Jeff Montgomery,
General Manager and Registrar-General;
Services and Access
Message from the
Registrar-General
Tēnā koe – hello.
2020 has been quite a year as we have all learnt and adjusted to new ways of working.
Thank you for your patience, support and valuable contribution during 2020.
I hope you have a safe and happy Christmas and New Year.
Keep safe.
Kia pai tō rā (Have a good day)
Jeff
Celebrant renewal for 2021 has closed
The renewal of independent and organisational celebrants has closed for another year.
The NZ Gazette list of independent celebrants will be published on 11 December 2020. The organisational list is published in January 2021.
Before the renewal started on 2 October, there were 3,933 independent marriage and civil union celebrants. After the renewal on 11 October there were only 3,585.
Closedown over Christmas and New Year
Our last full working day for for 2020 is Wednesday 23 December 2020 and we will re-open on Thursday 7 January 2021.
On 29, 30 and 31 December 2020 we will operate with a skeleton crew in order to continue registering marriages and civil unions.
Please continue to send enquiries to the appropriate email address (do not try to phone us). We will respond to the enquiry as soon as we can:
- Celebrants@dia.govt.nz - provides support to marriage and civil union celebrants only.
- bdmtoregister@dia.govt.nz - returning the fully completed and signed particulars for registration after the ceremony.
- MarriageLicence@dia.govt.nz - for couples that have questions or corrections to a marriage or civil union licence that they have already applied for.
Use your RealMe account to update your details at https://celebrants.dia.govt.nz/independent_celebrant_self_service
Practice ceremony included in interview
In the Findings of Survey of Independent Celebrants conducted in January 2020, some celebrants thought "the applicant should be required to perform a practice ceremony” to assess their basic skill level.
As a result of that feedback, and after consultation with the Celebrants' Association of New Zealand, the Celebrant School and the Celebrants Training College,
a practice ceremony was included in the interview of prospective celebrants from 1 December 2020.
The applicant will need to read through option 1 of the registry vows and will be evaluated on their eye contact, fluency, clarity and pronunciation, body language and presentation. They will also be asked questions on their understanding of the process as an opportunity to address any gaps in their knowledge.
This new requirement will help to ensure that new marriage and civil union celebrants meet a baseline understanding of their role and responsibilities.
Central contacts - Church celebrants aren't independent celebrants
Every now and again, someone wanting to be a church or organisational celebrant will apply to be an independent celebrant. We may not discover this out until they are at the interview stage of the appointment process, at which point they need to make a fresh application to be an organisational celebrant.
Central contacts - Please ensure your prospective celebrants know how to apply depending on your church or organisation.
For more information refer to: www.govt.nz/organisations/births-deaths-and-marriages/information-for-marriage-celebrants/become-an-organisational-celebrant/#what-you-need-to-know
Advertise that you are bilingual
Are you fluent in te reo Māori or NZ Sign Language? Are you bilingual or multilingual and want to let couples know when they are looking for a celebrant?
On https://celebrants.dia.govt.nz you can advertise your fluency, or any unique service you may be able to offer that could be relevant to a couple wanting to get married. Add a description in one of the three free text qualification fields.
You can also opt in to publish on https://celebrants.dia.govt.nz:
- Your email address
- Your home phone
- Your mobile phone
- Your celebrant related website
- Your iwi
- Your profile photo
- Your exact location (Google Maps) - if you do not want your exact location shown, you will still appear on the map but your location is pinned in the centre of NZ
- If you are:
- a financial member of Celebrants' Association of New Zealand (Inc.)
- have achieved validation (VCANZ)
- a graduate of a Certificate in Celebrant Studies (The Celebrant School or Auckland University of Technology)
- a graduate of a Diploma in Celebrant Studies (The Celebrant School or Auckland University of Technology)
- a graduate of a Diploma of Celebrancy (The Celebrant Training College)
Note that independent celebrants are approved, in particular, because their services are needed by the public generally and/or a particular community, so you need to be easily contactable.
Let us know what you want published by logging in with your RealMe to https://celebrants.dia.govt.nz/independent_celebrant_self_service
Please also use that link to keep your contact details up to date.
