Giving Notice To Marry in The UK

Yesterday I toddled off to the registry office with the loved one to give notice of marriage as we want to get married as soon as possible and get the FLR out of the way.

After the very easy questions we were both asked individually the lady in the office said she would send our documents off to their head office. On asking how long this would take she could not tell me, "maybe two three weeks" I was prompting but she couldn't even give me a worst case scenario which I was quite surprised about.

Can any of you pleasant folk tell me how long it took in your experience?

Many thanks

For marriage in the Philippines it took 3 weeks, here in Isle of Man.

Thanks John

We decided to get married in Scotland as you dont need to be present to give notice as you do in the UK and we have just posted all of our documents over to them. Totally stress free!

Timmers, do you have that provisional booking confirmation prior to showing yourselves at the registry office? My and I were given an extension to show ourselves to the office when he e-mailed the registry office my visa validity date. The wedding and venue are all set by the way, thanks to his mom

I had no provisional booking at the Registry Office.

The helpful lady at the registry office strongly suggested that we give notice to marry at another Registry Office first prior to booking a wedding. The reason she gave is that when marrying a Philippine National the paperwork submitted (copy passport, annulment docs) has to be sent to Head Office for clarification and she would not be drawn into telling me how long this could take. I am hoping its only two or three weeks, I will give an update when I have it.

I do not know if the fact we have both been married before is holding things up, its a possibility, wish I'd asked now.

We like stress free, especially after a gruelling visa process

Please do. I know everything will be just fine. When's your target date, by the way?

Last week in September I'm looking at but we will see. I have told a company that I will join them 1st December and I need to get married and get the FLR before the end of November. The reason I need to do this is because my next job will be self employed and the financial side of things will become more complicated when applying for a FLR under these circumstances. So I want to get the FLR done and dusted under my present employer. If I feel we are running out of time I will either try to join the company at a later date or not join them at all and stay where I am for the time being.

I can see if Plan A doesn't work, there's Plan B and C. This is just another stage you have to go through. The application part is still the most stressful one.

I wish you luck! And may you two have a happy wedding ahead..

I must admit that I've made a big mistake in the time frame I've given myself, I should have told the new company I would start in the New Year, its not going to reflect to good on me going back and deferring my start date I feel. Having said that I did explain my visa situation to them even though I didn't really want to. One thing in my favour though, the chap who interviewed me for the new job had just returned from the Philippines as he sometimes does charity work there.

The lesson I've learned here is that you must give yourself more time when planning things, I've cut my own throat here but we will see how it goes.

One thing to mention about annulments. If your loved one has been married before and had an annulment granted in the Philippines then in the UK system they are then seen as single and divorced will not appear on any paperwork relating to your marriage and the like. The lady at the records office said that this was to keep in line with the Philippines where when an annulment is granted then the said marriage is deemed never to have taken place so to speak.

That's correct annulment, in other words, means null and void or as if it didn't happen.

That's correct, I think what the UK government is doing is respecting both the wishes of the Philippines government and the Catholic church. My notice to marriage documents show me as divorced and my loved one as single.

I do feel for the people who have to seek an annulment before they can apply for a Fiancee visa and so on, the process can be long and expensive especially if the third party is not agreeable. Early on in my relationship I asked my girlfriend to seek an annulment as I knew this could be a stumbling block later on in our relationship, one time at least where I got the time frame right

I see. I'm sure everything goes well on your end Timmers

Right. The couple needs a lot of time and money to spare. Very good thinking ahead and a job well done prior to your visa application. I applaud you, my friend

I am also glad my fiance and I didn't have a problem with past relationships since we are both single.

Easier if your single for sure and less expensive of course. I was going to start a thread regarding the cost and hidden costs of the visa application process and bringing your loved one to the UK but I've completely lost track of where I'm up to, just keep earning it and spending it at the moment

I'm working offshore for the next two/three weeks which has also messed my plans up but its a good money spinner to help with the forthcoming marriage and FLR

We probably don't emphasise enough here at BF the expense and money needed to complete your dreams.

Will be looking forward to your future posts here

It definately gets a little expensive!!! The cost of the application is just the beginning of things!