Marriage registration in Hong Kong is governed by the Marriage Ordinance. All marriages contracted under the ordinance involve the voluntary union for life of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others. There is no residential or nationality requirement for the marrying parties but neither of them can be under the age of 16 years.

    Normally, the Registrar of Marriages should be given at least 15 days' notice of an intended marriage and the marriage must take place within three months of the giving of the notice. A marriage can take place in one of the 10 marriage registries, or any of the 243 licensed places of public worship. In 2002, 29 907 marriages were celebrated in the marriage registries and 2 163 in licensed places of public worship.

    Since December 20, 2001, people may book an appointment for giving of the marriage notice through the Internet under the Electronic Service Delivery Scheme or the Interactive Voice Response System. The booking system has proved to be useful and convenient; over 95 per cent of the parties who filed their marriage notices on the first day of the notice-giving period had booked their appointments through the system.

    The Registrar of Marriages is also responsible for issuing Certificates of Absence of Marriage Records. During the year, 17 146 such certificates were issued.