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Common Licence

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 (1) 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, (2) 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 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 the diocese who have been appointed Surrogates for receiving marriage licence applications. The list of Surrogates is being reviewed to improve coverage across the diocese but in the meantime current Surrogates include the following:

  • The Revd Adrian Bell, Fakenham
  • The Revd Canon Tony Billett, Diss
  • The Revd Linda Butler, Bungay
  • The Revd Geoff Garrett, Watton
  • The Revd Canon Christopher Ivory, King’s Lynn
  • The Revd Canon Stuart Nairn, Narborough
  • The Revd Canon Barry Oake, Thorpe St Andrew, Norwich
  • The Revd Dr Patrick Richmond, Eaton Christchurch, Norwich
  • The Revd Canon Sally Theakston, Dereham
  • The Revd Canon Ian Bentley, Lowestoft

Contact details for Surrogates may be obtained from the Diocese of Norwich website, using the ‘Find a Person’ search function.

Applicants for a Common Licence should 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. The foreign party should provide the Registrar or Surrogate with the following:-

  • Evidence of identity, such as an original passport or birth certificate (not a fax or photocopy) showing the full name 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 (such as a recent passport or a letter from the party’s lawyer or priest).
  • A letter from the appropriate embassy, confirming that the foreign party is free to marry under the law of his and her own country and that if the marriage takes place in England it will be recognised in the foreign country (or otherwise indicating what additional steps may need to be taken for the marriage to be recognised in the foreign country). The Registrar/Surrogate will not normally require a letter from the embassy if the foreign party is a citizen of a Commonwealth or a former Commonwealth country or of the United States of America or a country within the European Union.
  • Where the foreign party 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 is £125.00 with effect from 1st April 2011. With effect from 1st April 2012 the fee will be £165.00.

    Note that where one or both parties proposing to marry have previously been married and divorced, written approval must be obtained from the Bishop of Norwich before a Common Licence can be issued. The Bishop will wish to be satisfied that the conditions set out in the House of Bishops Guidance Note to Clergy are satisfied before consenting to the issue of a Common Licence. This approval is normally sought by the parish priest, but previously divorced parties wishing to marry by Common Licence should allow time for this approval to be sought.