Special Licences
This page summarises the law relating to preliminaries to Anglican
marriage in
Legal Preliminaries
Before making plans for your Church of England or Church in
By law, a marriage can only be conducted after an appropriate
preliminary. This is a legal formality which authorises the wedding to take
place. In the Church of England and the Church in
Sometimes banns are not appropriate and the couple may obtain a common licence from their diocesan bishop's registry. Occasionally a marriage in church may take place with a certificate issued by the civil Superintendent Registrar.
Residence
For all these preliminaries there is a residence requirement. The
Church of England and the Church in
If you want an Anglican wedding, find out which parish you live in and which church building may be used for the ceremony. Your local parish priest should be able to tell you which parish you live in.
The first stage in your wedding plans should be a visit to your local parish priest.
Special Licences
If you have a genuine connection with a particular church but you are
unable to satisfy the residence requirement to marry there, you may apply to the
Faculty Office for the Archbishop of
Special licences are given by the Archbishop under powers he and his predecessors have exercised since 1533. They are not issued automatically. If you think you need a special licence, you should enquire about its availability before making any other preparations for the wedding. This is something you should discuss with the priest who is to conduct the ceremony.
If you wish to apply for a special licence or need further information, you should contact the Faculty Office at the address given below.
Archbishop's Requirements
Special marriage licences issued by the Archbishop of
If you do not satisfy one of the requirements set out below but still feel you have good reasons for being granted a special licence, you should ask the minister who is going to conduct the wedding to write to the Faculty Office explaining your circumstances.
- One of you should be able to show a genuine and long-standing connection with the church or chapel in which you wish to marry. This might be that you or members of your family have regularly worshipped there, or you have a family home in the parish. Individual circumstances vary and these examples are not exhaustive.
- Your families should approve of the marriage.
- The incumbent(s) or minister(s) in charge of the parish(es) where you would be entitled to marry by banns should have been consulted.
- The minister in charge of the church where the service is to be held must have consented.
Special licences are not normally granted where one of the parties is
divorced and has a former spouse still living.
Procedure
You should apply for a special licence on the form which you can obtain from the Faculty Office as soon as the minister has agreed to conduct the service. You can apply up to 18 months in advance. Other arrangements should not be made until you know that the special licence will be granted. The form contains full instructions and details of the fee.
Part of the form which the Faculty Office will give you is to be completed by you, and part by the minister who will conduct the service. There will also be some guidance notes for you to give to the minister. It is important that full addresses and telephone numbers are given and that you have set out fully your connection with the church.
Once the application has been approved, one of you will have to swear an affidavit (a formal statement) to confirm the information given. You can do this in front of an Anglican minister of your choice (to whom a fee of £5 will be payable) or at the Faculty Office (when no extra fee is charged). If you choose to do this locally, a form of affidavit will be sent to you with full instructions. Once completed by you and the minister it must be returned to the Faculty Office. The licence itself will be sent out to the minister who is to conduct the service about three weeks before the wedding.
Special requirements for school and college chapel
This section explains the Archbishop's usual requirements for applicants and the procedure for obtaining a special licence where the parties wish to marry in a school or college chapel.
If you do not satisfy one of the requirements set out below but still feel you have good reasons for being granted a special licence, you should ask the minister who is going to conduct the wedding to write to the Faculty Office explaining your circumstances.
- Licences are normally granted if you are a member or former member of staff (teaching or non-teaching) of the school or college or a member of the immediate family of one of the staff.
- Licences may also be granted if you are an ex-student of the institution or you have a family or other link with the institution.
- Your families should approve of the marriage.
- The incumbent(s) or minister(s) in charge of the parish(es) where you would be entitled to marry by banns should have been consulted.
- The chaplain or minister in charge of the chapel must have consented.
- The school/college authorities must have consented.
Special licences are not normally granted where one of the parties is divorced and has a former spouse still living.
Foreign Nationals
Foreign Domicile
If either of the parties to a marriage in
A marriage performed in accordance with English Law may not be recognised abroad. There have been cases where the marriage has been declared invalid, leaving wives and children abandoned in a foreign country.
Problems with the recognition of marriage have arisen particularly in
Muslim countries, and some Eastern European states which were formerly part of
the
No difficulties have been experienced in the European Union, the old
Commonwealth (
Making Enquiries
To avoid risks about the recognition of an Anglican marriage, it is
necessary to comply both with the laws of this country and the laws of the home
country. You should seek advice from the nearest consulate or embassy of the
foreign country to ascertain whether a marriage conducted in
There may be additional legal requirements imposed by the foreign country before the marriage is recognised there.
It is particularly important to consult the consular authorities
where one of the parties is a foreign national under the age of 25. The legal
age of consent for marriage is not invariably the same in other countries as it
is in
Special Licence Procedure
Applicants for special licences who are nationals of countries outside the European Union, the old Commonwealth or the United States are strongly advised to consult their embassy or consulate at an early stage to obtain satisfactory assurance that the legal requirements of that country have been fulfilled and that a marriage of one of its citizens, solemnized in England and Wales according to the rites and ceremonies of the Church of England or the Church in Wales, will be recognised in the country in question. A letter to that effect should, where possible, be obtained and enclosed with the special licence application.
The Faculty Office
1 The Sanctuary
Westminster
London
SW1P 3JT
Telephone 020 7222 5381 (10.00 am to 4.00 pm on normal working days)
Fax 020 7222 7502
© The Faculty Office
