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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 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 five marriage registries, or any of the 246
licensed places of public worship. In 2003, 32 979 marriages were celebrated
in the marriage registries and 2 453 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, with over 98 per
cent of the parties who filed their marriage notices on the first day
of the notice-giving period booking their appointments through the system.
The Registrar of Marriages is also responsible for
issuing Certificates of Absence of Marriage Records. During the year,
14 357 such certificates were issued. |
