Civil partnership registration

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Here are answers to the most commonly-asked questions about civil partnership registration:

• How do I book a civil partnership registration?
• Who can register a civil partnership in Scotland?
• Where can I register a civil partnership?
• What forms do I need to fill in?
• What documents do I need to show?
• What is the civil partnership 'Schedule'?

These links provide more information about:

• Venues in Renfrewshire for a civil partnership registration
• The ceremony
• Civil partnership fees
• Registering a civil partnership in England and Wales
• Registering a civil partnership abroad

How do I book a civil partnership registration?

To book a civil partnership registration in Renfrewshire, call our Customer Contact Centre on 0141 840 3388 or visit our Customer Service Centre on Cotton Street, Paisley (alternatively contact Johnstone Registration Office on 01505 320012). One of our customer service advisers will then take you through the process of booking a civil partnership registration.

To confirm your booking, you will be asked to pay a £55 non-refundable deposit. You can book up to one year in advance.

The civil partnership notice forms, documents, and fees must be returned no earlier than 3 months before the civil partnership registration and no later than 15 days before the civil partnership registration. An appointment will be made for you to come the Customer Service centre and hand over the necessary forms, documents and fees.


Who can register a civil partnership in Scotland?

Any two people, regardless of where they live, can register a civil partnership in Scotland provided that:

• they are both at least 16 years of age on the day they want to register.
• they are both unmarried or not already registered as a civil partner. Anyone who has already been married or registered as a civil partner must produce documentary evidence that their previous marriage or civil partnership registration has ended by death, divorce, annulment or dissolution.
• they are of the same sex.
• they understand the nature of a civil partnership and can validly consent to entering into a partnership.
• they are not related to one another in a way which would prevent their registering a civil partnership. This is explained in this leaflet:

Registering a civil partnership in Scotland (pdf -18 Kb )


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Where can I register a civil partnership?

In Renfrewshire, you can register a civil partnership at the registration offices in Paisley and Johnstone or at an approved venue. The partnership can only be registered by a district registrar or an assistant registrar approved by the Registrar General for Scotland. For registration office locations elsewhere in Scotland, download this list:

Scottish registration offices (pdf - 56 Kb)


What forms do I need to fill in?

You must both complete and send a civil partnership notice (Form CP10 - Civil Partnership Notice-Scotland) along with the required documents and fee to the registrar for the district in which the you are registering your civil partnership.

Timing is important. You must send the civil partnership notice forms early enough to allow the registrar to make sure that you are free to register a civil partnership . You must lodge your civil partnership notice forms no earlier than 3 months and no later than 15 days before your civil partnership registration date. You also need to complete witness and civil partnership information forms.

Form CP10 - Civil Partnership Notice - Scotland (pdf - 57 Kb)
CP10 Guidance notes ( pdf - 36 Kb)
Questions for those previously married holding foreign divorce papers (pdf - 14 Kb)
Questions for those holding foreign dissolution/annulment papers (pdf - 16 Kb)
Civil partnership witness form (pdf - 16 Kb)
Civil Partnership Information Form (pdf - 242 Kb)


You need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the documents on this page. Download Acrobat Reader here.


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What documents do I need to show?

When giving or sending civil partnership notice forms to the registrar each of you must supply the following:

• Your birth certificate or an abbreviated certificate.
• If you have been married or in a registered civil partnership before and the marriage or civil partnership has been dissolved or annulled, a decree of divorce or dissolution or annulment or certified copy decree. A decree of divorce or dissolution granted outwith Scotland must be absolute or final - a decree nisi is not acceptable.
• If your spouse or civil partner is deceased, the death certificate of your former spouse or civil partner.
• If any of these documents is in a language other than English, you must send a certified translation in English.

All documents must be originals, not photocopies.

Do not delay giving notice because you are waiting for any of the documents mentioned above to come to hand. If time is getting short, it is better to give notice first and then pass the documents to us before the civil partnership registration. As long as the documents are in order, the civil partnership registration can proceed as arranged.

If you have any questions about what is required or you need more information, contact any registration office in Scotland or visit the UK Border Agency website.


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Venues in Renfrewshire for a civil partnership registration

Civil partnership registrations can take place Monday to Saturday at the Paisley and Johnstone registration offices or Monday to Sunday at approved venues We are carrying out renovation work at Renfrew Town Hall at the moment so we cannot offer civil partnership registrations there. We do have a temporary Renfrew registration office location.

As well as Paisley and Johnstone registration offices, we can conduct registrations in the Alexander Wilson Suite or Loggia Suite at Paisley Town Hall or at any of the venues listed here:




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The ceremony

Legally, there is no standard format for the ceremony. In Renfrewshire, we offer couples the chance to personalise aspects of the ceremony as long as this doesn't include any religious elements. This can include pledges, readings, poems, etc. Please discuss any requirements with the registrar.

By law,you only need two witnesses who must be over 16 years old.

If a civil partner wants to be escorted into the marriage suite, you should tell the registrar at least one day before the ceremony. The registrar will then give advice when the couple and guests should arrive. If a civil partner does not want to be escorted into the marriage suite, the couple and the witnesses should arrive 15 minutes before the scheduled time and the guests should arrive 10 minutes before. In either case, the person carrying out your civil partnership ceremony will be available to direct the couple to the appropriate waiting area.

If you want, you can have your civil partnership ceremony video recorded. If you do, let the registrar know in advance. We'll send you guidelines about using cameras and videos during the ceremony. Afterwards, you can have photos taken inside the marriage suite. You must of course arrange any photographers yourself.

There is a car park at the back of the Johnstone registration office but there are no car parking facilities at Paisley Town Hall. At weekends, you can park for free at the Paisley marriage suite. Please note that the top deck car park at Renfrewshire House that has access to the Marriage Suite is not suitable for large limousine style cars. Please discuss your requirements with the local registration staff.


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What is the civil partnership 'Schedule'?

When the registrar is satisfied there is no legal impediment to the civil partnership registration, he/she will prepare a 'Civil Partnership Schedule' from the information that you have given. The Schedule is a very important document - no civil partnership registration can go ahead without it.

The registrar will bring the Schedule with him/her. Both parties must confirm that, to the best of their knowledge, the information in the Schedule is correct. The Schedule must then be signed by both parties, by the registrar and by two witnesses. The registrar will then use the Schedule to enter the relevant information into the civil partnership register.

Fees
Civil partnership fees are listed on this page.

Registering a civil partnership in England and Wales

If you are resident in Renfrewshire and are intending to have a Civil Partnership Registration in England or Wales, you will need to complete a civil partnership notice form (Form CP10) and send it to the local registration office in Renfrewshire to obtain a 'Certificate of No Impediment' (CONI) . We operate three registration offices in Paisley, Johnstone and Renfrew.

If you are both resident in Renfrewshire, only one of you can give notice in Renfrewshire, and the other party will have to satisfy the residence requirements in England and Wales before the civil partnership registration can proceed. You can get more information on this by visiting the Directgov website .

The earliest that you can submit your civil partnership notice form to the registrar is 3 months before the date of the proposed civil partnership registration and the latest that you can submit it is 15 days before the date of the proposed civil partnership registration. The Certificate of No Impediment (CONI) is valid for three months from the date on which the civil partnership notice was received.

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Registering a civil partnership abroad

In Scotland, the Certificate of No Impediment can only be issued for civil partnership registration in England and Wales.

You should contact the consulate/embassy for the relevant country for advice on what documentation you need. If the authorities of the country where your civil partnership registration is taking place need evidence that there are no legal impediments and that you are free to contract a civil partnership registration, the General Register Office for Scotland can provide you with a 'To Whom it May Concern' letter. This letter will state that a search of the marriage and/or civil partnership indexes in Scotland has been made and no trace of a marriage and/or civil partnership involving you has been found. The letter can also be provided for other purposes such as taking up residence in another country.

If you need such a letter send the following information:

• your full name and postal address
• the reason why you need the letter
• your date and place of birth
• your mother's maiden surname

Please note that if you have been married or were in a civil partnership before (or if you are widowed, or a surviving civil partner) you will also need to provide the name of your previous spouse or civil partner, the date and place of divorce, or the date and place of civil partnership dissolution. If you are widowed or are a surviving civil partner, you will need to confirm the date of death of your spouse or civil partner.

The fee for the letter is £5 for every five years or part of five years of each index searched from:

• your 16th brithday if you were born in Scotland and have never been married before; or
• the date of divorce/death of spouse if widowed; or
• the date you took up residence in Scotland if you were born outside Scotland.

Please note that a civil partnership search can only start from 5 December 2005 at the earliest as this is the date civil partnerships became legal in Scotland.

You can write to the General Register Office to request a search at:

General Register Office for Scotland
Marriage and Civil Partnership Section
Room 38
New Register House
3 West Register Street
Edinburgh
EH1 3YT


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