leg89

My fiancé and I live in Canada but we are tying the knot in England next May. I am just starting to look into what we need to get sorted in order for my fiancé to legally get married in England-We are getting married in a church.

Anyone who has had experience of getting married in England, please let me know what I need to sort out in advance.

Thanks!

Siouxie

If you want to get married in the UK, you will need to view this website for instructions on what you need to do and what visa your fiancée will need. Your fiancée will need to obtain a visa to get married in the UK, I believe.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk

https://www.gov.uk/marriages-civil-p...you-need-to-do

Congrats on your forthcoming nuptuals!

leg89

Thanks a bunch

Siouxie

You are very welcome.

Found the direct link for visa's for marriage: https://www.gov.uk/marriage-visa and the link to the VAC in Canada http://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/canada/ap...ioncentre.html

DanielM

It was a couple of years ago and my memory is foggy, but I remember having to arrange an appointment with my local council and show that it wasn't a sham marriage before we could get "approved".
We took evidence (photo's etc) and had to answer some questions (where did we meet, how long together).

We were both living in the UK at the time BTW.

MillieF

I quite fancied getting married in the UK, but it was just so irritating. We had to be 'present' for three weeks, before hand, which isn't easy if you don't have family, and also I had cats and a dog, that I needed to board.

Eventually we went to Jersey, in the Channel Islands, as we only had to be present for three days prior to marriage, and they did some really nice 'marriage/holiday' packages for that reason.

Very best of luck, and congratulations!

danfolkestone

If you get married at a CofE church, you can skip the appointment with the council, as the vicar is trusted to check that it is a genuine marriage. Since we were both living in England (wife on temporary work permit, so didn't need a marriage visa), the process was exactly the same as it would have been if we were both English.

leg89

Thanks for your replies.

I am super confused about the whole thing and can't find much help online.

We are marrying under 'Common license' at the church close to where my family live. We have to wear an oath no more than 3 months before the wedding.

I don't know if the 'waiting' period refers to our situation too? Do you have any information on that? That would be a pain in the butt, who can wait around in a country for 3 weeks? jEEZ.

danfolkestone

I don't think that applies when marrying under common license. For a wedding in a C of E church, notice is performed by reading of banns, whereas civil weddings require you to post notice in advance at the register office. Since vicars do seem to have wildly varying interpretation of the rules, your best bet is to ask the vicar who will marry you to explain the requirements.