# The Proposed Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Waiting Period) Regulations 2015 S.I. 2015/159 · made 2 February 2015 · revised to 1 November 2017 Part 4 of the Immigration Act 2014 (c. 22) (“the 2014 Act”) establishes a scheme for the referral of proposed marriages and civil partnerships to the Secretary of State, who must decide whether to investigate whether the proposed marriage or civil partnership is a sham. All proposed marriages or civil partnerships where one party is, or both parties are, not exempt must be referred to the Secretary of State. Exempt persons include (amongst others) those are who are exempt from immigration control and those who have a relevant visa. Made under: 1949 c. 76 (Section 31, Section 74); Civil Partnership Act 2004 (Section 12, Section 258) PDFs: Printed copy https://openlegislation.uk/proposed-marriages-and-civil-partnerships-waiting-period-regulations-2015/pdf/uksi_20150159_en.pdf ## Introductory text Marriage, England And Wales Civil Partnership, England And Wales Immigration Made 2nd February 2015 Coming into force 2nd March 2015 The Secretary of State, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 31(5ED) and 74(3) of the Marriage Act 1949 and sections 12(7) and 258(2) of the Civil Partnership Act 2004, and having consulted the Registrar General, makes the following Regulations: ## 1 Citation and commencement (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Proposed Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Waiting Period) Regulations 2015. (2) They come into force on 2nd March 2015. ## 2 Proposed marriage: application to reduce 28 or 70 day period (1) An application made to the Secretary of State under section 31(5A), and in accordance with section 31(5EA), of the 1949 Act must be made— (a) by a party to the proposed marriage, (b) on form 1 in Schedule 1 if notice of marriage was given in England or form 1W in Schedule 2 if notice was given in Wales, together with any supporting evidence, and (c) by giving the form and any supporting evidence to the superintendent registrar to whom notice of marriage was given by the party. (2) The application must be accompanied by the fee (if any). (3) In this regulation— “1949 Act” means the Marriage Act 1949, “fee” means the fee specified in regulations made under section 71A of the 1949 Act. ## 3 Proposed civil partnership: application to shorten the 28 or 70 day period (1) An application made to the Secretary of State under section 12(1), and in accordance with section 12(4), of the 2004 Act must be made— (a) by a party to the proposed civil partnership, (b) on form 2 in Schedule 3 if notice of the proposed civil partnership was given in England or form 2W in Schedule 4 if notice was given in Wales, together with any supporting evidence, and (c) by giving the form and any supporting evidence to the registration authority to which notice was given by the party. (2) The application must be accompanied by the fee (if any). (3) In this regulation— “2004 Act” means the Civil Partnership Act 2004, “fee” means the fee specified in an order made under section 34(1)(b) of the 2004 Act. ## 4 Further information or evidence (1) The Secretary of State may request further information or evidence from a party for the purposes of determining an application mentioned in regulation 2 or 3. (2) In this regulation “party” means the party to the proposed marriage or (as the case may be) civil partnership who has made the application. ## Signature James Brokenshire Minister of State Home Office 2nd February 2015 ## Schedule 1 ## Schedule 2 ## Schedule 3 ## Schedule 4 ## Explanatory note (This note is not part of the Regulations) Part 4 of the Immigration Act 2014 (c. 22) (“the 2014 Act”) establishes a scheme for the referral of proposed marriages and civil partnerships to the Secretary of State, who must decide whether to investigate whether the proposed marriage or civil partnership is a sham. All proposed marriages or civil partnerships where one party is, or both parties are, not exempt must be referred to the Secretary of State. Exempt persons include (amongst others) those are who are exempt from immigration control and those who have a relevant visa. Under the Marriage Act 1949 (c. 76) and the Civil Partnership Act 2004 (c. 33), as amended by Part 4 of the 2014 Act, an application to reduce the waiting period for marrying or registering a civil partnership must be made to the Secretary of State, rather than the Registrar General, in a case where the proposed marriage or civil partnership has been referred to the Secretary of State. The waiting period is extended from 28 days to 70 days in cases where the Secretary of State notifies the superintendent registrar or (as the case may be) registration authority of her decision to investigate whether the proposed marriage or civil partnership is a sham. Regulation 2 sets out the procedure for making an application to reduce the waiting period in the case of a proposed marriage and requires applicants to apply on form 1 in Schedule 1 or (if the party gave notice of marriage in Wales) form 1W in Schedule 2. Regulation 3 sets out the procedure by which a party to a proposed civil partnership can apply to shorten the waiting period and requires applicants to make the application on form 2 in Schedule 3 or (if the party gave notice of proposed civil partnership in Wales) form 2W in Schedule 4. Pursuant to regulation 4, the Secretary of State may request further information or evidence from the party who made the application in order to determine the application. An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sector is foreseen. --- Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/159 (the official version) Page: https://openlegislation.uk/proposed-marriages-and-civil-partnerships-waiting-period-regulations-2015 Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.