Registering an overseas marriage or civil partnership

You cannot register an overseas ceremony at a register office. However, you can apply to have your documents sent from the relevant country and deposited with the General Register Office (GRO). You can then get copies of your marriage or civil partnership record more easily.

What you need to do

You can create a record of your overseas marriage or civil partnership at any time after the ceremony. You need to get the original documents, or certified copies, issued by the foreign authority this is not an automatic process.

To create the record:

• your marriage or civil partnership must have taken place in one of the countries in the PDF linked below
• one of you must be a British citizen - only that person can apply to deposit the details

Only the consul for the district where the marriage took place can send the documentation to GRO, and GRO does not release original documents once deposited.

You receive confirmation when the documents have been deposited with GRO. Overseas marriages and civil partnerships are noted in the public indexes.

Getting copies of your overseas marriage or civil partnership record

Once recorded, you can request certified copies of the documents, which saves you having to contact an overseas authority. These are black and white photocopies of the material GRO holds and are not presented in the form of a British-style certificate. Photocopies are issued under the seal of the General Register Office and are usually acceptable as official evidence of your marriage or civil partnership.

For further information on the legalisation of documents, contact Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

If you need any other information about marrying or forming a civil partnership abroad, contact the General Register Office.

• Foreign & Commonwealth Office - Getting married abroad
• Foreign & Commonwealth Office - civil partnerships abroad

Contact the General Register Office for England & Wales

marriages.gro@ips.gsi.gov.uk

civilpartnerships.gro@ips.gsi.gov.uk

Marriages and Civil Partnerships, General Register Office, Trafalgar Road, Southport, PR8 2HH
Tel: +44 (0) 151 471 4803 - 9.00 am to 5.00 pm, Monday to Friday
Fax: +44 (0) 151 471 4523

For events registered in Scotland or Northern Ireland

You can contact the relevant General Register Office using the links below.

• General Register Office for Scotland

• General Register Office for Northern Ireland

Source:

DirectGov

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