A Common Licence is a Bishop’s permission for a marriage to take place in a particular church. The issue of a Common Licence is at the discretion of the Diocesan Bishop.
In order to qualify for the issue of a Common Licence, either;
- one of the parties to the proposed marriage must have lived in the parish where the marriage is to take place for at least 15 days immediately preceding the date when the application for the Common Licence is made, or else must be on the church electoral roll; or
- one of the parties must be able to show a ‘qualifying connection’ with the church, as defined in the Church of England Marriage Measure 2008.
An application for a Common Licence should not be made until the three month period prior to the proposed wedding date. The Licence will be valid for a maximum of three months (like a certificate that banns have been published) so if the Licence is issued too early it will expire before the proposed wedding date.
An application for a Common Licence may be made by prior appointment at the office of the Diocesan Registrar. However, for those living at some distance from the Diocesan Registry, an application may be made instead to one of a number of clergy around each diocese who have been appointed Surrogates for receiving marriage licence applications. The list of Surrogates will normally be available on the relevant diocesan website or from the Diocesan Registrar
Applicants for a Common Licence will be required to produce evidence of their identity and address (see paragraphs 1 and 2 below). The Legal Advisory Commission recommends that, where one of the parties to a proposed marriage is a foreign national, the marriage ought to be by licence (which involves the making of a sworn statement as to status), rather than by banns, although only foreign nationals who hold settled status or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme may now be married after banns of a common licence.
The applicants should provide the Registrar or Surrogate with the following:-
- Evidence of nationality and identity, such as an original passport or birth certificate (not a fax or photocopy) showing the full name, place and date of birth of the party concerned.
- Evidence of the party’s current address, such as an original utility bill, bank statement or other document showing the name and address of the party concerned. Again, a photocopy will not be sufficient and an original document must be supplied.
- Evidence of the single status of the party concerned. Normally the applicant for a Common Licence will make a sworn statement that they and their intending spouse are not under any impediment which would prevent them from being married, and would swear to their current status, e.g. ‘single’ or ‘previous marriage dissolved’ etc, and this should be sufficient. In any case where there is any doubt on the part of the minister, additional evidence that the applicant is single may be requested (such as a recent passport supported by a copy of their birth certificate, both showing the same name, or a letter from the party’s lawyer or priest).
- Where one or both of the parties has previously been married and divorced, the original decree absolute of divorce and a completed Form and Explanatory Statement. See the section below dealing with Marriage following Divorce.
- Where any document produced is in a foreign language, the party concerned may be required to provide a certified translation.
The fee payable for a Common Licence varies from one diocese to another and the Diocesan Registrar will be able to confirm the cost.
Note that where one or both parties proposing to marry have previously been married and divorced, written approval must be obtained from the Bishop before a Common Licence can be issued. The Bishop will wish to be satisfied that the questions set out in the Guidelines for Clergy on Marriages in Church following Divorce have been addressed before consenting to the issue of a Common Licence. This approval should be sought by the minister intending the conduct the marriage and previously divorced parties wishing to marry by Common Licence should allow time for this approval to be obtained.