46.—(1) A marriage solemnised in the State, after the commencement of this section, between persons of any age shall not be valid in law unless the persons concerned—

F196[(a) (i) notify any registrar in writing in a form for the time being standing approved by an tArd-Chláraitheoir of their intention to marry—

(I) not less than 3 months prior to the date on which the marriage is to be solemnised, or

(II) at any time prior to the date on which the marriage is to be solemnised where the parties to the intended marriage are parties to a subsisting civil partnership with each other and have previously either complied with section 59B(1) (a) in respect of that civil partnership or been exempted from such compliance by order of the Circuit Court or the High Court under section 59B(2),

or

(ii) are granted an exemption from the application of subparagraph (i) (I) under section 47 and give a copy of the court order granting the exemption to any registrar before the date aforesaid,]

and

(b) attend at the office of that registrar, or at any other convenient place specified by that registrar, at any time during normal business hours not less than 5 days (or such lesser number of days as may be determined by that registrar) before the date aforesaid and make and sign a declaration in his or her presence that there is no impediment to the said marriage.

(2) Except in such circumstances as may be prescribed, a notification referred to in subsection (1)(a)(i) shall be delivered by both of the parties to the intended marriage, in person, to the registrar.

(3) F199[A notification or a copy of a court order referred to in subsection (1)(a)] shall be accompanied by the prescribed fee and such (if any) other documents and information as may be specified by an tArd-Chláraitheoir.

F197[(3A) Where one or each of the persons notifying the registrar under this section is a foreign national, the notification or copy of the court order shall be accompanied by such documents and information as may be specified by an tArd-Chláraitheoir regarding the immigration status of the foreign national concerned or any other matter relating to that foreign national referred to at section 58(4C).]

(4) The requirements specified in subsections (1) and (2) are declared to be substantive requirements for marriage.

(5) When, in relation to an intended marriage, a registrar receives a notification under, or a copy of a court order referred to in, subsection (1) (a) and any other documents or information specified in subsection (3), he or she shall notify in writing of the receipt each of the parties to the intended marriage and the person who is intended to solemnise the marriage.

(6) A notification under subsection (5) shall not be construed as indicating the approval of the registrar concerned of the proposed marriage concerned.

(7) The registrar concerned may require each party to an intended marriage to provide him or her with such evidence relating to that party's forename, surname, address, F198[civil status], age and nationality as may be specified by an tArd-Chláraitheoir.

(8) An tArd-Chláraitheoir may, if so authorised by the Minister, publish, in such form and manner as the Minister may direct, notice of notifications of intended marriages under subsection (1), but a notice under this subsection shall not contain the personal public service number of a party to the intended marriage concerned.

(9) Where, in relation to a marriage solemnised after the commencement of this section, the appropriate notification under section 32(1)(a)(i) of the Family Law Act 1995 was duly given in compliance with that provision on a date before such commencement, the notification shall be deemed to be a notification under subsection (1)(a)(i) duly given in compliance with that provision on that date and the parties to the marriage shall be deemed, for the purposes of this Act, to have complied with subsections (1)(a)(i), (2) and (3).

(10) Where, in relation to a marriage solemnised after the commencement of this section, the parties concerned attended on a date before such commencement at the office of a registrar, or at another convenient place specified by a registrar, and there made and signed a declaration in his or her presence that there is no impediment to the said marriage, the declaration shall be deemed to be a declaration under subsection (1)(b) duly made and signed in compliance with that provision on that date and the parties to the marriage shall be deemed, for those purposes, to have complied with subsection (1)(b).