How to get married in Jersey

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Step 1: Apply to marry in Jersey

To have a civil or religious marriage in Jersey, you need to apply to the Superintendent Registrar (SIR).

You don't need to do this if you're having a Church of England ceremony. Find information on getting married in an Anglican Church in Jersey.​

To have a civil or non-Anglican religious marriage or civil partnership in Jersey you must:

• ​be able to speak and understand English
• be over 18 years old
• be free to marry (not already married or in a civil partnership)
• not be related to your partner
  
• understand that you're applying to marry or form a civil partnership
  
• be entering the marriage or civil partnership willingly
• if you're not a British or Irish citizen, have immigration approval if not a British or Irish citizen (find more details below)
  
• have an apostilled Certificate of No Impediment to marry (CNI) (find more details below)
  

Your application should be completed by yourself and your partner. If you are not living in Jersey you may use a third party. 

If you're a Jersey resident, you must apply in person at the Office of the Superintendent Registrar.

The first thing to do is email weddings@gov.je​ with the following information:​

• scans of both your passports
  
• confirming whether you are Jersey residents
• the date you wish to marry
  
• where you wish to marry
  
• your contact details
  

The weddings team will then get in contact and book an appointment for you and your partner. Appointments are weekday mornings. At that initial appointment:

• you both need to attend unless you are resident off-Island
  
• you should complete the Application Form before your appointment
• you have to bring all original supporting documents (passports, birth certificates, etc)
  
• once those have been scanned in we can take payment 
  

You do not need to bring your Certificate of No Impediment at this stage. If a Certificate of No Impediment is needed you must provide it by your schedule appointment.

You can apply to marry up to 12 months before your wedding date.

If you're not a Jersey resident, contact the Office of the Superintendent Registrar for advice on how to apply.

You must bring the original documents for both applicants, issued by the relevant authority in English or French:

• standard full birth certificate or adoption certificate from the original registering authorities
• valid passport
• utility bill or bank statement for both applicants showing their address and dated within 3 months
  
• if applicable, all divorce decree absolutes or civil partnership dissolution documents
• if applicable, death certificates of any former spouse
• if applicable, enrolled deed poll. An enrolled deed poll needs to be registered with a court
  

​We don't accept:

• shortened birth certificates without parent details
• laminated documents
• photocopies, prints outs or scanned copies
• statutory declarations
• unenrolled deed polls (they need to be registered with a court)
• digital copies

Your application must include:

• date and time of your wedding
• approved location of your wedding
• name of your marriage celebrant (unless marrying at our offices, where a celebrant will be provided)
  

You must have confirmed your ceremony venue booking before making your application.

The application to marry in Jersey costs £226.28, which includes the notice fee. Any fees paid to us are non-refundable.

Application for marriage

Additional requirements for different nationalities

If you're not a British or Irish national who has lived in Jersey for more​ than 2 years at the time of application, you must get a CNI from the jurisdictions where you have lived since you were 18 years old.

If you're a national of any other country, meaning you are not a British or Irish national, you must get a CNI or equivalent from your jurisdiction of nationality and each jurisdiction where you previously lived since you were 18 years old. This is the case no matter how long you have lived here.

This document must:

• detail full names of the parties to the intended marriage
  
• include approved location where the marriage is to be solemnized
  
• be issued not more than 3 months before the intended date of the marriage
  
• if it has an expiry date, have that expiry date falling after the intended date of the marriage
  
• include date of your marriage or civil partnership 
  

Unlike the other documents, the CNI does not have to be submitted at the point of application. This is because many of them are only valid for a limited time.

We advise you to have the CNI at Notice, at least 26 days before the ceremony.​

It must be submitted by the schedule meeting 3 to 10 days before the ceremony. Without the CNI, the wedding cannot take place under Jersey law.

Some jurisdictions use different terms for these documents. However, they all need to be a guarantee that they don't have a record of your marrying there during that period.

Each CNI must be apostilled (authenticated by the issuing jurisdiction by Apostille) to be valid. It's worth checking with that jurisdiction as soon as possible to know how long it takes to produce and apostille the document.

Visa requirements

If you’re not a British or Irish national, you need immigration permission to marry in Jersey. This includes EU, EEA and Swiss nationals. If you don’t already have immigration permission to be in Jersey or the UK, you must apply for a marriage visa from the Home Office in England.

The type of visa you need depends on what you plan to do after you get married.

Check if you need a UK visa on GOV.UK​

If you intend to apply for a marriage visa through the Home Office, contact the Office of the Superintendent Registrar. We can give you a letter confirming that you’ve made a provisional booking to marry, which you may need to provide for your visa application.

Step 2: Give notice to marry

At least 8 weeks before your wedding day both you and your partner need to:

• sign the Freedom to Marry Declaration 
• complete a Notice of Intended Marriage Form

You can do this at our office by appointment or we can send it to you. 

​Once you have completed this we'll enter your details into the notice to marry book.

To give notice, you and your partner must have:

• lived at your current address for at least seven days before you give notice
• given original or certified copies of the required supporting evidence to us
• signed a Freedom to Marry Declaration
• completed a Notice of Intended Marriage Form

Step 3: We publish your notice to marry

We'll publish your notice to marry at our office and on the notice of intended marriage or civil partnership​.

Step 4: Request a marriage schedule

Once your notice to marry has been p​ublished, we'll arrange your marriage schedule appointment. 

The marriage schedule is the legal document that allows you to marry.

To get your marriage schedule you and your partner must visit our office 3 to 10 days before your ceremony to:

• sign a 'Signature Verifier Form'
• have a photo taken of you both
• if applicable, provide your Certificate of no-impediment or Certificate of Freedom to Marry
  
• pay the Marriage Schedule fee of £339.43 to £362.06, depending on your venue and date of ceremony
  

Once this is complete, we'll issue:​

• the marriage schedule
• 3 copies of the marriage certificate
• the Signature Verifier Form
• photo of the couple to the marriage celebrant

Any fees paid to us are non-refundable.

Changing your notice to marry

​If it's more than 30 days before your wedding, you can apply to change the date, time or location in your marriage notice.

It costs £56.57​​. Any fees paid to us are non-refundable.​​

While the law allows for changes up to 26 days before your wedding, your application needs to be processed and we cannot guarantee this unless we have 30 days notice.​

Apply to change your notice to marry

Getting married in special circumstances

Contact us if you need to get married in special circumstances.

These can include if either you or your partner are:

• dying
• housebound
  
• detained in prison, in hospital or in another secure facility

Cancelling your wedding

If you wish to cancel your wedding, email weddings@gov.je and include:

• date of your wedding
• full names of both parties
• that you wish to cancel your application to marry

Make sure both parties are copied into the email.

We'll advise by return email that your application has been cancelled.

All fees paid to date are non-refundable and cannot be carried forward for a future application.​