Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he is taking steps to (a) speed up the marriage application process, (b) expand the scope of legal marriage venues and (c) review the 28-day notice period prior to the marriage ceremony.

The 28-day notice period implemented by the Immigration Act 2014 remains in place not only for administrative reasons but also to support safeguards against sham marriages. The Government has no plans to review this.

The Law Commission’s 2022 report on weddings law made 57 recommendations for the reform of weddings law, including in relation to preliminaries, and where weddings can take place. The Government appreciates the importance of these issues and will provide an update in due course.