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

Marriage in Greece

Before you start

Contact the local town hall (‘dímos’) where you want to get married to find out about local marriage laws, including what documents you’ll need.

Check the travel advice for Greece and get legal advice before making any plans.

Prove you’re free to get married

You need to get a certificate of no impediment (CNI) to prove you’re legally allowed to get married.

If your partner is British, they’ll need to follow the same process to get their own CNI. If they’re not, the documents they need might be different.

Get a CNI

To get a CNI, make an appointment at your local register office to give notice of your marriage.

It costs £35 to give notice and get a CNI.

Contact your local register office to find out what you need to do if you live in Scotland, Northern Ireland, Isle of Man, Jersey or Guernsey.

You’ll need to take certain documents with you to your appointment.

After you give notice

Your notice will be publicly displayed in the register office for 28 days. You can collect your CNI after this if nobody registers an objection.

Your CNI will be valid at the town hall for:

6 months, if it was issued in England, Wales or Northern Ireland
3 months, if it was issued in Scotland

Check with your local register office to find out how long a CNI is valid for if you live in the Isle of Man, Jersey or Guernsey.

You’ll need to get your CNI legalised (certified as genuine) by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

You’ll also need to get a certified translation of your CNI through an approved translator.

If you’ve changed your name

If your name on any of your documents doesn’t appear exactly as it does on your birth certificate, you’ll need to provide evidence of your name change (for example, a marriage certificate or deed poll).

If you don’t provide evidence, the authorities may refuse to allow the marriage to go ahead.

Get married

You’ll need to give your CNI to the person who’s going to marry you. This will be a:

priest if you’re having a religious ceremony
registrar at the town hall if you’re having a civil ceremony

After you get married

Your marriage will be recognised in the UK if:

you followed the correct process according to the law in Greece
it would be allowed under UK law

You won’t need to register your marriage in the UK.

If you need extra copies of your marriage certificate, you can apply for them at the local town hall.

If your partner isn’t a British citizen, they can apply for British citizenship once they’ve lived in the UK for 3 years.

Getting a civil partnership

You might be able to form an opposite sex civil partnership. Contact the local town hall (‘dímos’) where you want to have your civil ceremony or a local Greek notary public to find out about local laws, including what documents you’ll need. You’ll need to pay the notary public.