Book an appointment for a notice of marriage or civil partnership

Notice appointments

Most couples must give notice before they can marry or form their civil partnership in England or Wales.

The government has issued further guidance on giving notice.

For further information please see our webpages including details for same sex marriages at Where to get married.

Visit GOV.UK for the Government's advice on the differences between a marriage and a civil partnership or visit our webpages for Civil Partnerships and how to make a conversion to marriage.

Where do I give notice?

If you’re a British national and live in Salford, you must give notice in Salford. If you’re British and don’t live in Salford, you’ll give notice in the district where you live.

If one or both of you are not a British national and you live in Salford, you can still give notice in Salford, but you must both come together to your appointment.

If one or both of you are not British national and one of you lives in Salford and the other person in another district you can give notice in either of your districts. You must attend one notice appointment together in either of your districts.

Whatever your nationality, you must have been resident at your addresses for at least the eight days just before the day of the notice appointment.

Do not book an appointment if you both live in another district as we’ll have to cancel your appointment – you or your partner must live in Salford to book an appointment with us.

Legal reason for giving notice

Marriage and civil partnership law requires an in-person, face to face interview with the registrar to give notice, and so notice cannot be given by some other person on your behalf.

Your notice is publicly displayed in the register office for 28 days before the legal document that permits you to marry or form a civil partnership is issued. This is usually 29 days after the notice appointment (unless you are not a British National where different conditions may apply).

You and your partner must attend an appointment at a register office and show the required documents. The notice is a legal document and one must be signed by each person giving notice. Your notice must state where the ceremony will take place, so make sure that you can give the registrar the name and address of the venue. If you change your mind after the appointment, you will have to give notice (and pay) again.

The standard notice fee per person is £42 and you will need to pay this to make your appointment.

To check what documents are required including additional information if you are not a British National please visit our webpages for Legal requirements to get married and Documents we need to see.

Before you book your appointment choose where your marriage or civil partnership is taking place

Before you book to give notice, you must decide where you are having your legal ceremony as this is detailed on your notice and cannot be changed. (if you change your mind you will have to re-book an appointment, bring all required documents and pay the fees again) You therefore must consider from the options below:

• The ceremony room(s) located within your local Register Office
• The licenced venue you want to marry or form a civil partnership in See a list of the licenced venues in the City of Salford
• Whether you want to have a religious ceremony within a religious building (you must reside in the district or attend the building for worship to hold your ceremony in that building). For Church of England there may be different procedures and you may not need to give notice
• You should ensure your chosen venue is available (and preferably booked) if you are giving notice and want a particular date.

Please see Where to get married for further information.

• Please note some religious buildings same sex weddings and therefore it is important to check with the minister of religion prefer continuing to make an appointment.
• If the religious building is not in the district or parish where you live, you will also need to produce a letter from the minister of religion confirming permission for you to hold your legal ceremony in that building.
• If you are not a British Citizen and wish to marry in the Church of England, you are required to give notice in all circumstances and must produce a letter from the Vicar granting permission for your marriage.

If you are getting married or holding a civil partnership abroad

First contact the relevant consulate or embassy for advice about the documents you need. If they tell you that you need a Certificate of Non-Impediment (CoNI), this can be issued (in some circumstances) by a register office. You should make a notice appointment to apply for a CoNI.

You may be able to give notice in Salford for a Certificate of No Impediment if:

• you are a British subject
• you live in Salford
• your proposed spouse or civil partner is a foreign national
• the marriage or civil partnership ceremony will be in a foreign country
• you have lived in Salford for at least the 8 full days before the day of your notice appointment, or
  • you are two resident British subjects (some residence restrictions apply)
  • the marriage or civil partnership ceremony will be in a foreign country.

CoNIs are usually issued 29 days after the notice appointment (but not at weekends). You may need to get an apostille stamp for your CoNI to get it legalised before you take it to the foreign authorities. You can get an apostille stamp from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Legalisation Office.

We cannot take a notice for two non-British subjects to get married or form a civil partnership in a foreign country.

See the Foreign and Commonwealth Office advice on marriage and civil partnership ceremonies abroad.

Please note the Register Office will not be able to advise you after issuing the certificate of no impediment, we can only check on if a notice for this type of certificate may be given.

Do not proceed with booking an appointment if you are unsure if the Certificate of No Impediment is required as we cannot issue a refund.

Please see Where to get married for further information on legal ceremonies abroad.

I need to reschedule or cancel an appointment

When should I give notice?

• For British couples and some others (including Irish nationals and those with status under the European settlement scheme), the waiting period is 29 days from the notice date to your ceremony date.
• For couples where one or both are foreign nationals (without specified immigration status), the waiting period will be at least 29 days and may be extended to 71 days.
• This is because your case will be referred to the Home Office Referral Scheme under the Immigration Act 2014 and it requires extra time. The notice fee for those couples subject to referral will be £57 per person instead of £42.
• You can only give notice at a register office if you have lived in the registration district for at least the past seven days. For example, if you arrive on 1 June, the seven-day period starts the following day - 2 June - and ends on 8 June. You can then give notice on 9 June.
• You can give notice up to 12 months before your ceremony date.

We strongly encourage that you book an appointment to give notice at least three months in advance of your ceremony date.

Leaving it any later than this means that you risk being unable to book an appointment in time for your intended ceremony date, so your ceremony won’t be able to take place.

Please note that the above doesn’t apply to Irish nationals who will have a standard 29 day waiting period and no referral to the Home Office.

See Getting married and civil partnerships for further information.

How do I make an appointment to give notice in Salford?

Please note that before booking an appointment:

• You or your partner must be a Salford resident.
• You should have decided if you are having a marriage or civil partnership (please see above if you want to know more about the differences)
• You must have decided the venue for your ceremony (if you change your mind after giving notice you will have to book and pay again for a new notice as well as restart your statutory waiting period)
• You must ensure you have read all the relevant information on this page including the relevant links to our website BEFORE booking your appointment with us, to make sure you have all the required documentation and to allow you to accept our terms and conditions before you pay any fees.
• Failure to provide the correct documentation will mean we cannot take your notice and you will have to make a new appointment and pay the fee again as no refunds will be given.

What should we take to our notice appointment?

Please use the link in blue to take you to our webpages detailing.

Documents we need to see.

Foreign Nationals

If one or both of you is a foreign national, you’ll need to pay an extra £15 each at your notice appointment. You’ll also need to bring a passport-sized photograph each.

You don’t need to make the extra payment or bring photos if you have: indefinite leave to remain or indefinite leave to enter or if you are an EU national with settled or pre-settled status under the EU settlement scheme.

If you hold a Marriage Visa(s) you’ll be required to bring photographs but won’t pay an additional fee. Irish nationals also don’t need to make the extra payment or bring photos.

Please see our webpage Documents we need to see for more information

I need to reschedule or cancel an appointment