Jeff Montgomery,
General Manager and Registrar-General
Message from the
Registrar-General
Tēnā koe – hello.
First up I need to alert you about the impact Omicron has had to some of our services. As with many government and private organisations, Omicron continues to impact us all. We’ve been experiencing general pressure on our service delivery because of the combination of staff being affected by COVID and a massive upswing in passport applications as a result of border changes. Unfortunately, it’s been taking slightly longer to process marriage licences, registrations and other products. By the time you read this we will have implemented strategies to improve our ability to meet customer needs. You can see an estimate of current timeframes for our biggest service types at Service timeframes.
Please continue to always follow the advice from the government and Ministry of Health:
- Information about COVID-19 from the Ministry of Health
- Government advice about COVID-19 on Govt.nz
Keep safe.
Kia pai tō rā (Have a good day)
Jeff
The must haves – celebrants and ceremonies
We're still in the busy season so this is an opportunity to recap the minimum legal requirements of a wedding ceremony. These can be difficult to explain to couples, so taking some time to avoid confusion is always encouraged.
The first is formal identification – the celebrant must formally identify the couple, ensuring that the people standing in front of them at the wedding are the people listed on the marriage licence.
The full names of the couple as written on the marriage licence must be used at some point during the ceremony proceedings.
In a marriage ceremony, couples can write their own vows as long as they say “I take you [partner’s name], to be my legal [wife/husband/partner]”, or something similar, to each other at some point in the ceremony. The couple should say the words to each other rather than answering a question you ask — although the marriage or civil union is still valid if you have asked the couple a question.
After you have married the couple and the Copy of Particulars of Marriage are fully completed (date, specific place, couples signed, witnesses signed and addresses, celebrants name and signed and registration number or denomination) email a scan or photo to bdmtoregister@dia.govt.nz.
Retain the Copy of Particulars of Marriage for 4 weeks in case the photo or scan needs to be redone. After four weeks the Copy of Particulars must be destroyed and the email deleted.
Cannot use Zoom/Skype to marry a couple
Under the Marriage Act, a marriage can’t occur virtually (i.e. you cannot use video conferencing software like Zoom, Skype etc.) and five people (the couple, celebrant and two witnesses) must be physically present in the same place.
These five people must be physically present, in-person, at the geographical place when the couple say their vows to each other.
The marriage licence application and return of the signed papers can be done online.
General reminders
Keep your contact details up to date
Independent celebrants
You can change your contact details and you can include a website, photo and preferred name, if you have one.
At the end of each year, the Registrar-General will send you an email asking if you want to renew your celebrant registration. Keep your details up to date so the Registrar-General sends your reminder to the correct email address.
Use your RealMe verified identity to update your details via the self-service portal.
If you’re using this service for the first time, get set up by emailing celebrants@dia.govt.nz
Organisational celebrants
Contact your organisation's central contact to update the information for celebrants on their organisation’s list.
Always maintain your RealMe verified identity
Independent celebrants and organisational central contacts are encouraged to ensure that your RealMe verified identity is maintained all year round.
Make sure you are verified by logging in to www.realme.govt.nz.
Which email and when to use
Please continue to send enquiries to the correct 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.
If you change your email address, you can let us know by logging into the https://celebrants.dia.govt.nz/independent_celebrant_self_service
Understanding the experience for couples
In December we completed another piece of research to understand the experience for customers. This further step in our consultation in the wider births, deaths and marriages landscape is helping us shape the way we provide services in the future. It will be very useful as we modernise and future-proof our birth, marriage and death services.
We talked to a wide range of customers about their experiences and expectations when accessing BDM services, including their thoughts on receiving updates and information, how they feel about information sharing, and how we could be doing things differently in the future (especially adapting to a new normal due to COVID-19).
In the marriage and civil union space we talked to two couples who’d recently married and another who’d had a civil union. The research includes a mix of those who had personalised and registry ceremonies. We also reviewed survey responses about people’s experience using the Apply for a Marriage Licence online service.
Some key insights
- The overwhelming majority said it was easy. “It was simple and straightforward, which is good when you have so much other things to organize for a wedding.”
- Vaccine passes are shaping the way people imagine digital interactions (for example sharing their information in a digital way). “It’s very much like your vaccine passport, isn’t it? You download it wherever you need it and it’s just easier and you don’t have to worry about carrying it around all the time.”
- Physical aspects of the process like physically signing the paperwork and having paper certificates are still valued by customers. “I think for me, having more digital might have taken away some of the significance.”
- There's not a lot of information for couples about what to expect at a registry ceremony, but they don't seem too worried by this. “Kinda just found out on the day when she arrived.”
- Licences could be more flexible in light of COVID-19. “I think you need to have the flexibility of extending from 3 months, because a lot of things can happen in 3 months and COVID has broken all those rules.”
Save the date for Celebrants Aotearoa 2nd Virtual Conference 2022
Celebrants Aotearoa is excited to announce their 2nd Virtual Conference.
This conference is open to both members and non-members of Celebrants Aotearoa. So, if you have a passion for celebrant work or are just keen to learn more about the work a celebrant does, we invite you to come along to this event.
Theme: Sustaining our work and ourselves as celebrants. Kia tautīneia ā tātou mahi, me tātou anō hei kaiārahi ritenga.
Date: Sunday 31 July, 9 am ‒ 3:30 pm
Venue: You can attend from the comfort of your own home or join a branch huddle where they are offered.
We have a streamlined programme including three plenary sessions, the AGM, and presentations by Jeff Montgomery (Registrar-General of BDM) and Ant Burke (Australian Federation of Civil Celebrants). The day concludes at 3:15 pm with closing remarks from the President.
Tickets will be released on 26 April.
We look forward to a full and enjoyable day with you.
