Certificate of Approval

Individuals who are not British nationals or citizens from another EEA country or who do not have permission to live in the United Kingdom permanently require the Home Office's authorisation to marry or to enter into a civil partnership in the UK. This is granted through a Certificate of Approval. If you wish to apply for a Certificate of Approval, you must have valid leave to remain in the UK. The good news is that there is no Government fee payable for this application.

Once approval has been granted, you then have three months from the date of issue to arrange the marriage or civil partnership within this time. However, the issue of the COA does not mean that you will be guaranteed leave to remain in the country as a spouse or partner; you still need to apply for such a permit. The COA is not a visa as such but just permission to get married and then afterwards apply for the appropriate visa.

Without a Certificate of Approval, a registrar cannot perform a marriage ceremony or civil partnership. If your application fails for any reason, you can consult UK Immigration Appeals, who will look closely at your case and decide if there are grounds for overturning the decision. If you are coming to the United Kingdom from overseas to get married or register your civil partnership, before you can give a registrar notice to marry or register your civil partnership you must have in your passport:

• fiancé(e) entry clearance; or
• proposed civil partner entry clearance; or
• marriage visitor entry clearance; or
• civil partnership visitor entry clearance.

You will also need to give a registrar at a designated register office notice to marry or register your civil partnership. Remember that you cannot apply for a Certificate of Approval from outside the UK – you must already have permission to stay in the UK and be resident in the country on another visa before applying for a Certificate of Approval.

For more information on the Certificate of Approval please call us on 0203 291 2711 or complete the form at the bottom of this page.

Our other Family and Settlement visas: