Civil partnership ceremony

You are not required to form your civil partnership in the area where you live. But you and your partner need to give notice of civil partnership at the register office in the area(s) where you live. If you live in different districts (for example in the boroughs of Harrow and Brent) you must individually give notice in those districts. Both parties to the civil partnership must have lived in that borough for at least seven days prior to giving notice. The notice is a legal declaration that you are both free to form a civil partnership, which must be signed by each of you in the presence of the registration officer. You cannot ask a relative or friend to give notice for you.

Once completed and signed, the notices will be displayed on the public notice board at the register office for a period of 16 days. It will display your full name and date of birth, and the place where your civil partnership ceremony is to be held. Your home address is not displayed, neither is the date of your ceremony.

After the 16 days, a schedule will be issued at the register office showing where your ceremony will take place or whose staff will perform the ceremony. This schedule is the document you will sign, with your witnesses, during the ceremony.

You may arrange your civil partnership ceremony at any time over the next 12 months, in the stated venue. If you decide to transfer to a different venue, you will have to come in and give a new notice of civil partnership.

What if I don't live in Harrow?
If you are forming your partnership in harrow but do not live here you need to give notice of civil partnership at your local register office. We will produce the schedule once the date for your ceremony has been arranged. If you wish to form your partnership at either of the rooms at the Harrow Register Office (the Moat Room or the Middlesex Room) please tell your local register office the venue is The Civic Centre, Station Road, Harrow.

Documents we will need to see:-

• Proof of address eg utilities bill.
• Proof of identity and proof of age (a passport serves both purposes).
• Proof that any previous marriages or civil partnerships, anywhere in the world, are at an end through divorce or widowhood.
  For divorce, an original court copy of the Decree Absolute is needed.
• If either partner is under the age of 18, evidence of his/her parents' consent.
• If either partner is subject to immigration control ie not a British or European Union citizen, we need to see his/her entry clearance visa for civil partnership, or certificate of approval for civil partnership, or evidence of settled status (indefinite leave to remain.) More details from the Home Office. If immigration control applies, both partners must give notice together. Therefore, it is permissible for us to take notice from both partners together, if one does not live in Harrow.

Giving notice involves a 20-40 minute interview. There is a standard fee for giving notice of civil partnership.