For a marriage or civil partnership abroad to be recognised by English law there must be two elements namely formalities and capacity.

‘Formalities’ means that all of the necessary formal requirements for the wedding / civil partnership according to the law of the country where it took place have been satisfactorily complied with. It covers such matters as giving of notice, the formalities of the ceremony itself, the location of the ceremony and the person officiating and other formal arrangements. It does not matter if England would not have the same formalities. If they were complied with where the marriage / civil partnership took place, then England will recognise the foreign marriage / civil partnership.

The capacity of each person to enter into a marriage / civil partnership is decided according to the law of the country with which they had long-term connection, known as domicile, before the marriage / civil partnership. It would cover such matters as consent including any parental permission, age, gender, any family / blood ties, and mental awareness of capacity to enter into a marriage / civil partnership, not being already married or in a civil partnership and similar. It does not matter if England has different requirements of capacity. It is the law of each party’s country before the marriage / civil partnership which decides on capacity requirements.