Uganda - Obtain License for Celebrating Marriage in Place of Worship

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Procedure

HOW TO APPLY

1. Write an Application letter addressed to the Honorable Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs (MOIJA), through the Registrar General requesting for a license to celebrate marriages at a place of worship
2. The application letter should be attached with all the required documents and evidence of payment of the application fees
3. Your request will be verified and process and if approved it you will be issued with the license to conduct your wedding at the religious center you requested for.

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Required Documents

• A certificate of registration as a legal entity.
• A certified copy of the land title or proof of ownership of land through a sale or tenancy agreement.
• Certified copy of approved building plans.
• Certified copy of an occupational permit.
• A list of celebrants and their qualifications.
• An inspection report from the registrar of marriages or the chief administrative officer
• Evidence of payment of Ug. Shs 200,000/- into the consolidated fund (by way of receipt from the bank)
• Marriages celebrants for the place of worship (religious leaders like pastors, reverends, priest and any clergy recognized by that faith)

Office Locations & Contacts

Uganda Registration Services Bureau - Head Office,
Uganda Business Facilitation Centre
Plot 1 Baskerville Avenue,
Kololo,
Kampala
Toll Free: 0800 100 006
Call Center: +256 417 338 100
Phone: +256 414 233 219 / 0417338000
Fax: +256 414 250 712
Email: [email protected] (General Correspondences)
Email: [email protected] (For Enquiries)
Website:Link

Eligibility

• Any couple who intend to celebrate their marriage in a place of worship

Fees

URSB: civil registration Fees

Validity

• Validity of the licences expires once the marriage ceremony is performed in the worship place

Documents to Use

Please attach documents that can be used by people. e.g. links

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Processing Time

Please explain processing time taken in obtaining the document/certificate.

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications. 
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type='website'>video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites. 	
Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver, 
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

Instructions

Marriage in licensed place of worship by recognised minister

• The Minister may license any place of public worship to be a place for the celebration of marriages, and may at any time cancel such licence, and in either case he or she shall give notice thereof in the Gazette.Uganda registration services

• PLEASE NOTE That this is provisional because some churches maybe in the process of applying and receiving licenses. The list does not include churches under traditional denominations that were given blanket licenses for all their branches as of 1957. 

• The Public is hereby reminded that it is illegal to celebrate a church marriage in an unlicensed place of worship. Church ministers celebrating marriages in places that are not licensed are hereby cautioned to desist from the practice as this is an offence punishable by law.
• Notwithstanding subsection (1), the marriage shall be celebrated with open doors between the hours of eight o’clock in the forenoon and six o’clock in the afternoon, and in the presence of two or more witnesses besides the officiating minister.

Required Information

• Full names of the couples
• Location/area where the marriage ceremony will be conducted
• Names of the religious leader who will perform the ceremony
• Religion of the couple
• Full names of the couple’s parents
• Residential address of the couple
• Postal/email address of the couple
• Name of the religious centre where the ceremony will take place

Need for the Document

• The licenses enables legal access for the couple intending to wed at a religious place of worship as stipulated by the law

Information which might help

Minister not to celebrate marriage if impediment nor without licence, etc.

A minister shall not celebrate any marriage if he or she knows of any just impediment to the marriage, nor until the parties deliver to him or her the registrar’s certificate or the Minister’s licence.

Place of celebration of marriage.

A minister shall not celebrate any marriage except in a building which has been duly licensed by the Minister, or in such place as the Minister’s licence may direct.

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

ursb
Uganda revenue authority
Uganda civil registration

Others

• Article 18 of the Constitution mandates the Government of Uganda to register all Marriages that occur in Uganda. The Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) is the Government Agency responsible for this function. URSB administers all the laws relating to marriage in Uganda.
  
• This includes licensing places of worship for the purposes of celebrating Marriages and the creation of a central register of marriages by the registration of all marriages celebrated in Uganda.