Getting Married

Getting married is an important event in a couple's life. To celebrate this special occasion, you may need to go through some planning and preparations. Here are the information and services the Government offers to the engaged and newly weds, including pre-marital services, marriage registration and honeymoon travel advice.

Deciding to Get Married

Marriage is about merging of two lifestyles and families, building intimacy and maintaining a committed relationship. The Family Planning Association of Hong Kong offers pre-marital counselling to prepare couples for the challenges of living together, enriching their personal growth and relationships, and building sexual intimacy.

The Association also provides Pre-marital Package Service for to-be-weds, including health assessment, sexual health education and laboratory tests, to ensure the health of the couples and their future offspring.

Registering Your Marriage

Once you decided to get married, don't forget to register your marriage. You should give notice of your intended marriage to the marriage registries either directly or through a civil celebrant of marriages before your wedding. You can book an appointment to give your notice of intended marriage either online or using a touch-tone phone at 3102 3883.

Besides celebrating your marriage at a marriage registry or in a licensed place of public worship, you can choose to celebrate your marriage in any other place in Hong Kong by a civil celebrant. Check out tips on engaging a civil celebrant of marriages, the list of appointed civil celebrants as well as wedding venues provided by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department on the links below.

Honeymoon Travel

While both of you are expecting a romantic getaway after your wedding, remember to prepare the necessary travel documents for travelling outside Hong Kong. You also need to check if the country you are going to has granted visa-free access.

Useful information for planning your honeymoon overseas, such as joining tours of travel agents and assistance provided for residents outside Hong Kong, can be found on the link below.

Changing Personal Particulars of Hong Kong Identity Card

For brides who want to change their registered name on their Hong Kong identity card, such as changing their surname into their husbands’, they can apply for amendment of registered particulars of Hong Kong identity card.

Admission of a Dependant

For a sponsor who is a Hong Kong permanent resident or a resident who is not subject to a limit of stay (i.e. a resident with the right to land or on unconditional stay) or a sponsor who has been admitted into the HKSAR to take up employment (as a professional, for investment to establish/join in business, or for training) or studies (in a full-time undergraduate or post-graduate local programme in a local degree-awarding institution), or who is permitted to remain in the HKSAR as an entrant under the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme, the Admission Scheme for the Second Generation of Chinese Hong Kong Permanent Residents or the Top Talent Pass Scheme, among others, his/her spouse may apply to join him/her for residence as a dependant in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

An application for admission of a dependant may be favourably considered if:

1. there is reasonable proof of a genuine relationship between the applicant and the sponsor;
2. there is no known records to the detriment of the applicant; and
3. the sponsor is able to support the dependant’s living at a standard well above the subsistence level and provide him/her with suitable accommodation in the HKSAR.

Marriage to a Hong Kong permanent resident or Hong Kong resident does not grant a non-resident spouse automatic right to enter or remain in Hong Kong as a dependant.

Paying Tax

As for paying tax, in general you will be entitled to married person’s allowance if you get married during the year of assessment and your spouse has no income chargeable to salaries tax. If your spouse has salary income, you may enjoy the benefit of tax savings if you elect joint assessment.