Hi

I'm lucky enough to work in London so went in my lunch break (although it was a very extended lunch break!!!!) I have a friend that did it by post and she had no problems at all.

The only problem I have come across when getting married abroad is getting my passport changed as you need to have a translated copy of themarriage certificate but it needs to be done by someone who is authorised. (Authorised by who? No one can tell me)

I suggest you get it translated back to English whilst you are in the country you are getting married in.

Where are you getting married?

My cousin did all her stuff by post but she wished she knew back then she could have of had her marrige certificate translated free of charge after she got married. She still can't find any one in the UK who is "authorised" to do that. She was married in the Dom Rep 8 years ago.

oh no dont tell me that, i got married 18 mths ago in turkey and was told it was an international licence and next year when my passport runs out i was going to change to my married name as im still in my maiden name, looks like there might be a few problems then grr, i know they dvla wouldnt accept it but was told my someone that the passport office would , so fingers crossed theres no probs

Couple of companies here that look as though they could assist.

fwh

http://www.rosettatranslation.com/

http://www.appliedlanguage.com/

In Britain you can call yourself whatever you want and don't necessarily have to do name changes via a deed poll etc. For most purposes, swearing an affidavit in front of a notary (ie virtually any solicitor) and then taking out a personal ad in the London Gazette (your solicitor can arrange this too) saying that as the person formally known as X you now want it know that you wish to be known as Y is sufficient. Affidavits are easy and generally cheap to prepare - I had to do it once when changing jobs because my professional and academic cerificates where still in store as part of the move and it was cheaper to do this than pay the furniture storers to dig out the relevant box for me. Check if this would be acceptable to the Passport Office as it could work out cheaper than paying for a professional translator to translate your marriage certificate.

SM

Ilove hols - why do you have to wait until May to do the Foreign Office?

I got married in Mexico in October 06 and, like Stacey, also spent a long long long lunch hour at the Foreign Office.

Our documents were translated by a company in Lancashire (recommended to us by Thomas Cook) and we sent our Mexican marriage certificate to them a couple of days after returning to the UK and I had my passport and driving licence changed within 2 weeks of being home. We paid extra to have another certificate 'authenticated' in Mexico and it only arrived a couple of weeks ago. This seems to have been a complete waste of money as the Passport Office and DVLA were quite happy to accept the translation and local marriage certificate, as were my bank.

The cost of the marriage certificate translation was £86. The original 4 translations for the Foreign Office (2 birth certificates and 2 decree nisis) was £137.

PM me if you would like contact details of the translation company.
Cazz

Cazz, just sent you a PM.

Did you get married at the Lindo? Would love to see your pics.

Hi Stacey,

We were planning on getting married at the Lindo but were upgraded to the Maya on arrival and had the wedding there. Fantastic! Had an amazing time and loved every minute of it.

PM me your email address and i'll let you have a laugh at some pics!

Cazz

Thanks for the replies, getting married Moon Palace Mexico in Sept. Thomson told me had to wait 3mths before and need to get doc certified 1st. I think I will get the docs translated while over there if can do. They don't seem all that helpful when I asked how I went about it.

There is no need for the documents to be stamped within the last 3 months, not for Mexico at least. We were told to get certified copies of our documents (or new ones) as we would not be given back the originals in Mexico. We were, but this might not always be the case I guess! If you use your original documents, they won't need to be certified. We got copies of our birth certificates online, which took about 2 weeks and used our original decree nisis. We went to the FO about 5 months before the actual wedding.

Are you in email contact with the wedding co-ordinator at the Moon Palace? We found ours to be extremely helpful - they would be able to tell you if they can translate your documents and the certificate in resort. Bear in mind though that they may not be able to do the marriage certificate whilst you are still there and that you may wait for a long time. Mexico appears to work on manana time!

As far as Thomson' wedding department not being helpful, I shouldn't be concerned. We went with Thomas Cook and they were absolutely no help at all. In fact, they proved to be more of a hindrance and we wished we had booked the wedding direct with the hotel - cheaper too!

We booked ours through First Choice & they weren't all that helpful either. They only checked all our paperwork was in order & booked the wedding, They sent a form for us to fill in about our options for the wedding but I emailed the wedding co-ordinator direct and got lots of advice from other brides on various forums.

Thanks for the info, Cazz did you not send certified copies to the forgien office then I'm confused. I haven't even considered emailing the wedding co-ordinator at the hotel. So thanks for that idea.

We didn't have certified copies - used original decree nisis (though you will only need these if you have been divorced!) and duplicate birth certificates, which don't need certifying as they are 'originals'.

I would definitely get in touch with the hotel - we were able to choose our flowers, style of cake, ceremony location, evening restaurant and make appointments for the hairdresser etc, which means less to worry about knowing everything was sorted. Our wedding co-ordinator felt like a friend before we had even met her!

Stacey - haven't forgotten the pics! Will send soon.

We never been married before so only have passport & birth certs. of which mine is a copy as only had a small one his is orig but could just get a copy easy enough. I'm miffed that I was told by thomson to send copies of these to a sol to get then send them to the forgien office. What do the forgien office do with the docs then.

I will def email the wedding peeps at Moon Palace.

The birth certificates need to be the long ones - with parents names on, so you may need to get a new one anway. The passport doesn't need to go to the Foreign office at all. It was just photocopied by the hotel for their paperwork. When I visited the FO, I queued to hand over the documents, sat for an hour or so and then was called back when the documents were stamped. I imagine they make some checks but don't know! The translations need to be done AFTER they have been to the foreign office.

Cazz

Both birth certs are full parents on it. Did you have your passport translated before going to Mexico. Thanks for all the info you have saved me getting certified docs.

I just found section on forgein office website so will add it to my favorites.

As far as I am aware you don't need to have your passport translated. We certainly didn't! I've checked the Thomas Cook checklist and it states you need your passport (kind of obvious one would think!) and a photocopy but this doesn't need to be certified or translated. We took photocopies of all our documents with us just to be on the safe side!

I know that you need to have your passport translated for weddings in Cuba, and maybe other countries but not Mexico.

Thank you so very much. I have now just emailed the Moon Palace.