Getting married or registering a civil partnership abroad: Information based on your answers

Marriage and PACS in French Polynesia

Before you start

French Polynesia is an overseas department or territory of France.

Opposite sex and same sex couples can either:

get married
enter into a PACS (‘pacte civil de solidarité’, or ‘civil solidarity pact’)

PACS is the French version of civil partnership.

Whichever one you choose, contact the local town hall (‘mairie’) to find out about local laws. Ask about what documents you’ll need and when you need to submit them. If you submit them too early, you may need to do it again at a later date.

If you want to get married, then you, your partner or one of your parents needs to have lived in the town where you want to get married for at least 40 days before the ceremony.

Prove you’re free to get married or enter into a PACS

The town hall might ask you for a:

certificate of celibacy (‘certificat de célibat’)
certificate of custom (‘certificat de coutume’)

If you need certificates of celibacy and custom

British nationals cannot get these certificates, but you can give the town hall a self-declaration form instead.

Print the self-declaration form and the official note. Fill in the self-declaration form without signing it.
Check with the town hall whether you need the signature on the self-declaration form legalised. If you do, contact a notary for this service.
If the name on your passport is different to your birth certificate, you may be asked to submit additional documents. Print the informative note and collect evidence of your name change (for example, a deed poll) for this reason.
Make an appointment at the town hall at least 6 weeks before your wedding or PACS.
At the appointment, submit the completed self-declaration form, the official note and, if needed, documents about your name change. If you did not need to get the signature legalised, sign the self-declaration form at this appointment.

If your partner is also a British national, they must print and complete a separate set of the same documents.

If you’re getting married

You’ll need to have a civil ceremony before you can have a religious ceremony. You can book civil and religious ceremonies at the town hall.

After you get married or enter into a PACS

You do not need to register your marriage or PACS in the UK.

If your partner is not British, they can apply to become a British citizen once they’ve lived in the UK for 3 years.

If you got married

Your marriage should be recognised in the UK if:

you follow the correct process according to the law in France
it would be allowed under UK law

If you entered into a PACS

PACS is recognised as civil partnership in the UK.