The NYC Marriage License, Step by Step

Everything happens in a fixed sequence, and knowing it up front makes planning the date much easier. The City Clerk's online application and New York Domestic Relations Law § 13-B set it out like this:

1. Complete the online marriage license application. It is open to couples where both of you are 18 or older.
2. Save the confirmation number you receive when you submit it.
3. Book an in-person or virtual appointment with the City Clerk.
4. Gather your ID and any prior-marriage paperwork.
5. Attend the appointment together.
6. Pay the current fee.
7. Wait at least 24 hours after the license is issued, unless a court has waived the wait.
8. Hold your ceremony within 60 days of issuance, anywhere in New York State.
9. Make sure your officiant returns the completed license to the office that issued it.

Two things in that list are separate from the license itself: the ceremony, which needs an authorized officiant, and the marriage record, which you order afterward. The license is the permission; the ceremony and the returned license are what make the marriage official. Keep those three words, license, ceremony and certificate, apart in your planning and the rest falls into place.

The application is online, but it is only the first half. The City Clerk's form says to submit it, receive a confirmation number, and then complete the process by scheduling either an in-person or a virtual appointment with the Office of the City Clerk. As of September 27, 2026, the City Clerk's home page says virtual marriage license appointments remain available and that in-person appointments are scheduled through Project Cupid.

If you choose the virtual route, the City Clerk's archived FAQ from August 23, 2021 describes uploading your ID, verifying each person's identity, paying the fee and booking the video appointment, after which the clerk issues a digital copy of the license. That same FAQ says both of you must be physically together for the video call and physically located in New York State. Because the FAQ is from 2021, check those two points against the live booking steps before you plan around them, especially if you would be joining from another state.

One point trips people up: a virtual license appointment is not a virtual wedding. The City Clerk stopped permitting video-conference marriage ceremonies effective June 25, 2021, according to its home page. You can get the license over video, but the ceremony happens in person.

For the full walkthrough of the online steps, the upload and the video setup, the Project Cupid guide covers it screen by screen.

Bring the confirmation number from your application, the details you entered on it, valid photo ID for each of you, and the records for any prior marriage. That covers what the City Clerk needs to review during the appointment.

On ID, Domestic Relations Law § 15 requires documentary proof of age and lists many acceptable examples, including a certified birth record, a passport, a driver's license, government or school photo ID, an immigration record, a naturalization record and a court record. A passport is on that list, and the law does not limit it to US passports, which is good news if one or both of you is visiting from abroad. The City Clerk still checks each document under its own current procedure, so contact the Clerk ahead of time if a document is expired, damaged, not recorded in English, or shows a name that differs from your application.

A few things are worth confirming with the Clerk rather than assuming: whether a digital copy is enough where you would normally bring an original, whether a document in another language needs a translation, and exactly which photo ID the appointment will accept. A phone photo of your passport is not a promise of anything; bring the real document.

If you are traveling, a sturdy document folder with separate pockets keeps passports, certified divorce records, the confirmation number and copies together and easy to reach at the counter.

Plan on $35, and confirm it before you pay. The City Clerk's archived FAQ dated August 23, 2021 states a $35 marriage license fee. The current text of Domestic Relations Law § 15, checked September 27, 2026, says the town or city clerk is entitled to a $30 fee. The amount on the City Clerk's own payment step is the one that counts.

Payment works the same way. The archived Project Cupid instructions describe paying online as part of the virtual process. Other City Clerk material, written for a different kind of application, says credit cards are accepted in person, money orders are accepted and personal checks are not, but that document is not a marriage license fee page. Ask the Clerk which payment methods your appointment accepts, and have a backup ready.

If you are budgeting beyond the license, the guide to what a New York City wedding costs picks up from here.

The earliest you can marry is 24 hours after the license is issued. Domestic Relations Law § 13-B says a marriage may not be solemnized within 24 hours of issuance. The one way around it is an order from a court of record waiving the wait; if you use one, your officiant files that order with the issuing clerk within five days.

The latest you can marry is 60 days after issuance, under the same section, with a narrow statutory exception tied to military service. The license itself states the date and hour it was issued and the period during which the ceremony may take place, so count from what is printed on it rather than from the day you booked.

Where you can use it matters just as much. The New York State Department of Health says a New York State marriage license may be used within New York State only. An NYC license works for a ceremony in the Hudson Valley, on Long Island or upstate, but not in New Jersey, Connecticut, another state or another country. If your venue is across a state line, you would need that state's license instead.

For couples trying to marry within days, the guide to the fastest legal way to get married in NYC lays out how the appointment, the wait and the ceremony fit together.

A prior marriage does not stop you, but the application has to account for it. Domestic Relations Law § 15 requires the clerk to record whether either of you was married before, whether each former spouse is living or deceased, and, for a divorce, when, where and against whom it was granted. The clerk may ask for a certified copy of the divorce decree.

The City Clerk's Spanish translation of the application adds that you must list all prior marriages, that a divorce, annulment or dissolution must be final before you apply, and that you may be asked for the final decree or other proof that the earlier marriage ended. List every prior marriage, even a short one, and bring the certified decree to the appointment.

A divorce granted in another country is a question for your specific papers. Confirm with the City Clerk before your appointment, or ask a qualified lawyer about your own situation.

The City Clerk has an office in each of the five boroughs. The City Clerk's accessibility plan and the Department of Health list these addresses:

• Manhattan: Louis Lefkowitz Building, 141 Worth Street, New York, NY 10013
• Bronx: Supreme Court Building, 851 Grand Concourse, Room B131, Bronx, NY 10451
• Brooklyn: Brooklyn Municipal Building, 210 Joralemon Street, Room 205, Brooklyn, NY 11201
• Queens: Borough Hall Building, 120-55 Queens Boulevard, Room G-100, Kew Gardens, NY 11424
• Staten Island: Borough Hall Building, 10 Richmond Terrace, Room 311, Staten Island, NY 10301

Knowing the address is one question; knowing where and when your appointment is happening is another. An older City Clerk document gives Manhattan hours of 8:30 AM to 3:45 PM, but do not treat it as today's schedule for every office. Go by your appointment confirmation for the location and time, and note which office issues your license, because that is where the completed license goes back.

If you plan to marry at the City Clerk's own ceremony, the City Hall wedding guide covers booking and the day itself.

Once you have said your vows, the license gets completed with the ceremony date and the required signatures from the two of you, your officiant and your witness. Domestic Relations Law § 13 has you hand the license to your officiant before the ceremony, and the City Clerk's one-day officiant guidance says the completed license must be returned to the specific City Clerk office that issued it within five days of the ceremony. Agree with your officiant beforehand on who returns it and by what date.

Your proof of marriage is the marriage record, which you order from the City Clerk afterward. The New York State Department of Health says NYC marriage records are not part of its system, so the City Clerk is the only place to get one. As of September 27, 2026, the City Clerk's marriage records page lists a short certificate at $15 for the first copy and an extended certificate at $35 for the first copy. Allow some time for processing.

If you need the record for use abroad, or you want to know which version to order, the marriage certificate and apostille guide walks through it. Friends who want to officiate can check the officiant guide for the one-day license, which costs $25 under the City Clerk rule effective March 28, 2023.

Most delays come from small mismatches that are easy to fix ahead of time. Run through this list a week before your appointment:

• Names that do not match. The names on your application should match your ID exactly.
• An incomplete application. Every question answered, including every prior marriage.
• Expired or unusable ID. Check expiration dates now, especially on passports.
• Missing proof that a prior marriage ended. Bring the certified divorce decree or other proof.
• A lost confirmation number or a missed appointment. Save the number where both of you can find it, and keep the appointment time.
• The wrong payment. Confirm the fee and accepted payment methods with the City Clerk.
• Treating the video appointment as the wedding. The ceremony still happens in person.
• A ceremony booked too early or too late. Count 24 hours and 60 days from the time printed on the license.
• A venue outside New York State. The license will not cover it.
• A license returned late or incomplete. Check the signatures and ceremony details, and know which office gets it back.

The City Clerk controls its own procedures, so treat anything operational, like payment and document formats, as something to confirm on the current City Clerk page.

Fill in the online application, save your confirmation number, and book your appointment, choosing in person or virtual. Then set the ceremony date at least 24 hours out and within 60 days. From there, the Project Cupid guide helps with the video appointment, the City Hall wedding guide covers a ceremony at the City Clerk, and the officiant guide explains who can marry you.

*Get Married in NYC is an independent guide, not a government office or law firm, and nothing here is legal advice for your situation.*