.
Please note that documents must be originals. Photocopies of documents are not acceptable.
Two documents need to show your address. At least one should be from an official government agency, for example a medical card, driving licence or council tax bill, the other could be a bank or building society statement or a utility bill.
Other documents you need to bring are birth certificates, passports, change of name deeds and any documents showing the termination of any previous marriage or civil partnership. If you have been married or in a civil partnership before and divorced, you will need to produce a court-stamped copy of the decree absolute (the final divorce paper) if the divorce took place in the U.K. If, however, the divorce took place abroad, you will need to produce the original divorce document issued by that country.
If you are widowed or your civil partner has died, we will need to see the death certificate of your late husband, wife or civil partner.
If you have already married each other in a foreign country, you need only get married again here if there is a doubt that your marriage was legal. We will need to see the marriage documents issued by that country when you give notice of your marriage.
If any of the documents issued by another country are not in English, a certified translation will be required.
If you are under 18, we will need proof that your parents or guardians agree to the marriage. If your parents are divorced we may also need to see a court order that gives custody to one of them or some other person.
Please ring us on 0121 675 1000 - option 4