Book a civil ceremony

You must sign a legal statement at your local register office to say you intend to get married or form a civil partnership. This is known as ‘giving notice’.

You must give notice at least 29 days before your ceremony. If you are subject to immigration control, this may be longer.

Before you book an appointment, check that you:

• fulfil the legal requirements
• can provide the correct documents
• have decided on the ceremony location

You need to make an appointment to give notice at your local register office, even if this is not where you are holding your ceremony. If you live in Lincolnshire, you can do this at one of our registration offices.

Your notice of marriage or civil partnership will be valid for 12 months from when you give notice.

The notice is only valid for the ceremony location that you state at the time of giving notice.

You must have lived in the registration district of Lincolnshire for the past 7 days prior to your appointment.

If you or your partner are from outside the UK You must give your notice together at a register office in the district where at least one of you lives.

You must apply for a visa to get married or form a civil partnership in the UK if you:

• are not a British or Irish citizen
• do not have indefinite leave to remain in the UK
• do not have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme

In these circumstances, you will also need to provide:

• a passport-sized photo of each of you (even if only one of you is from outside the UK)
• proof of current immigration status (for example, your visa)
• a translation of any documents that are not in English

You can still give notice of your intention to get married or form a civil partnership if you do not have a:

• marriage visitor visa
• family visa

If this happens, we must inform the immigration authorities at the Home Office.

Please be aware that the Home Office might:

• ask questions about you and your relationship - you may need to wait up to 70 days before getting married or forming a civil partnership
• decide not to approve your notice - you cannot get married or form a civil partnership in the UK

Notice fees

The fee to give notice is £35 per person. If you are a foreign national and your marriage needs to be referred to the Home Office, the fee is £47.

Book an appointment

Give notice of marriage

Give notice of civil partnership

Amend or cancel your appointment

If you have any questions please email registration@lincolnshire.gov.uk.