Marriage licences
Your Vicar may advise you that in your particular circumstances, you require a certain kind of licence in order to marry at his or her church.
Details of these are outlined below:
Special Licence
If you want to marry in a church outside your own parish, but cannot satisfy any of the 'qualifying connections' to a church that are set out in the new Marriage Measure, you will probably need to apply for a Special Licence. If you genuinely feel you have a connection with a particular church, the Vicar there should be able to help you in applying for a Special Licence. The application is sent to:
The Church of England’s Faculty Office
1 The Sanctuary,
Westminster
London
SW1P 3JT
Tel: 0207 2225381
The fee for this is around £175. We want to help you find a way to marry in your preferred church but Special Licences are not automatically granted. Be sure to plan well in advance, up to 18 months, of your wedding to expand your options.
Common Licence
If your marriage is taking place too soon for Banns to be read, or one of the people marrying is a foreign national, then a Common Licence application may be appropriate for you. It is granted in the name of the Bishop of the Diocese (Click Here) you are marrying in, and he has discretion whether or not to grant it. In order to obtain such a Licence, one of you must have had his or her usual residence within the parish or district of the church in which the marriage is to due to take place, during fifteen days immediately preceding the application, or must have had his or her usual place of worship at the church.
Common Licences can only be granted for marriage to take place within the Diocese, and are only valid for three months. Application should be made to a surrogate for granting marriage licences in the Diocese, or to the Diocesan Registrar. The fee for a Common Licence is around £100. To find which Diocese you are in, Click Here.
Superintendent Registrar's Certificate
A Superintendent Registrar’s Certificate is another alternative to having Banns read, and involves the publication of a notice at the Register Office of the district. The Vicar of the church where you want to marry has the discretion whether or not to accept a Superintendent Registrar's Certificate. The residence requirements are in effect the same as for Banns.
Your Vicar will be happy to explain more about this and whether it is necessary for you.
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