You're married!!! So, what do you do now? Well, I don't mean as a married couple.. that adventure is completely up to yourselves! But I do, absolutely, wish you both the very best for this next journey of your lives together...
What I mean by "What to do now", is this:
You have had your beautiful wedding ceremony. You have said all the right words to each other.
You have signed all the legal paperwork (in Ireland, here, that is your Marriage Registration Form - or MRF for short).
Your Solemniser has given you back your MRF in the Green Folder that you recieved from the HSE waaaay back when you had your Notification of Intent to Marry appointment.
So now, what do you do with the MRF & Green Folder?
Well the VERY important part is the Marriage Registration Form - MRF.
These are the (probably) two pages that you signed during your marriage ceremony.
There's the first page, which has all your details, and the details of the ceremony... that has your signature on it that you signed when you collected the form from the HSE office.
And the second page (it could be a separate page, or perhaps on the back of the first). This page will more than likely just have five (x5) signatures on it; yourself & your spouse, your two witnesses, and your Solemniser.
You may also have some other notes/amendments on the forms - this could be if there were any last minute changes to the details, eg; like a change of witness.
As long as the amendment was noted, and all five of you initialled the amendment, then that's perfect.
Do check that you have all five signatures. If someone is missing - contact your Solemniser IMMEDIATELY.
NEXT:
You MUST return the Marriage Registration Form (MRF) to an HSE Registration office.
This could be the office that you attended for your Notification appointment (it is usually best to return it to this one) - but, if impractical, you can return it to any HSE Registry office.
The MRF should be returned within 30 days of the marriage ceremony.
In your Green Folder, you may also have some other documents - receipts, confirmation letter of your Notification. On these, there will be the postal address of the HSE Registry office that you attended.
So you can use that to POST the MRF back to the office.
We do suggest that you use "Registered Post" - just for tracking purposes.
You can also hand-deliver the MRF to the office.
Many HSE offices have a "drop box" outside the door, and request that you put the Green Folder into this box - rather than going inside. This is to reduce the congestion in the offices.
You do not have to return the MRF yourself/yourselves.
If you are zipping off on honeymoon, or out of the country, you can ask a responsible person whom you trust, to take the MRF into the HSE office on your behalf. If they hand-deliver it for you, do let them know that there could be the drop-box system, and they might not get to go into the office itself.
*THINGS TO NOTE*
What happens if you forget, and do not get the MRF back to the HSE office within 30 days of your marriage ceremony?
Don't panic!! You're still married!
If you miss that 30day date. It is OK.
Under Section 50 of the Civil Registration Act 2004; if the MRF is not returned to the HSE office within 56 days of the marriage date stated on the MRF document - the HSE Registrar can serve you notice requesting that you return the MRF within 14 days of recieving said notice.
The fact is, that your marriage is not registered with the State until you return the MRF to the HSE office. So the sooner you return it, the better!!
If you were to completely miss the 30 day, the 56 day and the 14 day (for those doing the math, that is 70 days after the marriage ceremony).... then you may have to start the whole Notification process again.
Which means - you would need to give another 3-month Notification application to the HSE office, and get a Solemniser/Registrar and two witnesses, and after the 3-months, get together with them to sign new MRF documents. So your marriage will be registered as this new date - and not your original date of the marriage ceremony!
Lets just not get that far.... just get your MRF back to the HSE Registry office within 30 days of your marriage ceremony!
WHAT TO DO AFTER YOU HAVE RETURNED THE MARRIAGE REGISTRATION FORM?
Once you have either delivered or posted your MRF back to the HSE registry office;
I usually suggest to my couples to wait for 2 weeks - to give the HSE Registrar's time to imput your marriage details into their system.
Once that is done, you are legally married in the eyes of the Irish State.
You can now request your official Republic of Ireland Marriage Certificate.
If you go to this website; HERE
You will be able to input your details into the system, and order your marriage certificate online. It will be posted out to your address.
When you have recieved your official marriage certificate, you can use it for change of name, Revenue/Tax, any other official requirements.
Keep it safe!
You can order subsequest copies if necessary.