Civil partnerships

Arranging a civil partnership and giving notice

You can have a civil partnership ceremony at a licensed venue for marriages and civil partnerships. This includes the Admiral's Suite at the Enfield Register Office, where you can make a booking up to 2 years in advance. You can also choose to sign a partnership schedule and not have a ceremony.

Before you can register your civil partnership, you must both 'give notice'. This is a legal requirement and a formal declaration of your intention to form a civil partnership. You are both required to give notice in person. Your partnership must take place within 12 months of the date you give notice.

Book a civil partnership notice appointment

Before you can give notice in Enfield, you must both have met the residential requirements or lived in the borough for at least 8 days. After you have given notice, you need to wait at least 28 days before your civil partnership can be registered. If either of you is a foreign national, your intention to form a civil partnership may be referred to the Home Office and the waiting period may be extended to 70 days.

To book your ceremony or signing, call 020 8379 1000.

Notice appointments are available Monday to Friday and take place at the Enfield Register Office.

At your appointment you will need to show the registrar a number of documents. These documents are required by law and it is your responsibility to bring everything you need. If we cannot take your notice, you may be asked to book your appointment again. There is a charge for each person to give notice and an extra charge per person if a referral to the Home Office is required.

We charge an extra fee to accept your documents if you have been married or have formed a civil partnership before and your divorce or dissolution was granted outside the United Kingdom, Channel Islands or Isle of Man. The fee amount depends on whether we can verify and accept your documents or if we need to send them to the General Register Office. This fee is non-refundable.

You can view our fees. We only accept payment by credit or debit card.

The fee for your notice is in addition to your ceremony or signing appointment fee. Note that our fee is for the registrars to attend the ceremony or signing appointment. Venue costs, such as catering, will need to be arranged with the venue. Terms and conditions apply.

If you are a European Economic Area (EEA) national, you are entitled to form a civil partnership in England or Wales as long as you can successfully give notice of your intention.

If you have made a successful application under the EU Settlement Scheme for settled or pre-settled status, or are awaiting a Home Office decision, you must give notice in your district of residence.

If an EEA national did not make an application under the EU Settlement Scheme on or before 30 June 2021, or had their application rejected, they are treated the same as foreign nationals.

You must give notice in your district of residence if you and your partner are both British or Irish citizens, EEA nationals or foreign nationals who match any of the following criteria:

You have been given the right to abode in the UK
You are members of visiting forces from NATO and Commonwealth countries
You are diplomats who are not subject to immigration control

You cannot give notice at Enfield if you do not live in the borough, unless the following applies.

You and your partner must give notice together at a register office in the district where one of you live, if either of you:

are from outside the UK and have a form of 'indefinite leave to remain' or are subject to immigration controls
are from the European Economic Area but do not have settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, or have an application for the EU Settlement Scheme pending

Documents you need to give notice of a civil partnership

This section contains important information. Please read carefully.

It is your responsibility to bring the correct documents to your appointment. If you do not bring all the documents we need to see, you will not be able to give notice.

Anyone giving notice of a civil partnership needs to bring the following to their appointment:

A debit or credit card to pay the appropriate fee
A recent passport sized photograph
Proof of your current address. For this we will accept:
- a UK driving licence
- a current Council Tax bill dated within the last 3 months
- a recent gas, electricity or water bill
- a bank statement dated within the last month
A valid passport (expired or cancelled passports are not accepted). If you do not have a passport there are only limited circumstances where you can give notice. You will need to bring evidence of your name, age and nationality - please read additional guidance below 'what to do if you don’t have a valid passport'.

If you are divorced or have a civil partnership dissolution, you will need to bring:

proof of your divorce or dissolution. You will need original court documents. You can request a Decree Absolute or Dissolution Order from the court where the divorce or dissolution was granted. If you have a digital divorce, you will need to print out a hard copy of your digital divorce certificate and bring this with you.
your original marriage or civil partnership certificate, or other documents giving a clear link to your name, if your name is different on your passport to that on your divorce or dissolution document

If you are a widow, widower or a surviving civil partner, you will need to bring:

the death certificate
your original marriage or civil partnership certificate

If you have changed your name by deed poll or statutory declaration, you will need to bring the official documents that confirm this.

If you have indefinite leave to remain in the UK, you will need to bring your immigration status document or Permanent Residence card. This would normally be a stamp or sticker in your passport or Biometric Residence Permit (BRP).

EEA nationals

From 1 July 2021, all EEA nationals must bring confirmation of either:

settled or pre-settled status – you will need to bring a 'share code' which you can get from the GOV.UK - view and prove your immigration status service, which will be valid for 30 days
your certificate of application if you made an application to the EU settlement scheme on or before 30 June 2021 and you are waiting for the home office to make a decision

Foreign nationals

In addition to the above documents, all foreign nationals must bring:

evidence of their immigration status
proof of their place of residence. This is where you have been living for at least the last 8 days before you give notice. This can be:
- a UK driving licence
- a current Council Tax bill
- a bank statement dated within the last month
- a gas, electricity or water bill dated within the last 3 months
if you have been living with a friend or partner in the UK for the qualifying residency period, a letter signed by them confirming the date you started living with them and that this has been continuous
if you have been living with a friend or partner in the UK for the qualifying residency period, proof of their address. This can be:
- their UK driving licence
- their current Council Tax bill
- their bank statement dated within the last month
- their gas, electricity or water bill dated within the last 3 months
if you have travelled from abroad, your plane ticket, boarding card or travel itinerary
evidence of your usual address if this is not in the UK
a UK contact address if you usually live outside the UK

All your documents must be original. Photocopies will not be accepted. For online documents, such as bank statements and utility bills, you may download your statement or bill and bring a hard copy print out. We will not accept any documents from a mobile device. If any of your documents are not in English, a translation will be required together with the original document. The translation can be done by anyone apart from the couple who are intending to form the civil partnership. We will only accept the translation made by an independent third party if they add their name and address to the translated document and write the words 'I certify this is a true and accurate translation'.

What to do if you do not have a valid passport

British citizens without a passport

British citizens who do not have a valid passport, need to bring evidence of their name, age and nationality.

If you were born in the UK before 1 January 1983, you should bring your original full UK birth certificate and one piece of identification with your photograph on it.

If you were born in the UK on or after 1 January 1983, your birth certificate is not accepted as evidence of nationality. If your mother or father were born in the UK before 1 January 1983, their birth certificates can provide evidence of your nationality. You should bring:

your original full UK birth certificate
one piece of identification with your photograph on it
your parent's original full UK birth certificate

To show British nationality through your father, he must have been married to your mother when you were born. You may need to show us your parents’ marriage certificate.

If you were born in the UK on or after 1 January 1983 but your mother or father were not born in the UK before this date, you cannot give notice without a valid passport.

Foreign, Irish or EEA nationals without a passport

Foreign, Irish or EEA nationals who do not have a valid passport, need to bring evidence of their name, age and nationality. While other documents may be accepted as evidence of name and age, only a valid passport will prove your nationality. Therefore, it’s unlikely that you will be able to give notice unless you have a valid passport.

A Biometric Residence Card (BRP) issued by the Home Office is only accepted in place of a passport in very limited circumstances if it states your nationality. We do not accept Asylum Registration Certificate (ARC) cards or other letters from the Home Office.

EEA identity cards are not accepted.

If your passport has expired, you will need to apply for a new one. If it's currently with the Home Office, you will need to wait until it is returned before you can give notice.

Converting your civil partnership into a marriage

Couples who have formed a civil partnership in the past can convert their civil partnership into a marriage. This is possible for couples who registered their civil partnership in England or Wales. It's also possible for couples who registered their civil partnership according to the law of England and Wales in a consulate or armed forces base overseas.

There are 2 ways to do this:

A simple administrative process called a standard conversion
A 2-stage process where the standard conversion is followed by a ceremony

For a standard conversion, the couple attend an appointment at a register office and complete a declaration. The registrar will ask you to provide:

proof of identity
proof of your address
your original civil partnership certificate

View a full list of documents.

After you sign the declaration, your marriage will be registered and a new marriage certificate will be issued.

If you want to have a ceremony to celebrate your conversion, this can follow the signing of the declaration. You will need to choose a venue where same sex couples are able to marry.

After the ceremony, your marriage will be registered. Your marriage certificate can either be collected from the register office or posted to you.

Call 020 8379 1000 to book an appointment for a standard conversion or if you have any questions.

To book a 2-stage conversion that includes a ceremony, email register.office@enfield.gov.uk with your phone number and as many details as you wish. We will then call you to discuss the arrangements.

A standard conversion costs a fee. If you are planning a two-stage conversion, you will also need to pay for your ceremony. You can view our fees. We only accept payment by credit or debit card.

If you formed your civil partnership outside England or Wales you cannot convert your partnership into a marriage as you are in a legal relationship that is valid in the country where you formed it. Your partnership will still be recognised as a civil partnership in England and Wales. This means you are not free to give notice of marriage. In this instance, you should seek legal advice on the options available to you.