Where to marry - SA or UK?
Nov 9th 2014, 5:05 pm
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Joined: Nov 2014
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Where to marry - SA or UK?
Hello,
My fiancée (SA) and I (Brit, living in SA on a temporary residency permit, with an application for permanent residency in progress) are planning on getting married next year. In order to accommodate family and friends from both places, we're planning on having some sort of celebrations in both England and South Africa.
The question is, where to do the legal part?
SA: As long as I fill out form B1-31, and then get an unabridged marriage certificate legalised by Apostille*, then we're good.
*in case of queries in Britain. However, it seems (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/m...overseas-brits) that there is no longer a need to submit the marriage certificate as routine to the General Registry Office in the UK, in order for our marriage to be recognised there.
UK: My fiancée would need a marriage visa, and we would need to apply in person at a Register Office to give notice to marry, 16 days in advance of the date of marriage. I haven't yet found information on what it would take for South African Home Affairs to recognise the marriage.
So, to my untrained eye, it seems that getting married in SA is less painful in terms of admin for us. Are there any clear benefits of getting married in the UK that would outweigh the extra admin required?
Thanks,
Adam
My fiancée (SA) and I (Brit, living in SA on a temporary residency permit, with an application for permanent residency in progress) are planning on getting married next year. In order to accommodate family and friends from both places, we're planning on having some sort of celebrations in both England and South Africa.
The question is, where to do the legal part?
SA: As long as I fill out form B1-31, and then get an unabridged marriage certificate legalised by Apostille*, then we're good.
*in case of queries in Britain. However, it seems (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/m...overseas-brits) that there is no longer a need to submit the marriage certificate as routine to the General Registry Office in the UK, in order for our marriage to be recognised there.
UK: My fiancée would need a marriage visa, and we would need to apply in person at a Register Office to give notice to marry, 16 days in advance of the date of marriage. I haven't yet found information on what it would take for South African Home Affairs to recognise the marriage.
So, to my untrained eye, it seems that getting married in SA is less painful in terms of admin for us. Are there any clear benefits of getting married in the UK that would outweigh the extra admin required?
Thanks,
Adam
