Getting Your NYC Marriage Certificate, the Extended Copy and the Apostille

The answer depends on where the document is going. The City Clerk describes the short certificate as the Marriage Record for domestic use and the extended certificate as the Marriage Record for foreign use, according to its marriage records page. A name change at Social Security, adding your partner to insurance, or updating an employer's records usually points to the short form. Registering your marriage with another country's civil registry, filing with a foreign consulate, or anything that needs an apostille points to the extended form.

Still, the receiving office has the final word. Ask it a few specific questions before you order: does it want an original or a certified copy, the short or the extended form, an apostille or a Certificate of Authentication, and a translation? A one-line email to the agency can save you a second order and a second wait. If you'll need the certificate for both a U.S. agency and a foreign one, it often makes sense to order both forms, since each additional copy costs less than the first when you order them together.

The marriage license authorizes the ceremony. It isn't proof that the ceremony happened. After you marry, the signed license goes back to the City Clerk, and once it's recorded, the City Clerk holds your Marriage Record. That record is the document agencies mean when they ask for your marriage certificate (City Clerk Marriage Bureau).

When your officiant is a friend or someone outside City Hall, returning the license is part of their job. Older City Clerk guidance from 2021 said officiants must mail the completed license with original signatures within five days (2021 FAQ). The Clerk's current page doesn't publish how long it takes for the first certificate to reach you after the ceremony, and that timing can differ between a City Clerk ceremony and a private one. Confirm it with the Clerk for your situation rather than planning around a number you read somewhere.

You have two routes for the short certificate, and both go through the City Clerk (marriage records).

In person, book a Record Room appointment through Project Cupid, the City Clerk's online system. Bring accepted identification and payment. Leave room in your schedule in case the record is not issued the same day.

By mail, send the City Clerk's Marriage Records request form with a photocopy of your identification and your payment, to the address printed on the form. The short certificate costs $15 for the first copy and $10 for each additional copy ordered at the same time. The next section covers exactly what the envelope needs.

The extended certificate is ordered the same two ways, through a Project Cupid Record Room appointment or by mail. On the mail form, select the extended certificate and indicate that it's for foreign use if the form gives you that option. The first copy is $35 and each additional copy ordered at the same time is $30.

The higher fee covers more than paper. According to the City Clerk, it includes the search, the certification, and a hand signature with a raised seal. That signature is what the County Clerk later authenticates, which is why the extended form is the one that can travel through the apostille process. The short form isn't built for that route, and the City Clerk's own FAQ tells couples who need an apostille to order the extended certificate.

A mail request goes smoothly when the envelope holds everything the City Clerk's request form asks for:

1. The completed form, with the certificate type (short or extended) and the number of copies marked.
2. A photocopy of accepted identification. The form lists IDNYC, a state driver's license, a state non-driver ID, an active U.S. military ID, a passport, a permanent resident card, an employment authorization card, or a qualifying Certificate of Naturalization.
3. Payment by U.S. Postal money order, or a money order or certified check drawn on a U.S. bank. Personal checks are not accepted.

The form also states who is eligible to request a record, and those rules are stricter for records less than 50 years old. If you're ordering on behalf of someone else, or a representative or attorney is ordering for you, read the eligibility section on the form before you send anything. For a marriage from 1866 to 1949, the City Clerk points to historic records through DORIS.

Plan your timeline without a firm number. The current City Clerk page lists routes and fees but no current mail turnaround. Older FAQs said four to six weeks in 2021 and six to eight weeks in 2022; those were the figures then, not a promise now. If you're mailing the request, a rigid document mailer with tracking protects the certificate on its way back to you.

An apostille is attached by the state, not the city. For a certificate issued in New York City, the route has three offices, and they come in this order (NY Department of State):

1. Order the extended certificate from the NYC Office of the City Clerk, for foreign use ($35).
2. Have the County Clerk authenticate it. Because the certificate is signed by a local NYC official, it must first be certified by the County Clerk. For a NYC marriage certificate, this is generally the New York County Clerk, which lists authentication at $3 on its fee schedule.
3. Submit it to the New York Department of State with the Apostille/Certificate of Authentication Request Form and $10 per document.

For the last step, you can walk in or mail it. The Department of State offers walk-in service in New York City Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with same-day service when the documents are in good order and a limit of 10 documents per customer. By mail, include the authenticated certificate, the form, the payment, and a return envelope, or a prepaid shipping label if you want express return. The Department does not state a standard mail processing time.

Add it up and one apostilled certificate costs about $48 in government fees: $35, $3 and $10. Mailing, courier service and translation are extra.

Usually not. The Department of State's instructions mention a Letter of Exemplification for NYC birth and death certificates. For marriage certificates, its instructions call for County Clerk certification instead, and the City Clerk's own marriage pages don't tell couples to request the letter (NY Department of State).

The exception is a foreign authority that asks for one by name. If that happens, get its request in writing and ask the City Clerk whether it can issue what's being asked for. Don't order one on general advice alone.

For U.S. uses, the receiving agency's rules decide the format, and they differ in small but important ways.

• Social Security: a marriage document is acceptable evidence of a legal name change. Social Security may require original documents and, in its general instructions, doesn't accept photocopies or notarized copies (SSA).
• U.S. passport: the State Department accepts an original or certified document showing the name change, which can be a marriage certificate. The form you use depends on when your passport was issued and whether you qualify to renew by mail (travel.state.gov).
• Green card (Form I-485): the USCIS instructions generally call for a photocopy of the marriage certificate issued by the appropriate civil authority when your category requires proof of the marriage. An apostille is not stated as a general USCIS requirement for a U.S. marriage certificate (USCIS I-485 instructions).
• Visa or I-130 petition: USCIS instructions identify a marriage certificate issued or registered by a competent authority as evidence (USCIS I-130 instructions). The specific form and filing location control.

For the full order of a name change across Social Security, the DMV, your employer and your passport, the name change guide on this site lays out the sequence. This page is about getting the right certificate in hand first. It's general information, not advice on your own immigration case.

The first question is whether the destination country is part of the 1961 Hague Convention. If it is, the apostille route above is the one you need. If it isn't, the New York Department of State issues a Certificate of Authentication instead, and the country may then require a further step with the U.S. Department of State or its consulate (U.S. Department of State authentication).

Keep in mind what an apostille does. It confirms the signature and the official character of the document; it doesn't decide whether another country accepts your marriage for a particular purpose. That's the destination's call, and so are translation, whether the translation itself needs certification, and any rule about how recently the certificate must have been issued. The consulate or civil registry of that country is the place to ask. If you're a couple visiting from abroad, the visitor guide on this site covers what to sort out before you travel. Once your certificates arrive, a protective, acid-free document folder with separate sections for the extended certificate, the apostille and any translations keeps the originals flat and together.

These answers add details not covered above.

Write down where the certificate is going and ask that office what form it needs. Then book your Project Cupid Record Room appointment or send the mail request with the right certificate type, your ID copy and a money order or certified check. If the certificate is going abroad, plan the County Clerk and Department of State stops as one trip. For the paperwork that follows, the name change guide covers the order to update your records, and the visitor guide covers what couples from abroad should check at home.

*Fees and hours were checked on September 27, 2026, and can change; confirm them with each office before you go. This page is an independent guide, not a government office or legal service.*