Thank you so much!! Iāve just had a meeting with our lawyers - and weāre going to go down a similar route. They suggested that we get a ācertificateā from our local registry office saying that they do not issue CNIās unless a person is actually getting marriedā¦ might be quite interesting trying to get them to do that for us!
Thatās tomorrowās jobā¦ weāre keeping fingers crossed. Thanks for all your help - itās really appreciated! Good luck with your submission - I hope it goes well! x
Apologies upfront for a slight off-topic, as my question is NOT related to PT GVā¦
Posting it here as this was the most relevant thread.
I now have an opposite problem in that I have been asked (in a 3rd country) to obtain a UK-issued proof of marriage in addition to my foreign-issued (2nd country) marriage certificate.
Our original marriage certificate is freshly apostilled but they still insist on a āproof of marriageā from the country of citizenship/residence, i.e. the UK.
Both partners are British citizens.
I have checked the local registrar, GRO, gov.uk websites etc, but could not find any clues as to how this can be done.
Apparently the formal recognition of foreign marriage certificates by GRO ceased back in 2014ā¦
Any thoughts?
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Elle
If children over 18 are in school and living at home is that all that is required?
Do you also have to produce copies of all bank accounts and income from jobs ?
Hi Tommy,
Hmm thatās an interesting one which Iāve not encountered before, however a quick google search suggested that itās possible to apply to the UK courts for recognition of a foreign marriage. Presumably the UK courts could/would give you a document confirming their recognition of the foreign marriage - and presumably this could serve as a āUK proof of marriageā, whatever that means - which you then could provide to the parties requesting it? Maybe the best thing is to consult a UK family solicitor and see if they can help/advise as to the best way forward? And also check back with the requesting parties as to what exactly they want documentation/proof of? Do they want confirmation that the overseas marriage is recognised in the UK? Or are they looking for a UK authority to provide proof that you are married, irrespective of where the marriage took place?
Some links here I found on Google -
https://raydensolicitors.co.uk/blog/are-marriages-abroad-recognised-in-the-uk/
https://www.stowefamilylaw.co.uk/blog/2020/02/05/recognition-of-a-foreign-marriage/
Good luck with this! Would be interested in knowing how it turns out.
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I donāt really know Iām afraid, I guess it would come down to your individual circumstances?
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Thanks for your suggestion and the links, I will check them out!
Much appreciated.
For UK applicants proving the āsingle-statusā of dependent children for the GV, the minimum age at which a person can marry in the UK was today increased to 18 years. Previously it was 16 years.
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Thanks Elle.
I may find myself in a similar boat to you on the āproof of no-marriageā issue, in that my son may turn 18 before final approval of our GV, and certainly will before first renewal. My preliminary approval and biometrics were accepted without me providing any proof on this point. Was your GRO no-trace letter accepted, and did you get any follow-up from SEF on it?
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Hi Chris,
I submitted the GRO no trace letter as well as a statutory declaration as backup upon initial application, and these were accepted in that we were all subsequently pre-approved.
For the upcoming biometrics next week I have submitted an updated GRO no trace letter and an updated statutory declaration. I guess I will find out at the appointment if SEF have any problem with these, however the lawyer has not raised any concerns and they are the same, albeit updated, documents that were submitted with the initial application ,so I am not expecting any problems.
I guess this was due to the fact your son was not yet 16?
Just a point to note - GRO will normally only supply a no trace letter dated from the 16th birthday, but with the proviso that marriage records arenāt available to GRO until 18 months after any marriage is registered (in the local registry)! So in theory there is an 18 month window during which they could have married but no record of the marriage available to GRO! I wondered about this but GRO issue the no trace letter anyway and neither SEF nor the lawyer seemed bothered. It seems that they go with whatever systems and processes are the case in each country.
I suppose at some point - in two years time? - GRO will provide the no trace letter only from the 18th birthday.
Many thanks Elle. My son was 16 at the time of first application, but my lawyer didnāt ask for proof of single status, and SEF hasnāt asked for it, either at preliminary approval or at biometrics stage.
I suppose my lawyerās reasoning was that Article 99 (b) of the Aliens Act 23/2007 refers to āminorsā, and that āminorsā is defined as under 18s in the Portuguese Civil Code. Also she perhaps didnāt expect a two-year approval period. But Iām thinking ahead in case the SEF asks for evidence of single status after my son turns 18 and before we get to card issuance. And of course for renewal. So I may tee up the GRO process nearer his birthday.
Interesting, cos my lawyer had asked for this proof of single status even though my kids were not yet 18. But never mind. The GRO process was very straightforward. Took about 3 weeks for them to despatch the no trace letters after you order them. You have to order over the phone (groan!). Itās a little tedious, you have to spell out everything and they go to great pains to ensure spelling of all names and details are correct - Charlie, Echo, ā¦ !! But the letters duly arrived in the post and SEF seemed to be fine with them. I had to also have them apostilled.
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Super helpful - many thanks for trailblazing this one!
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Chris, just to share my experience, despite following the excellent advice from @elle1 it took me several months to receive the correct GRO letter of āno-trace-marriageā.
They made a DOB error on the first issue (which made it look like a letter for a 6-year old child not marriedā¦), and then I had to chase them on the phone a few times before they finally re-issued the correct version. Their process kind of broke down when I told them of the error and they said they never make errors soā¦ 
Now regarding SEF, my bio appt. was in Jan 2023, and I had with me a copy of the GRO letter (as the original was used up elsewhere) and a statutory declaration. Both UK-notarized, apostilled, translated to PT, and notarized again by a PT notary.
SEF only took the stat. declaration, not sure why.
My guess is they saw both, got satisfied, and then just took the latest dated document (they followed the same approach for my other docs like marriage cert. etc.)
Oh no! 
Nightmare!
Yeah, it was a lot of fun.
At first they said it was correct because they recorded DOB from my words (and they never make errors), and if I wanted a correction then I could pay for a re-issue, but it would be re-issued with the exact same information and DOB because - see point 1 - they donāt make mistakes
Took some convincing to do with their managementā¦
Maybe it was their ears that was the problem?
OMG! Iām glad they eventually figured out what was the point of a re-issue!