Of every nationality we researched, British couples have the shortest path. There is no transcription, no municipal registration and no waiting list. Your marriage is valid from the moment the registrar closes the register.
What Seychelles asks you for
The Seychelles half is the same for everyone. Two foreign nationals need a valid passport and an apostilled birth certificate each, plus an apostilled divorce certificate if either has been married before or a death certificate if widowed. The banns run for eleven days. The government fee is SCR 3,000 on Mahe, Praslin or La Digue. Two witnesses must be present and we provide them. The certificate is issued within twenty four hours of the ceremony.
Getting the apostille in the UK
Your birth certificate needs an apostille from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office before you travel. The UK is among the faster countries for this, often a matter of days rather than the several weeks Germany can take, but do not leave it to the last fortnight. Order a fresh certified copy of your birth certificate first if yours is old or damaged, because the apostille attaches to the document you send.
The certificate of no impediment, honestly
This is the one thing on this page we will not state as settled. A great many wedding sites tell British couples to get a Certificate of No Impediment from the General Register Office. The complication is that the UK does not generally issue CNIs for Commonwealth countries, and Seychelles is in the Commonwealth.
The Seychelles Civil Status Office does not list a celibacy certificate for two foreigners at all, so for most British couples the question never arises. Where a declaration is wanted, a sworn declaration appears to be the practical route. We are seeking written confirmation and will update this page with the date when we have it, rather than publish a procedure we have not verified.
When you get home
Nothing. There is no UK register of foreign marriages to enter, and your apostilled Seychelles certificate is the document you use for a passport name change, HMRC, a mortgage application or anything else.
Two practical notes. Keep the apostilled original safe and use certified copies for day to day purposes, because replacing it means going back through the Seychelles Supreme Court. And if you are changing your surname, do the passport first, because most other organisations will follow it.
What British couples usually get wrong
Booking flights before ordering the apostille. The eleven day banns period is not the constraint, your own paperwork is. Order documents two to three months out and the rest of it is genuinely easy.