Marriage legal requirements

Giving Notice of your Marriage

Both of you must complete and submit Marriage Notice forms, along with the required documents and appropriate fees, to the Registrar for the district in which the marriage is to take place. Please contact one of our offices to make an appointment to submit your paperwork, click the link to access contact details for all our Registration offices in Perth and Kinross.  Please don't travel to one of our offices without a pre-arranged appointment, most likely we won't be able to see you. 

All services will be strictly by appointment only and we ask for your safety and the safety of our staff that you do not show up early for your appointment to avoid groups of people congregating outside the building. If you are late for your appointment you will have to reschedule for another time. If you have tested positive for COVID-19 or have any of the symptoms it is important that you do not attend for your appointment.

You should print and complete two marriage notice forms and a witness detail form available from  I Want to Get Married in Scotland. How Do I Go About It? | National Records of Scotland (nrscotland.gov.uk).  The Notices must be submitted early enough to enable the Registrar to ensure that you are both free to marry each other.  Normally, notices should be submitted to the Registrar about twelve weeks before the date of marriage, the minimum notice period is 28 clear days before the date of your marriage.

Only in exceptional circumstances will the Registrar General authorise a marriage to take place if 28 clear days' notice has not been given.

Marriage Notice forms are valid for 3 months from the date they are received.

Documents to be produced when submitting Marriage Notices

• Birth Certificate of each party.
• A valid passport or other document to provide evidence of your nationality.
• A utility bill dated within the last three months or a valid drivers license to provide evidence of your address.
• If either of you are widowed - the death certificate of former spouse.
• If either of you was previously married and the marriage was terminated by divorce or annulment, a certified copy decree.  A decree of divorce granted outwith Scotland must be absolute and final, a decree nisi is not acceptable.
• For divorces from some countries a foreign divorce questionnaire may be required.
• If you are not British you may need to provide a certificate of no impediment to marriage issued by a competent authority in your home country stating that you are free to marry.
• If you are not British you must also complete and submit a Declaration of Status by Non-UK Nationals.  This document and supporting evidence must be submitted along with your notice forms, your paperwork will not be accepted without it.
• Any documents in a language other than English must be accompanied by a certified translation in English.
• Please ensure you provide the appropriate Marriage and civil partnership fees.

If you are subject to immigration controls, please visit I Want to Get Married in Scotland. How Do I Go About It? | National Records of Scotland (nrscotland.gov.uk) for further information.

The Marriage Schedule

The Marriage Schedule is a very important document.  It is, in effect, authority for the marriage to go ahead, and no marriage can proceed without it.  When the Registrar is satisfied that there is no legal impediment to the marriage, a Marriage Schedule will be prepared.

If the marriage is a civil ceremony, the Registrar will have the Schedule at the marriage ceremony for signature.

If a religious or belief marriage, one of the parties to the marriage must call at the Registration Office within seven days of the marriage to collect the Schedule, as it cannot be given to anyone other than the bride and groom.  The signed schedule must be returned to the Registration Office within 3 days of the ceremony.

After the marriage ceremony, the Registrar will register the marriage and produce a marriage certificate which will be sent to you.

For further information please contact the Registration Service in Perth on 01738 475121 or by email at perth-registrars@pkc.gov.uk.

Legal and Privacy Notices

For information on how we deal with your information, please read the following  Privacy Notice (PDF) [437KB] , produced by the National Records of Scotland.  It is also an offence to provide false information, please read the following  Penalty Notice (PDF) [116KB] .