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Coronavirus: Information and advice

How to get married

2. New marriage legislation 2021

Changes for those subject to immigration control

Immigration laws will change from 1 July 2021 to reflect changes brought about following EU exit.

Legislative updates regarding immigration will impact the process of taking notices of marriage and civil partnerships.

From 1 July all register offices in England and Wales will become a designated office, this means that where one or both parties are subject to immigration control, notice of marriage or civil partnership will need to be given together at a district where either one or both parties reside.

Marriage schedule system

The Marriages, Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration Etc.) Act 2019. This act will modernise how marriages are registered for the first time since 1837. 

This will be implemented from 4 May 2021.

What will change?

  • Couples will no longer sign a marriage register or be given a Marriage Certificate during the ceremony, instead, they will sign a Marriage Schedule. This is a one-page document that contains the details of both people getting married which are needed to register a marriage.
  • Couples will have the option to include up to 4x parents in the schedule and subsequently their marriage certificate i.e. mother, father, parent, step-parent.
  • Couples will not receive marriage certificates on the day of the marriage. Once the details of the marriage have been entered into the electronic register a marriage certificate will be posted to the couple within 7 days of the ceremony where this has been pre-paid.

Marriages in Religious Buildings (not Church of England)

  • The Marriage Schedule will be issued by the Registration Office in the district that the marriage will take place following legal preliminaries.
  • Giving notice of marriage - council web page
  • Couples will have the option to include up to 4x parents in the schedule and subsequently their marriage certificate i.e. mother, father, parent, step-parent.
  • Couples will not receive marriage certificates on the day of the marriage.
  • The relevant person from the Religious Building or their representative will be expected to return the signed schedule to the Register Office in the District where the marriage took place within 21 days and only then can a Marriage Certificate be issued by the Register Office after a further 7 days.

Church of England Marriages

  • Couples will no longer sign a marriage register or be given a Marriage Certificate during the ceremony, instead, they will sign a Marriage Document. This is a one-page document that contains the details of both people getting married which are needed to register a marriage. The Marriage Document will be issued by the Minister at the Church where the marriage is taking place.
  • The Marriage Document is a one-page document that contains the details of both people getting married which are needed to register a marriage.
  • Couples will have the option to include up to 4x parents in the schedule and subsequently their marriage certificate i.e. mother, father, parent, step-parent.
  • Couples will not receive marriage certificates on the day of the marriage.
  • The Minister or their representative will be expected to return the signed Marriage Document to the Register Office in the District where the marriage took place within 21 days.
  • The details of the marriage will be entered onto the electronic marriage register within the following 7 days and only then can a Marriage Certificate be issued.
  • Marriage Certificates will be available from the registration service in the area where the marriage took place.
  • Certificate requests - web page