Overseas marriages and civil partnerships :Cross Stitch – Government, citizens and rights

You cannot register an overseas ceremony in the UK. However, you can apply to have your documents sent from the relevant country via the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and deposited with the General Register Office. You can then get copies of your marriage or civil partnership record more easily.

You can create a record of your overseas marriage or civil partnership at any time after the ceremony. You need to get the original documents, or certified copies, issued by the foreign authority – this is not an automatic process. Depositing your marriage or partnership documents with the General Register Office isn’t a legal requirement.

To create the record:

• one of you must be British – only that person can apply to deposit the certificates
• you must have been married in a foreign country, but not a Commonwealth country
• you can deposit a civil partnership document from any country in the world (for example, foreign and Commonwealth countries and overseas territories)

If you are abroad, only the consul for the district where the marriage took place can send the documentation to the General Register Office.

If you are in the UK, you need to contact the Foreign and Commonwealth Office about depositing your certificates.

The General Register Office (GRO) does not release original documents once deposited. You receive confirmation when the documents have been deposited with GRO. Overseas marriages and civil partnerships are noted in the public indexes.