Foreign Marriage Act 1892

The Foreign Marriage Act 1892 (55 & 56 Vict. c. 23) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, enacted to provide legal authority for marriages of British subjects performed outside the United Kingdom. It authorised British officials abroad to perform the marriage ceremony, and set out the necessary formalities to be followed, such as notice requirements and registration of the marriage with the British government. Marriages performed under the act would then be recognised under British law as if they had been performed in the United Kingdom. The act also provided that marriages performed abroad under local laws could be registered with the British government, provided a British consular official personally witnessed the marriage.

When originally enacted in 1892, the act applied to all of Great Britain and Ireland. It was repealed in 2013 for England, Wales, and Scotland, while repealed in 2019 for Northern Ireland, though the act is still in force in the Republic of Ireland.