Marriage procedures in Northern Ireland

1. Preliminaries to marriage vary according to the method of
solemnization. This leaflet provides general guidance but if you need
further information please contact a Registrar of Marriages in your
district or the General Register Office in Belfast.
• Notice throughout this leaflet means notice of intended marriage.
• Fees payable are set out on a separate leaflet enclosed.
Further information about marriage in Northern Ireland may be
obtained from the Registrar General:

General Register Office,
49-55 Chichester Street,
Belfast BT1 4HL
Telephone: (028) 9025 2036/37

Section A
Church of Ireland
2. Marriages according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of
Ireland may take place by
• Licence
• Special licence
• Banns
• Registrar’s certificate Licence

3. A licence is available from a Church of Ireland licensing minister for a
marriage in a church within their district provided that one or both parties are members of the Church of Ireland, or other
Protestant Episcopal Church
 one party has lived for at least seven days within the licensing minister’s district immediately before giving notice of intended
marriage. (The residence of the other party is immaterial.)

4. Notice must be given to the licensing minister seven days before the
grant of the licence. The licensing minister will send copies of the
notice to the clergy in the places of worship normally attended by the
couple.

5. Immediately before the grant of the licence, one of the parties must
make an oath or declaration which includes a clause to the effect that
one of them has lived for the past fourteen days within the district
attached to the church in which they intend to marry.

6. The name and address of a licensing minister may be obtained from
any Church of Ireland clergyman.

Special licence
7. A special licence may be granted by a Bishop of the Church of
Ireland, provided one or both parties are members of that church, or
other Protestant Episcopal Church. The marriage may take place at
any time or place within the Bishop’s diocese. The fee payable is fixed
by the church authorities.

Banns
8. Banns may be published where both parties are members of the
Church of Ireland or other Protestant Episcopal Church.
9. The banns must be published in the church of the parish in which
parties live. If the parties live in different parishes, banns must be
published in both parishes.
10. Seven days notice to the minister(s) may be required and publication
must be made on three Sundays or Feast days before the date of the
marriage.
11. The marriage ceremony must take place in the church (or one of the
churches) in which the banns have been published.
Registrar’s certificate
12. When one or both parties are members of the Church of Ireland, a
Registrar’s certificate (or certificates if they live in different registration
districts) may be obtained authorising marriage in a church.
13. For details of this procedure see Section E (paragraphs 40-44).
14. One of the parties must also have lived for fourteen days before the
marriage within the district attached to the church in which they intend to marry.

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Section B
Presbyterian Church
15. Marriages according to the form and discipline of various
Presbyterian bodies may take place by
• Licence
• Special licence
• Banns

16. The governing bodies concerned are:
• The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland
• The Remonstrant Synod of Ulster (Non-subscribing)
• The Presbytery of Antrim
• The Reformed Presbyterian Synod of Ireland.
Licence

17. A licence authorising marriage in a church within a presbytery may
be obtained from a licensing minister appointed by the presbytery,
provided that one or both parties are Presbyterian,
 one party must give notice of the marriage to the Presbyterian
minister of the congregation of which he or she has been a
member for the past month the minister will issue a certificate confirming that notice was
given, which the party must produce to the licensing minister seven days after receipt of the certificate, the licensing minister
may issue the licence authorising the marriage.

18. Immediately before the grant of the licence, the same party must
make an oath or declaration which includes a clause to the effect that
one of the parties has lived for the past fifteen days within the
presbytery.

Special licence
19. A special licence authorising marriage at any time and at any place in
Ireland may be granted by the Moderator of one of the governing
bodies mentioned to which one or both parties belong. The fee
payable is fixed by the church authorities.

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Banns
20. Banns may be published where both parties are Presbyterians
 in the presence of the congregation of which they are members
 if the parties are members of different congregations, banns must
be published in each church.

21. Six days notice to the minister is required and publication must be
made on three Sundays before the marriage, which must take place in
a church (or one of the churches) in which the banns have been
published.

Section C
Roman Catholic Church
22. The procedure for marriages according to the rites and ceremonies of
the Roman Catholic Church, where both parties are Roman Catholics,
is in general regulated by the law of that church. Information on the
steps to be taken should be obtained from a Roman Catholic
clergyman.

23. The following provisions in connection with marriages in Roman
Catholic churches are provided for in the Irish Marriage Acts.
Licence

24. A licence may be obtained from a licenser appointed by a Bishop. It
may be issued for marriage in a Roman Catholic church in cases
where both parties are Roman Catholic, or one party is a Roman Catholic. In this case, notice must be given
to the licenser seven days before the issue of licence, who must send copies of the notice to the clergyman of the place of worship
which each party regularly attends.

Registrar’s certificate
25. A Registrar’s certificate may authorise a marriage in a Roman
Catholic church within the Registration district between a Roman
Catholic and a person who is not a Roman Catholic. This method is
not available if both parties are Roman Catholics.

26. For the procedure relating to Registrar’s certificate see Section E
(paragraphs 40-44).

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Section D
Other denominations and civil marriages
(including Baptists, Brethren, Congregationalists, Free Presbyterians,
Methodists, Salvation Army, Jews and the Society of Friends etc)

27. Marriages according to the customs of other religious bodies may
take place by
• Registrar’s licence (except for Jews and the Society of Friends)
• Registrar’s certificate
• Special Licence (certain religious bodies only).

28. For procedures relating to Registrar’s licence or Registrar’s certificate
see Section E (paragraphs 34-44).

29. For some denominations the Registrar must be present at the
marriage ceremony. In such circumstances the parties are advised to
agree the proposed time and date of the ceremony with the Registrar
well in advance before finalising their arrangements. Further
information about this may be obtained from the Registrar.

Special Licences
(available to Baptists, Congregationalists, Methodists, and members of the
Society of Friends)

30. Special licence may be granted by
• the President of the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland
• the Secretary of the Conference of the Methodist Church in Ireland
• the Clerk of the Yearly Meeting of the Society of Friends in Ireland
• the Chairman of the Congregational Union in Ireland
provided that one or both parties are members of the same church as the person
who grants the special licence.

31. A fee is usually payable to the religious body concerned and the
amount is decided by that body. Marriages by special licence may be
celebrated at any time and at any place in Ireland.

Jews
32. Marriages according to the customs of Jews may take place only by
Registrar’s certificate but need not be celebrated within the district of
residence of either party.

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Section E
Registrar’s office

33. A Registrar of Marriages is legally authorised to perform civil
marriages. There is a registration office attached to each of the
twenty-six District Councils in Northern Ireland. The address of the
local Registrar can be found in the telephone directory under
“Registration”. The marriages must take place by Registrar’s licence
or Registrar’s certificate.

Registrar’s licence

34. A Registrar’s licence may authorise a marriage in his office or in a
church or other building registered for marriages in the registration
district, provided that at least one of the parties lives in that district.

35. If both parties live in the same Registrar’s district
 one party must have lived for at least fifteen days and the other
for at least seven days immediately before notice is given to the
Registrar of that district. Notice may be given by either party.

36. If the parties live in different districts notice must be given to the Registrar of each district
 both parties must have lived in their respective districts for fifteen days immediately before giving notice
 the Registrar within whose district the marriage is to take place must have received the certificate from the Registrar of the other
district before he issues his licence.

37. The Registrar must in all cases send copies of the notice to the
ministers of the places of worship usually attended by the couple,
and to the minister of the church where the marriage is to be held.

38. The Registrar, seven clear days after the giving of notice, and after
administering an oath or declaration to one of the parties, may issue
the licence. The oath or declaration includes a clause to the effect that
one of the parties has lived within the district in which they intend to
marry for fifteen days immediately before the grant of the licence.

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Registrar’s certificate
39. A Registrar’s certificate may authorise a marriage in his office or in a
church or other registered building in the registration district,
provided that at least one of the parties lives in that district.

40. If both parties live in the same registration district
 they must have lived there for at least seven days immediately
before giving notice to the Registrar of that district. Notice may be
given by either party.

41. If the parties live in different districts notice must be given to the Registrar of each district
 both parties must have lived in their respective districts for at least seven days immediately beforehand.

42. The same requirement applies in regard to the issue of copy notice as described in the section on “Registrar’s licence” (paragraph 37).
43. After twenty-one clear days from the date that notice was given the

Registrar may issue his certificate. Where notice was given in different districts a certificate must be issued by each Registrar.

Section F
Registrar General’s licence

44. The Registrar General may issue a licence allowing a marriage
between a couple, one of whom is either house-bound or detained as
a prisoner or as a patient under the Mental Health (NI) Order 1986, to
be solemnized at the residence of the person who is house-bound or
detained. notice of marriage must be given by one of the parties to the Registrar of the district in which the marriage is to be solemnized.

45. If the parties live in different districts notice must be given to the Registrar of each district
Further information about the requirements can be obtained from the
Registrar.

46. The Registrar General’s licence cannot be issued for a marriage
 according to the rites of the Roman Catholic Church between two
persons professing the Roman Catholic religion.

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 according to the customs of the Jews between two people
professing the Jewish religion
 according to the customs of the Society of Friends.
Section G
General information
Age of parties

47. The minimum age of marriage in Northern Ireland for both sexes is
sixteen years. The dates of birth and ages of parties must be stated.
Minors

48. Written consent on a prescribed form (normally completed by both
parents), or if appropriate an order of a court dispensing with consent,
is needed for the marriage of anyone under eighteen years of age,
irrespective of where the minor lives or what type of marriage
ceremony is to be held. Consent forms may be obtained from the
Registrar or clergyman.

Objections
49. An objection may be lodged with a Church of Ireland or Presbyterian licensing minister against the
issue of his licence a Registrar against the issue of his licence or certificate.
Further guidance should be sought from the licensing minister or
Registrar concerned.
Production of documents

50.  If the birth certificates of the people getting married are readily
available it is helpful to the Registrar if they can be produced
when the notice of marriage is given in the case of a marriage involving a person from abroad an
official travel or identity document for that person should be produced people who have been previously married should produce
documentation or evidence of the death of the former spouse or the dissolution or annulment of the marriage

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 photocopies of documents are not acceptable unless certified to be
a true copy by the issuing authority.

Witnesses
51. The parties must arrange for two witnesses to be present at the
marriage and to sign the marriage register. Witnesses must be 16
years of age or over.

Penalty for making false statement

52. A person who makes a false statement for the purpose of bringing
about or preventing a marriage is guilty of perjury and may be liable
to prosecution.

Marriage in Northern Ireland where one party lives in
England or Wales
53. In the case of a marriage by licence issued by a Church of Ireland or
Presbyterian licensing minister, where one party resides in Northern
Ireland and fulfils the statutory conditions, that party can take all the
steps necessary to obtain the licence and the residence of the other
party is immaterial.

54. For a marriage in the Church of Ireland, when both parties are
Protestant Episcopalians and one of them lives in England or Wales
 banns may be published in respect of the latter party in the parish
or place of residence in England or Wales, in such case banns should also be published in the parish or
district of residence of the party living in Northern Ireland.

55. In the case of an intended marriage in Northern Ireland for which
authority from a Registrar is needed, and where one of the parties
lives in England or Wales, the party living there should give notice to the Superintendent
Registrar of the district where he or she resides and seven days later obtain from him a certificate
 a further seven days must elapse before the certificate becomes valid for the purpose of marriage in Northern Ireland
 the certificate must be given to the Registrar in Northern Ireland who may issue his authority for the marriage provided that the
party living in his district has also taken the necessary steps there

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 if notice is given for marriage by Registrar’s certificate the authority
cannot be issued until twenty-one days from the date that notice
was given.
Marriage in Northern Ireland where one party lives in Scotland

56. A party living in Scotland who is a member of the Church of Scotland
 may obtain a certificate signed by the minister of the congregation
of which he or she is a member, stating that banns of the intended
marriage have been proclaimed on three Sundays seven days must elapse before the certificate becomes valid for the
purpose of marriage in Northern Ireland the certificate should be given to the Registrar in Northern Ireland
who may issue his authority for the marriage provided that the party living in his district has taken the required steps there
 the certificate regarding banns is not required if the marriage is to take place by licence issued by a licensing minister or by special
licence.

57. In any other case the person living in Scotland would have to
establish the appropriate residence in Northern Ireland before notice
of marriage may be given (see paragraphs 33-44).
Marriage in England or Wales

58. In the case of an intended marriage in England or Wales where one
party is living in Northern Ireland
 a Registrar in Northern Ireland may grant a certificate but not a
licence, as his authority for a marriage to be solemnized
 the party living in England or Wales must take the necessary steps
there.

59. Where the marriage is intended to take place in a church of the
Church of England or the Church of Wales, it is within the power of
the minister to refuse to act upon such a certificate, and his prior
consent should be obtained.

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60. Further information about marriage in England or Wales may be
obtained from the Registrar General:
General Register Office,
Smedley Hydro,
Trafalgar Road,
Birkdale,
Southport PR8 2HH.
Marriage in Scotland

61. In the case of an intended marriage in Scotland where one party is
living here notice is not required to be given to the Registrar in
Northern Ireland.

62. It is not necessary for either of the parties to have resided in Scotland
before notice is given to the Registrar there.

63. Notice may be given either in person or by post and it is
recommended that about six weeks before the date of the marriage,
enquiries should be made with the Scottish Registrar in whose district
the marriage is to take place.

64. Further information about marriage in Scotland may be obtained
from the Registrar General:
General Register Office,
New Register House,
Edinburgh EH1 3YT.
GRO 395
Published by
General Register Office
Oxford House
49-55 Chichester Street,
Belfast BT1 4HL
Telephone: (028) 9025 2036/37
Fax: (028) 9025 2136
Internet: http://www.nisra.gov.uk/gro
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