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Newsletter for celebrants: March 2015

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Jeff Montgomery
General Manager and Registrar-General; Births, Deaths, Marriages and Citizenship.

Message from the Registrar-General

The past six months have been busy in the marriage space, with plenty happening in our core services to customers as well as in our programme of longer-term improvements.

A total of 12,948 marriages have been performed so far this wedding season (October to April), with 482 between same sex couples. As expected, we’ve seen a drop in civil unions, with 32 so far. Interestingly, 20 of these were mixed sex couples.

Births, Deaths, Marriages and Citizenship (BDMCAT) now has an even longer name to match the increase in services we provide. The new BDMCAT reflects the February 2 union between our existing units and our colleagues at The Translation Service and Authentication Unit.

The combination of business units will bring a faster and more efficient service to customers, especially tourists marrying here or kiwis wanting to use marriage documents overseas.

The Authentication Unit is responsible for validating New Zealand issued documents for use overseas. Last year, the team processed nearly 3,000 marriage documents, including marriage and civil union certificates, and certificates of no impediment.

The team works very closely with The Translation Service, with a large number of documents requiring translating before being authenticated.

With a front-line focus and emphasis on outstanding customer service, the teams have strong parallels with our existing teams.

We’re currently exploring ways we can use these similarities to save our customers time and effort.

Get in touch

Send us your feedback on Ngātahi

Guidelines for celebrants – memorable (and legal) services

I’ve recently received some correspondence about the role of celebrants when incorporating personal values and beliefs into services.

The first example relates to the celebrant’s responsibilities when conducting a service alongside a religious or cultural representative. In short, it’s fine to customise the service to fit the occasion, provided that you meet the legal requirements of being a licensed celebrant. This means stating that you are a licensed celebrant, conducting the vows and declaring the marriage, and completing the signing of the documents. All other parts of the service can be completed by another person.

Another scenario involved a couple who had not obtained a marriage license prior to the day, but wished to continue as if it was a legal wedding. The ceremony went ahead the next day and a substitute ‘certificate’ was signed instead of the Copy of Particulars of Marriage. In this example, it’s important that celebrants note that it is an offence to conduct a ceremony without a licence, as well as to allow a ceremony to appear to be a legal one. In the event this situation arises, the best approach is to clearly state that the marriage being conducted is not a legal one. This example also serves as a timely reminder to double check that all couples understand their responsibilities before the big day.

Recently, the Department has also experienced a slight increase in the number of Copy of Particulars of Marriage/Civil Unions’ with missing information. This creates downstream issues for couples who require marriage certificates as the registration of the marriage is delayed while the missing information is obtained. Before submitting the form to the Department, it would be very useful if celebrants could check that the date and place of the marriage/civil union have been completed, that the parties have each signed, and that the witness section includes the signature, name and address. These steps save couples time and effort down the track and enable prompt and easy registration of events.

As always, the Department is happy to answer queries. Email celebrants@dia.govt.nz – our team will endeavour to respond as soon as possible.

Ensuring integrity in celebrants

From February, all new applications to become a marriage celebrant must include a criminal conviction report from the Ministry of Justice (MOJ).

The new practice was introduced in keeping with the Marriage Act and Civil Union Act, which requires marriage celebrants to be of good character.

“This process ensures that the integrity of the celebrant system is maintained, and that members of the public are confident when approaching celebrants for their weddings,” says Mr Montgomery.

The criminal conviction history is free to obtain from MOJ. People who have no convictions or convictions that are covered by the Criminal records (Clean Slate) Act will receive a return letter from MOJ stating that they have no record.

More information about criminal conviction reports

Have you verified your RealMe account?

The coming years will focus on moving marriage services online. To access these, a verified RealMe account will be essential for all celebrants.

A RealMe login lets users access multiple online services with the same username and password. The service is designed to protect your privacy and security, whilst enabling access to many different places. The user controls the information that they share and when they share it. A verified RealMe account enables users to prove who they are in a safe and secure online environment. This allows them to access a range of services that would generally require a physical visit to the organisation.

Celebrants will need a verified account. Verifying your account will involve a quick trip to your local post office.

Set up your RealMe account

Upcoming CANZ Conference

"Hatch, Match and Despatch"
How Celebrants make a Difference

The Biennial Conference of the Celebrants’ Association of New Zealand will be held at the Marlborough Convention Centre in Blenheim from 15 -17 May.

‘I’ll be speaking at the conference, covering relevant topics such as modernising marriage services and the new celebrant renewal process,” says Mr Montgomery.

“I’ll also be updating attendees on other changes happening within Births, Deaths, Marriages, Citizenship, Authentications and Translations.”

More information about the conference