Births, deaths, marriages and nationality

Give notice of marriage or civil partnership

Once you have arranged your ceremony there is a legal requirement for you to each give a notice of your intention to marry.

Whether your ceremony is taking place in Kirklees or in a different district if you live within Kirklees, and it is due to take place within the next 12 months, you will need to book an appointment to give your notice of marriage.

See our fees and how to pay for a full breakdown of the costs to give notice and the ceremony.

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Book an appointment to give notice

Before you can be married or form a civil partnership you must give notice of your intent at the register office in the district where you have lived for the past 9 days. A notice of marriage or civil partnership is a legal declaration which must be given individually, by each of you, in person. It is venue specific, so you must know where your legal marriage ceremony or civil partnership formation is going to take place before you book your appointment to give notice.

Notices are only valid for 12 months. Please do not book an appointment more than 12 months ahead of your ceremony date. When you attend your appointment you will need to know the exact location of the venue, this information can be found on your provisional booking email that the district of marriage sends when the ceremony is booked

If, after giving notice, you change the ceremony venue or the date is moved beyond 12 months from the date of your appointment, you must give a new notice and pay the fees again.

Your notice must be displayed publicly for 28 clear days before a marriage or civil partnership schedule can be issued. However, if one or both parties to the marriage / civil partnership is subject to immigration control, this legal wait period may be extended, by the Home Office, to 70 days.

Book online to give notice as a relevant national

A relevant national is a British Citizen, an Irish Citizen or a person who has been granted EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) status. This means they are either settled or pre-settled or have a pending application for that status submitted before 30 June 2021.

Book your appointment online


This type of appointment is only available at Kirklees Register Office, Civic Centre 1, High Street, HD1 2NF.

Fill in our simple online form.

Completing this form takes around 15 minutes.

You must have:

  • a contact number or email address
  • a credit or debit card to hand to pay for your booking

Before booking an appointment it is your responsibility to read and understand our terms and conditions.

For information about how we store your data please read the Kirklees Registration Service Privacy Notice

Book a notice of marriage appointment Book a notice of civil partnership appointment

After your appointment


You will receive an appointment confirmation email detailing the date, time and location for your appointment along with a booking reference. Should you need to rearrange or cancel the appointment please contact the relevant office (Contacts for marriage and civil ceremonies | Kirklees Council ) as soon as possible, quoting your booking reference.

You must wait at least 28 days before the ceremony can take place.

The notice is displayed in the public area of the register office during those 28 days.

Contact us to give notice if you're a foreign national

If you are a foreign national you and your partner must give notice together of your intention. You must give this to the Superintendent Registrar at the register office in the local authority where one of you pays your Council Tax. This includes if you plan to marry in a Church of England or Wales. Banns cannot be read.

You cannot book your appointment online.

A foreign national is:

  • A European Economic Area (EEA) national without European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) settled status, EUSS pre-settled status or a pending application to the EUSS; or
  • Any other person from any other country.

How to book an appointment for foreign nationals


Contact us to book

Please give the following details in the email, along with general details of the enquiry

  • Your full name
  • Your address
  • Your nationality and details of any visa you may hold
  • Your email address
  • A contact number

Before booking an appointment it is your responsibility to read and understand our terms and conditions.

For information about how we store your data please read the Kirklees Registration Service Privacy Notice

Contact us

After you have contacted us


A member of our ceremonies team will contact you to complete your booking.

If one or both of the parties do not hold the appropriate immigration status or marriage visa, you can still give notice. A referral will be made to Home Office Immigration to determine if the marriage or civil partnership can proceed.

After your appointment


  • You can book your ceremony
  • We advise the ceremony date you choose should be more than 70 days after the date of your notice appointment
  • Your notice will be displayed in the public area of the register office for 28 or 70 days

Cancellations and refunds

Demand for appointments can be high, so we advise you book your appointment up to 12 months in advance. Your ceremony cannot be confirmed until you have given notice.

If you arrive for a notice appointment and do not have the required documentation, or do not meet the residency or other requirements, then the notice appointment will not be able to go ahead. A further appointment will then need to be booked.

You are required to give us no less than 48 hrs notice to cancel or rearrange your appointment.

If you rearrange your appointment the fee you have already paid will be carried over to your new appointment.

Non-attendance will not result in an automatic refund.

If you no longer wish to attend your notice appointment you can apply for a refund by contacting kirklees.ceremonies@kirklees.gov.uk. Please attach the original receipt to your request. The receipt will have been sent from KirkleesCouncil-noreply@e-paycapita.com entering this into your email search will help you to locate it.

If you are unable to locate the receipt please provide the date and time of the transaction. You should be able to locate this from your personal banking records.

Once we have received your request we will action it within 72 hours.

Payment will be made to your account within 5 working days of the refund being actioned.

When you can't book an appointment online

You will not be able to book an appointment online if:

  • You do not know exactly where your ceremony will take place.
  • Either of you are under 18.
  • Either of you are not free to marry or form a civil partnership.
  • You are not relevent nationals, or you do not have settled, pre-settled status or a pending application made on or before 30th June 2021 under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
  • Both of you will not be resident in England or Wales at the time of giving your notice of intention to marry or form a civil partnership.
  • You do not have an email address or contact number.

If any of these apply to you, please contact the ceremonies team using our online form. A member of the team will advise you on any additional requirements, and will be able to complete the booking for you wherever possible.

Attending your appointment

What to bring

You must both bring original documents - we cannot accept photocopies or photographs on mobile phones.

If any documents are not in English, a complete certified translation is necessary. The translation does not need to be completed by a professional translation service and may be done by a family member or friend. However, the person whose documents are being translated, or their partner, cannot provide the translation. The translation must include the name and address of the translator and be certified that the translation is true and accurate.

  • Proof of name, age and nationality. Ideally, this will be your valid passport. If you are a British citizen and do not have a current, valid, passport you will need to provide your full birth certificate and if you were born after 1st January 1983 your mother's birth certificate OR your father's birth and marriage certificate (if your parents were married to each other at the time of your birth).
  • If you have changed your name by Deed Poll we will ask to see this document.
  • Evidence of your current address issued within the last three months but not dated within the last 9 days, such as a recent utility bill (not older than 3 months) or bank statement (not older than 1 month) or most recent Council Tax bill or your driving licence (if you are bringing your driving licence, you are still required to bring proof of your nationality as stated above). Where a document has been issued digitally a printed version of this evidence is preferred. If you are unable to provide this we may be able to accept the digital source, provided it meets the Superintendent Registrar's criteria.
  • If either of you has been married before, either in this country or abroad, you need to show proof that you are free to marry again.
  • For divorces granted in this country we need to see a decree absolute or final order for divorce. If the divorce has been granted in a foreign country, there will be an additional fee to pay for consideration of the validity of the divorce documents. Where a decree absolute or final order has be issued digitally, please ensure that you bring a printed version of this as the Superintendent Registrar is still required to view a hard copy, not the digital image.
  • If you are a widow, widower or surviving civil partner, we need to see your late partner's death certificate.

What happens after you give notice

If no legal objections are made during the 28 days:

  • We issue the authority for the marriage or civil partnership to take place.

Your notice of marriage or civil partnership is valid for 12 months.

Who should attend

Ideally both partners should attend together. If you visit the register office on different dates to give notice, the 28 days starts from the date of the second notice.

Cancelling or rescheduling your appointment

If you need to cancel or rearrange your appointment, you must contact the ceremonies team more than 2 working days before your appointment time.