Gustavo.kunst, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Marry
Getting married in a CARICOM country you do not live in. I handle the licence, the documents and the travel, for you and for everyone flying in.
The wedding is the easy part
Every CARICOM country asks you to be on the ground for a set time before it will let you marry, and it asks for your documents in a particular form. Both of those vary a great deal from one country to the next, and neither is written anywhere obvious. People find out at a counter, with family already in the country and a date they cannot move.
That is the part I take off you. I work out which country fits the time you and your guests can actually take off, tell you exactly what to bring and in what form, and get everybody there and housed. You choose the dress and the venue.
Two different weddings
Both end at the same registry counter, but they start in very different places.
Coming home
Marry back home
You live in New York or London or Toronto, and you want to marry where your family is from. Not at a resort. At the church in Kingston, or the yard in Grenada, with the people who are still there.
The venue is rarely the hard part. The hard part is that your documents were issued somewhere else, your guests are scattered across several countries, and being a citizen of the place does not make you a resident of it. I have made this move myself, twice, and it is the same paperwork.
What I sort out
- Whether your foreign paperwork will be accepted, before you get on a plane with it
- Where you stand on residency, which is almost never what people assume
- Guests coming in from four different countries on four different fares
- Relatives already on the island who need collecting, housing or driving
Already in the region
A wedding somewhere else in CARICOM
You live in Trinidad and you want to marry in Saint Lucia. Or you are in Barbados and you have always wanted the Grenadines. You are not emigrating. You just want the wedding somewhere other than home.
This is the cheaper of the two, and easier than most people expect. The flights are short, your guests do not need visas for each other’s countries, and getting in is straightforward for a CARICOM national.
Worth knowing
- Free movement gets you in. It does not get you married, and the country’s own waiting time still applies to you.
- Marrying there gives you no right to stay there, which surprises people
- Pick the country to suit the leave you have and the whole thing gets simpler
- Guests can often make it a long weekend rather than a week off work
Three ways people use me
Most couples want the first. Plenty end up wanting all three.
The couple’s wedding plan
Everything between deciding to do it and being legally married.
- A shortlist of countries that fit the time you can take off
- The marriage licence, start to finish
- Your document list, checked before you fly
- Flights and accommodation for the two of you
Guest travel and room blocks
The part that quietly eats your evenings if nobody takes it off you.
- Group flights by departure city, not just yours
- A room block with a rate and a deadline
- One travel page you send to everyone
- Transfers, so nobody is haggling at arrivals at midnight
Staying on afterwards
You are already in the region. Going home on the Monday is a waste of a flight.
- Extending the trip either side of the day
- Moving to a quieter island once the guests go home
- Upgrades and honeymoon stays
- Open-jaw tickets, so you fly home from somewhere else
Any of the twelve
Tell me which one you have in mind and I will tell you what it takes. If you are open-minded, I will tell you which ones suit the time you have.
- Antigua and BarbudaLittle to no waiting once you land
- BarbadosLittle to no waiting once you land
- BelizeA few days on the island first
- DominicaA week or more on the island first
- GrenadaA few days on the island first
- GuyanaA week or more on the island first
- JamaicaAround a day on the island first
- Saint LuciaAround a day on the island first
- St. Kitts and NevisA few days on the island first
- St. Vincent and the GrenadinesAround a day on the island first
- Suriname*Only if one of you lives there
- Trinidad and TobagoA week or more on the island first
* Suriname is the one country I cannot arrange a wedding in unless one of you is a resident there. Suriname will only marry a couple where at least one partner actually lives in the country. Resident means living there with legal permission to do so, on a residence permit or as a citizen who lives there. Holding a Suriname passport while living somewhere else does not count, and neither does visiting, however long you stay. If that is not you, pick another country and I will make it work.
What I do, and what I don't
I am a travel and paperwork person, not a wedding planner. Knowing the difference saves everybody time.
What I handle
- Working out which country suits the time you and your guests can actually take off
- The marriage licence, start to finish, for the country you choose
- Getting your documents right before you travel, so nothing is turned away at the counter
- Flights for the two of you and for guests coming in from different countries
- Accommodation, including a block of rooms held together for your guests
- Airport transfers and moving everybody around on the day
- One travel page for your guests, so you stop answering the same question forty times
What I can’t do
- Register the marriage. The registry issues the licence and records the marriage, not me.
- Plan the wedding itself. Flowers, decor, catering, photography and running the day are a local planner's job, and I will point you to one.
- Set the fees or the waiting times. Every country sets its own and changes them when it likes.
- Advise on whether your marriage will be recognised where you live. That is a question for a lawyer there.
You don’t have to do this yourself
I can handle the licence, the documents and the travel for a wedding abroad for you. I work out what your country and your destination actually ask for, get the paperwork in order, and keep it moving, so you are not the one chasing offices and re-reading forms to figure out what happens next.
What I’ll ask you first
Have these to hand and the first conversation gets somewhere instead of being a warm-up.
- Which country are you thinking of, and do you have a tie to it?
- Where is each of you travelling from, and on which passport?
- Roughly how many guests, and which countries are they coming from?
- Has either of you been married before?
- How much time can you both take off?
- Do you want a religious ceremony, a civil one, or a civil registration with a blessing after?
The ones people actually ask
How long do we have to be there before we can marry?
It depends entirely on the country. Some let you marry almost as soon as you land. Others want you there a full fortnight before you can even apply. That one number shapes your flights and everybody's leave, so working out which country fits the time you actually have is one of the first things we do together.
We are CARICOM nationals. Does free movement mean we can just turn up and marry?
No. Free movement decides how easily you enter and how long you can stay. The marriage licence is a separate matter, and you are treated the same as any other non-resident. What free movement does give you is an easy entry, which makes meeting a waiting period much simpler than it is for someone flying in from outside the region.
I was born there but I live abroad now. Does that make it easier?
Not usually, and this catches people out. Being a citizen is not the same as being a resident, and it is residency that most registries care about. Somewhere like Trinidad and Tobago you are treated as a non-resident if you have not lived in the country for a good number of years. Bring it up early and I will tell you where you stand.
Does marrying there give us the right to live there?
No. Marrying in a CARICOM country, or marrying a citizen of one, does not by itself give you a right to remain. That is a separate immigration question. If living there is the real goal, say so at the start and we plan for that alongside the wedding.
Do you plan the wedding?
No. I handle the legal side and the travel: the licence, the documents, the flights, the rooms and the transfers. The florist, the photographer and the person running your timeline on the day are all local, and I will put you in touch with them.
Can you guarantee we will be legally married?
No, and be wary of anyone who says they can. The registry decides whether a licence is issued. What I do is make sure you meet what your country asks for, that your documents are right before you fly, and that you are there long enough to qualify. If something is going to be a problem, I would far rather find it months out than on the morning.
Planning to move there rather than just marry there? That is a different process, and worth starting separately.
What it costs
$100
A Move Planning Consultation covering your wedding, the licence, the documents and everybody's travel, is $100, and it comes off the booking if you go ahead. Tell me which country you are thinking of and I will tell you what it actually takes.