Singles certificate from the UK

[hidesj]

I have been trying to find out where to get one of these from the UK. I have tried the UK Births Marriages and Deaths site (which no longer seems to be there) but to no avail.

Has anyone managed to get one and how did you get it?

[Big Fluffy Matthew]

It's impossible, There's no such thing. Why do you need did ? Did you get married ? And where ?

[sandman]

DISCLAIMER: THIS INFORMATION IS SIX OR SEVEN YEARS OLD AND MIGHT NO LONGER BE VALID

You need to go to your family solicitor or notary public in the UK and sign a statement to the effect that you are not married (FYI, its called a certificate of non-impediment). This must be notarized by the solicitor. The document must then be sent to the Taiwan Representative Office (or whatever they're calling it these days) in Dublin Street, London, along with a fee (10 quid about six years ago, it may have gone up since then). They will need to verify the document with their stamp in order to make it acceptable to the authorities here.
You can also get a parent to do this for you by proxy, in which case, he or she will need to include a stamped envelope addressed to you in Taiwan when he/she sends the document to the Taiwan London office.

[hidesj]

No I didn't get married but I plan to. Apparently I need a 'singles cert' to prove I haven't been married before so that I can get married here.

[Big Fluffy Matthew]

That's why I married in the UK, I just have to get my marriage certificate translated, I didn't have to prove I was single before I married.
Are there exceptions for the UK now ?

[hidesj]

Sandman, thanks for the info. I will check this out with my folks back home.

Fluffy, I have been seriously thinking about going back to the UK and doing the deed there. From what I have read on this forum and other sources, I have wondered why people go to the trouble here. Ta!

[Omniloquacious]

I'm running up against all of this mafan now.

Is there anyone from the U.K. who has produced a sworn and notarized statement to the effect that they're not married and has had this accepted here in Taiwan? If so, did you manage to get it without making the trip back to the U.K.? And very importantly, how was it worded?

Having explored this business and decided that it was all but impossible to comply with this absurd anti-foreigner requirement set by those mental midgets in the Ministry of the Interior, my fiance and I had agreed that we'd forget about formally registering our marriage and just go through some sort of legally binding procedure, with witnesses, to satisfy her family. But now her parents are saying that they want us to do whatever is necessary to register the marriage before we get spliced!!! We'll almost certainly have to postpone the damn thing (originally set for December 7th), and I'm far from sure that I'll ever be able to meet that ridiculous requirement for the mythical certificate of non-impediment in any event. But I'll have to do my best, so if any of you Forumosans can give the nod to my questions and provide that magic formula of wording, that'll be a very helpful start and much appreciated.

[sandman]

Is there anyone from the U.K. who has produced a sworn and notarized statement to the effect that they're not married and has had this accepted here in Taiwan? If so, did you manage to get it without making the trip back to the U.K.? And very importantly, how was it worded?

1. Me.
2. Got it through proxy via my old man (see my post above for the procedure.
3. I'll post the exact wording tomorrow once I've dug it out of my files (but if you simply ask for a Certificate of Non-impediment the solicitor should know what it is -- its a standard form letter AFAIK -- and how to word it for proxy purposes).

Again, I did this several years ago, so the rules might well have been changed since then.

[Omniloquacious]

I'll post the exact wording tomorrow once I've dug it out of my files (but if you simply ask for a Certificate of Non-impediment the solicitor should know what it is -- its a standard form letter AFAIK -- and how to word it for proxy purposes).

Again, I did this several years ago, so the rules might well have been changed since then.

Thanks, Sandman. That'll be very helpful.

My sister is a solicitor in England, and I conferred with her about this, but she had no idea what the wording should be and asked me to write it for her. So if I copy the wording of yours and get her to do the necessary, at least I'll have something to try to persuade the people here to accept. I can't get a parent to act as proxy for me, as both of them have already passed away, but I'll have another sister (the family matriarch) do it instead, and hope that might be acceptable.

I'm also going to try to get a document from the General Register Office, as mentioned in another thread, which I can try to use if the Certificate of Non-impediment proves unacceptable.

In case both of these are rejected, we're now also exploring the possibility of flying off to Guam to get married.

[sandman]

Omni, I don't think there's any particular requirement that the proxy must be a parent. The information I was given at the time (by the then-head of the BTCO) was that the proxy could be a minister, priest, doctor, ... or elder sister, I would imagine (that last one was mine, not his) anyone, that is, who's prepared to vouch for you and is close family or is an "upstanding member of the community" and knows you or your family.
I'll post the exact wording on mine tomorrow.

at least I'll have something to try to persuade the people here to accept.

You don't need to persuade the people here -- its the Taiwan office in London that have to authenticate it. All they do is verify that the embossed notary seal on the document is real and that the issuing solicitor/notary is bona fide.
You might want to remember that the document is only valid for three months from the date of issue.