Applying for a Civil partnership can be charged with difficulties for individuals. The Home Office is strict on granting visas and ensuring applicants meet the eligibility criteria and requirements. One wrong move and your application for a civil partnership can be turned down, with disastrous consequences for your future plans. Going through the application process on your own is a risky gamble; proving you are eligible can be tougher than you think. Our specialist immigration attorney team can guide you through that minefield and ensure your civil partnership application is as watertight as possible.
At A Y & J Solicitors, We have helped thousands of civil partnership applicants register their applications. We know how to spot issues with registration and resolve them before they become a stumbling block. We can help you with the entire registration process and put you in a great position to obtain approval from the Home Office. When you are ready to apply, civil partnership procedures can be complex and lengthy, so let an A Y & J immigration lawyer help you with civil partnership registration. They can provide you with the greatest possible chance of success.
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Civil partnership is also referred to as the civil union between 2 individuals. It is a legally affirmed partnership where partners of the same-sex or the opposite-sex register themselves under UK law.
Civil partners earn the same respect as any other married couples under the tax and social welfare norms.
Civil partnership for homosexual couples came into force in 2004 as the ‘Civil Partnership Act’ granting them partnership binding status lawfully. On 19 July 2017, a bill, the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration etc) Act Bill requiring the Secretary of State to issue regulations amending the Civil Partnership Act, so that opposite-sex couples may enter into civil partnerships was introduced by Tim Loughton as a private members bill through the Ballot of private members. The bill was passed by Parliament on 15 March 2019. The bill received Royal Assent on 26 March 2019. The legislation went into effect on 26 May 2019. Section 2 of the Act required the Secretary of State to amend the Civil Partnership Act 2004 by 31 December 2019, so that people of the opposite sex could enter into civil partnerships.
The couple must sign a ‘civil partnership document’ with two witnesses and a registrar who will legally handle documents.
If you are from outside the EU, European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland and your partner is a British citizen, settled in the UK, with limited leave under Appendix EU, as a Turkish ECAA worker or business person, or has refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK; you can apply for a family visa as a proposed civil partner to enable you to come to the UK to form a civil partnership in the UK. If granted, you will be given a 6-month visa to allow you to come to the UK and enter into the civil partnership. If you are already in the UK with a valid visa and you partner and you decided to form a civil partnership in the UK, you can give notice and register, subject to that your visa allows you to form a civil partnership in the UK. Afterwards, you can switch to a family visa as a civil partner (civil partnership visa).
Partners registering for a civil partnership should pay strict attention to specific guidelines before applying for it. Civil partnership eligibility before applying for it.
Partners must register themselves for civil partnership. This can be done in 3 steps:
Plan a ceremony: You must decide where to have your marriage or civil partnership ceremony before ‘giving notice’. To give notice, you’ll sign a legal statement at your local register office saying you intend to get married or form a civil partnership. This must include details of the final venue for your ceremony. You must hold your ceremony within 12 months of ‘giving notice’.
Give notice: Once the ceremony’s planning is done, the next step is to give notice formally about the civil partnership to take place. For which legal documents need to be signed at a local register office highlighting your civil partnership or marriage intention.
You must give notice at least 29 days before your ceremony. For example, if you give notice on 1 May, the earliest date you can get married or form a civil partnership is 30 May. You must hold your ceremony within 12 months of ‘giving notice’. Failing to conduct the ceremony within 12 months can lead you to restart your application process.
You usually need to make an appointment to give notice at your local register office. You must have lived in that registration district for the past 7 days.
If the partners belong to different districts, then they must separately give notice.
Not necessary that both partners give notice on the same day. They can do it on separate dates also.
If you or your partner is from outside the EU, EEA or from Switzerland, you need to give notice together at a designated register office, even if you live in different districts. The immigration authorities at the Home Office will be told. If this happens, you may need to wait up to 70 days before getting married or forming a civil partnership.
You can register your civil partnership in any register office or at any venue that has been approved to register civil partnerships. Anywhere that has been approved to hold civil marriages automatically has the approval to register civil partnerships. Non-religious venues cannot choose whether to hold civil partnerships or not if they hold weddings. This would be unlawful discrimination.
Religious premises are not obliged to host civil partnership ceremonies. If they do, they can choose to host:
Special rules for housebound people
If any partner is housebound, he/she can also register for a civil partnership. You are considered housebound if a doctor states that, in their opinion, you should not be moved because of disability or illness for at least the next three months.
In this situation, consider the following:
There are special rules for registering a civil partnership for people who are seriously ill and not expected to recover. These relax the rules for registering a civil partnership to speed up the process. This means that you will not have to wait 28 days between giving notice and registering your civil partnership
For those who are seriously ill and are willing to apply for civil partnership, the partners can notify the registered office with an application specifying the illness’s severity and seeking civil partnership permission.
To support your application, proof of your illness or a medical certificate issued by a competent doctor is needed.
The cost of registering for a civil partnership will depend on the circumstances at the time of registering. However, a predefined amount of fee is issued by the UK register office.
Once your registration is successful, you and your partner will be issued a Civil partnership certificate.
