Marriage Certificate

Hi All,

How long do you have to wait for a marriage certificate to be handed to you after the marriage ceremony in the US?

Is there any other document you can get instantly after the marriage ceremony and use that as the proof of marriage for spousal visa application  if a marriage certificate is not obtainable straightaway after the marriage ceremony?

Thanks

It varies by state or even county.

Being married 4 weeks ago in California, I can say that we had to wait "2-3 weeks" after the date the county received it from our officiant before it would be ready. If I picked it up in person it was immediate. Mailing would have taken it 2-4 weeks.

All of this information was stated on the San Diego County Clerk portion of the website. So I advise you to search your state & county  for "marriage certificate".

I think you need the actual marriage certificate for the spousal visa. I'm not sure that any other document would suffice. It's different everywhere so you need to do some research.

You need the Certified Copy of your Marriage Certificate that is filed with the County or State in which the marriage took place.

And like alilbabba said it varies even in the same State. My Certificate was available the next day after being filed with the county Recorders Office (we had a civil ceremony done by the commisioner of marriages which happened to be the county clerk), and this was in California as well, just a different county.

We got married in South Carolina and I swear when we filed the marriage application we got 3 copies - one for us and 2 for the officiant to send in. We signed all the copies the day of the wedding and he gave us the bride/groom copy (which is certified). That or I'm completely blanking on that aspect....

We got married in South Carolina and I swear when we filed the marriage application we got 3 copies - one for us and 2 for the officiant to send in. We signed all the copies the day of the wedding and he gave us the bride/groom copy (which is certified). That or I'm completely blanking on that aspect....

As the above posters said - it depends on the state/county.  In Colorado, you get it immediately after you are married.  It won't really do the OP any good hearing about our experiences unless we were married in the same state/county as him/her. 

OP - in what state and county were you married?