From 2 March 2015, major changes to the process for giving notice of marriage or civil partnership will come into effect. All couples will have to complete a longer notice period of 28 days before they will be able to marry or form a civil partnership in both England and Wales. For couples where one or both of the involved parties is a non-EEA national with limited or no immigration status, the Home Office may extend the notice period to 70 days to investigate whether the case is a sham.

You will not be affected if you give notice of that marriage or civil partnership before 2 March 2015. You will also not be affected if you are covered by the transitional arrangements set out below.

The changes has been introduced as a new scheme to tackle sham marriages and civil partnerships in England and wales. A sham marriage or civil partnership is entered into by a couple who are not in a genuine relationship in order to seek to obtain an immigration advantage for one or both of them.

People should seek advise from an Immigration advisers before starting the immigration process in the UK.