Churches to file marriage returns online

Churches to start filing marriage returns online, according to Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB).

Some churches issue certificates to couples and ignore filing returns yet they have collected the monies from the couples for filing, to end this, URSB has rolled out the National Marriage registration system.

“Churches were closed but weddings were not stopped, during this Covid season, so many churches are conducting marriages, but they do not want to file returns, we have enrolled an online program so that people do not incur transport costs to come to our offices, but file from their comfort,” Ronald Rutunda a senior registration officer at URSB said.

All you need as a church is to file the return to the URSB website.

Rutunda also wondered how churches are displaying their marriage bans since most of the churches are closed.

The Marriage Act instructs churches to file monthly marriage returns to URSB for registration of marriages they conducted in that period.

Also, article 18 of the Constitution mandates the Government of Uganda to register all marriages that occur in Uganda. 

URSB has also partnered with Vision Group for the Bride & Groom Virtual Expo. 

Rutunda called upon couples who intend to wed to participate in the Expo to find out whether the church they plan to get married from is licensed to celebrate marriages.