Wedding Certificate Lost from Seychelles Wedding

bartonz20let

Hi,

Me and my partner married in the Seychelles in October on a package offered by Tropical Sky.

The Holiday was great with the exception of a few things that weren't quite as advertised. (No beach BBQ that we paid extra for, lost our wedding cake, minor things I know :rotfl:)

The major problem we now have is the Hotel (Avani) apparently sent our marriage certificate shortly after our stay (no explanation to why it wasn't available at the time) however, still no sign of it.

5 months on and numerous complaints and calls to Tropical Sky and it is starting to seem like they are hoping we will go away, they just keep telling us they will sort it but nothing happens.

Its starting to have serious implications, the largest being tax.

My wife is set to get a large bonus and pay rise but as we can not be considered a married couple we can not claim the married tax allowance meaning we are about to pay potentially thousands in tax that we should be entitled to avoid.

Does anyone know where we can go with this or where to seek advice? The wedding wasn't cheap and we have tried to resolve amicably and in private but its just not happening.

agrinnall

How do you work out that you'll be paying thousands extra? The most that the Marriage Allowance transfer allows tax to be reduced by is £230 per annum at current rates. If you have a cheap civil wedding in the next 4 years you'll still be under £1000.

bartonz20let

agrinnall wrote: »

How do you work out that you'll be paying thousands extra? The most that the Marriage Allowance transfer allows tax to be reduced by is £230 per annum at current rates. If you have a cheap civil wedding in the next 4 years you'll still be under £1000.

Sorry, I've not done the maths in that respect and probably should have said tax and NI but I'm more concerned with getting this resolved.

Thanks for your input by the way, great help.

Caz3121

bartonz20let wrote: »

My wife is set to get a large bonus and pay rise but as we can not be considered a married couple we can not claim the married tax allowance meaning we are about to pay potentially thousands in tax that we should be entitled to avoid.

you may want to read up on the Marriage allowance as you may have misunderstood
https://www.gov.uk/marriage-allowance
If you want to transfer part of your personal allowance to your wife then you need to be ending under £11,500 and her under £45k - saving £230
I don't see any impact to NI of being married and if you don't meet the criteria above then there is no impact to tax either.

There is information here regarding requesting a replacement certificate http://www.egov.sc/MyCitizen/MarriageCertificate.aspx

Manxman_in_exile

Caz3121 wrote: »

There is information here regarding requesting a replacement certificate http://www.egov.sc/MyCitizen/MarriageCertificate.aspx

That would seem to me to be the obvious thing to do. (I assumed that there must be some sort of official arrangement for registering marriages there).


I don't understand why the OP has been chasing the hotel and travel agent.

SuperHan

But you are married.


You can claim the marriage allowance online. I don't believe it asks you for a copy of your marriage certificate when you do so.


Claim the allowance, if HMRC query it then you can explain the situation to them - but hopefully by that time you will be in possession of the relevant paperwork and can just show them.


Although this is annoying, it's not as bad as you make it out to be. Apply to the relevant Seychelles authority for a new certificate.


PS - I also got married abroad and my certificate was sent separately. I think it's quite normal that you don't get it there and then.

lammy82

Yes, I would give the Civil Status office a call and see what they can do for you. The phone numbers are given in international format on this page: http://www.egov.sc/MyCitizen/GetMarried.aspx

Warning, this will cost about £1 per minute from a landline if you dial direct. Moneysaving tip: You can get the cost down by using a prefix service like those listed here: http://www.cheapest-calls.com/international/seychelles/ (currently claiming 4p/min available)

TadleyBaggie

SuperHan wrote: »

You can claim the marriage allowance online. I don't believe it asks you for a copy of your marriage certificate when you do so.

^^ this ^^

I applied for and got the Marriage Allowance and didn't have to provide anything as proof.