Explanatory note

Schedule 23 to the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (“the 2004 Act”) makes provision for certain procedures to be followed where a civil partnership is to be formed in the United Kingdom and a party to the proposed civil partnership is subject to immigration control. These procedures are additional to the standard procedures to be followed by all couples prior to formation of a civil partnership.

If the civil partnership is to be formed in England and Wales, paragraph 4(1) of Schedule 23 requires that the notice of proposed civil partnership must be given to a specified registration authority and must be delivered to the relevant individual in person by the two proposed civil partners. If the civil partnership is to be formed in Scotland, paragraph 9(1) of Schedule 23 requires that notice must be given to the district registrar of a specified registration district, and similarly if the civil partnership is to be formed in Northern Ireland, paragraph 13(1) of Schedule 23 requires that notice must be given to a prescribed registrar.

Paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 23 provides that the fact that notice of proposed civil partnership has been given must not be recorded in the register unless the person to whom notice is given is satisfied that the person subject to immigration control either (a) has an entry clearance granted expressly for the purpose of enabling him to form a civil partnership in the United Kingdom, (b) has the written permission of the Secretary of State to form a civil partnership in the United Kingdom, or (c) falls within a class specified in regulations made by the Secretary of State.

Paragraph 2(3) of Schedule 23 applies section 25 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc) Act 2004 (which enables the Secretary of State by regulations to make provision in relation to applications for permission to marry in the United Kingdom) in relation to applications for permission to form a civil partnership in the United Kingdom.

These Regulations make provision in relation to these procedures.

Regulation 3 makes provision in relation to applications for the written permission of the Secretary of State to form a civil partnership in the United Kingdom. An application must be made in writing and contain the information set out in Schedule 1, and must be accompanied by a fee of £135.

By regulation 4, persons who are settled in the United Kingdom (as defined in paragraph 6 of the Immigration Rules) and persons to whom Schedule 3 of the 2004 Act (registration by former spouses one of whom has changed sex) applies are specified for the purpose of paragraph 2(1)(c) of Schedule 23 to the 2004 Act.

By regulation 5(1), the registration authorities in England and Wales listed in the left-hand column of Schedule 2 are specified for the purposes of paragraph 4(1) of Schedule 23 to the 2004 Act, and regulation 5(2) defines the relevant individual to whom notice must be delivered by reference to the register offices listed in the right-hand column of Schedule 2. By regulation 6 every registration district in Scotland is specified for the purposes of paragraph 9(1) of Schedule 23 to the 2004 Act, and by regulation 7 the registrar of every register office in Northern Ireland is prescribed for the purposes of paragraph 13(1) of Schedule 23 to the 2004 Act.

Regulation 8 makes a minor amendment to the Immigration (Procedure for Marriage) Regulations 2005, to require that applications for permission to marry in the United Kingdom contain information about any previous civil partnerships.

Regulations 4 to 8 (and Schedule 2) will come into force on 5th December 2005, the commencement date for the substantive provisions of the 2004 Act. Regulations 1 to 3 (and Schedule 1) will come into force on 14th November 2005 to enable persons subject to immigration control to make an advance application for the written permission of the Secretary of State to form a civil partnership in the United Kingdom after substantive commencement of the 2004 Act.