difference between marriage liscence and certificate

prauny

New Member
What's the difference between marriage liscence and marriage certificate? I saw from a previous thread when the couple(one is USC) attend interview, they will show their marriage certificate. Or are they the same thing?
 
Are you married yet? Because if you are, that means that you applied for a marriage license, then after the waiting period you were able to get married and then be issued a marriage certificate. But that changes from state to state. If you are in Vegas, you get the license and the certificate at the same time ;)
For the interview they will ask for the certificate, which you have to have in order to apply for AOS thru marriage.
prauny said:
What's the difference between marriage liscence and marriage certificate? I saw from a previous thread when the couple(one is USC) attend interview, they will show their marriage certificate. Or are they the same thing?
 
This is what I get from our local Clerk-Recorder office:

Marriage Licenses vs. Marriage Certifcates

When a man and a woman desire to get married, they are first required to obtain a marriage license. After the marriage ceremony, the marriage license is signed by the proper parties and sent back to the Clerk-Recorder's Office for recording. After it is recorded, customers may then purchase a certified copy of the marriage certificate.
 
confused

Thanks for the reply. Yes,we got married a few days ago. When we first went to the court, the clrk gave us an application for marriage liscence. After 3 days waiting period, we got the liscence. But we don't know who should issue the certificate? At the bottome of our liscence, it states:"I hereby certify the above and foregoing to be a true and exact copy of the instrument on file and of record in this office." At last is the signature of the district court's clerk.
 
When you get married, the officer witnesed will sign the licence. The officer also send the same information to licensing authority for entry into their data base. That becomes marriage certificate. but you can not copy that certificate. So you need a certified copies from same authority where you got licence.
They give certified copies after they entered your marriage information into their data base.
 
The license is the one who will be signed by the one who marry you like a cleric, judge, chaplan or other persons who have authority to marry people. After that the person who marries you send the license (properly signed) to the same court that you get the marriage license. The court (or probate court) will issue a marriage certificate, that one will be signed by the judge and by the court clerk or by the person who should signed it (varies from state to state). If you already has your marriage certificate but you want a copy, then you can get a certified copy from the same court and will have a seal on it as same as the original. Some courts give already certified copies of the marriage certificate others give original and a certified copy of the marriage certificate and others give just a certified copy.

And hello? you can copy your marriage certificate. There is no need that should be a certified copy if you want a copy of your marriage certificate. If you want that the copy should treated as an original or validated as one so you don't give up your original, then you can get a certified copy.

Now every state and even every county within the State has separate procedures and sometimes there is a waiting period, sometimes not, the fees are different and the requierements can be difference. So check at the website of the county court where you get your license.

Where did you get married (state and if it was in a court)?

Anyway, the marriage certificate says "Marriage Certificate" and the license says "License" so shouldn't be any confusion.
 
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And also

I wanna note too that in some Counties, as an example Westchester, NY, a Marriage License become Marriage Certificate after is signed for all parties required: bride, groom, witnesses, person performing ceremony and court representative with the require seals from court. After all this the same marriage license become a marriage certificate and any time you need a new certificate copy you can go to the court and they will give one as the original as they have those documents scanned in their computers.
As Cherry said that depends of the State and even County because in NYC the process in different. ;)
 
I was told by the licensing department in maryland that you shouldn't copy the marriage certificate.they said it doesnt hold the seal. They said to use certified copies from them instead. May it was the policy of the state.
 
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