Giving notice of marriage or civil partnership
What does giving notice mean?
Before you can get married or form a civil partnership in England and Wales you must complete the legal preliminaries. This requires an in-person appointment with a registrar, so cannot be done online, over the phone, in writing or by proxy. A legal ceremony cannot take place until you have given notice.
The maximum notice you can give is one calendar year ahead of the date of your ceremony. The minimum legal notice is 28 or 70 days depending on your immigration status. Our ceremony bookings are made on the condition that you book your notice no later than three months after you have made your booking.
Make an appointment to give notice
Choose from one of the three options below to make your appointment.
You should only proceed with booking an appointment if you live in postcode area SO14-SO19. Your appointment fee will NOT be refunded if you do not live in our district and continue to book. However, there are some exceptions, so please check with the local authority.
For marriage
Book your appointment only if you are both British, Irish or have EUSS (settled status, pre-settled status or has a pending application for settled status)
For civil partnership
Book your appointment only if you are both British, Irish or have EUSS (settled status, pre-settled status or has a pending application for settled status). View the differences between Marriage and civil partnerships.
If one or both of you are not British, Irish or have EUSS
If one or both of you are not British, Irish or have EUSS (settled status, pre-settled status or has a pending application for settled status); you will need to complete our enquiry form with your details. The ceremonies team will contact you to make an appointment.
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Before you fill in this form
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Make an enquiry
Frequently asked questions
What do I need to know before I book my notice appointment?
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- The Marriage or Civil Partnership Schedule is valid for 12 months from the date of giving notice
- You will need to give your notice of marriage or civil partnership by attending the register office that covers the area where you live. This is usually defined by the local authority to which you would pay your council tax to.
- You and your partner will need to give notice separately if you live in different registration districts
- 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. This may be up to 70 days if the Home Office decide that they need more time for their investigations.
- The schedule 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 eight 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, 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
What documents do I need to give notice?
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- Failure to bring the documents you select will require you to book another appointment and pay new appointment fees
- 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.
What happens after we have given notice?
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- 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
Fees
View our fees and prices.
Other circumstances
For Church of England weddings 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.
Find more information on ceremonies held at one of the religious buildings in Southampton or having your ceremony abroad.
