Marriage muddle
Question
I am a British citizen and my girlfriend is a US citizen. Will we be allowed to get married in a UK registry office?
Answer
You can marry in a UK registry office providing you both meet the various rules and regulations.
Both of you must give notice of marriage in your local Register Office, the Superintendent Registrar then issues their authority for the marriage. You can then marry in any Register Office or local authority approved premises in any district.
You must both be resident in England or Wales for seven days before notice is given (on the eighth day). The notice must state where the marriage is to take place. The marriage can then take place after 15 days have elapsed from the date on which notice of the marriage is entered in the marriage notice book. In the period between the notice of intention to marry and the ceremony, anyone with strong grounds for objecting to the marriage can do so. The fee for giving notice of the marriage is 30 per person.
As you are marrying a US citizen there are a range of immigration laws that will apply to her, if you intend to live in the UK or, to you, if you intend to live America.
For information about living and working in the US contact the US embassy. If your fiancé is outside the UK at the moment she should contact the nearest UK embassy or consulate for information about UK law and getting the various forms. More information can be found at UK Visas. If she is already in the UK she will need to contact the Home Office immigration department about what she needs to do and what forms she needs to fill in etc.
Updated: 09/06/2008
Question answered by CAB
