Which northeast state can get married w/o SSN?

[wantmybaby 4]

My lovely fiancee arrives in a couple of days (yeah!!) on K1 visa, and I'm having trouble figuring out where/how to best elope around here. So far, I've found web sites for MA and NH that both say SSN is required. I'm not 100% sure if they are correct, and I'm not sure about Maine yet. Does anyone have any knowledge here?

I realize we could get the SSN first, but we are also moving and they'll end up mailing the card to the old address. Plus, I want to get her on my health insurance anyway.

And, what's the simplest no-fuss way to elope anyway? Maine only allows the use of a justice of the peace for residents. A pastor would normally want to do pre-marriage counseling first. Where in MA, NH or Maine can we just show up with ID in plain clothes and say "hey, marry us!"

[Inky 1,110]

Contact the county court house - most places issue the marriage license without SSN.

Then you pick the judge you want to marry you and the date they are available and then you get married.

[bc3159 2]

NYC does not need ssn # for fiancee...You just have to apply for license in person and have a 24 hour waiting period..

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

There was a law passed that abolished the requirement for SSN to marry in all states if the person does not have one. You may have to sign something that states she does not have a SSN. The websites you read often do not contain accurate information.

[wantmybaby 4]

Contact the county court house - most places issue the marriage license without SSN.

Then you pick the judge you want to marry you and the date they are available and then you get married.

Sounds simple, but sorry for a dumb question here... how do you pick a judge? I don't know any. And then what do you actually do to get married by the judge? Do you wait in the court room with all the others who have an appointment that day (for a crime or whatever), then go up to bench when its our turn? (I hope not, sounds intimidating and reminds me of my divorce.)

[bc3159 2]

Here in NYC..you are getting married in front of a judge in a separte cit office...no criminals...nothing but people getting married...Trust me I know...I'm a NYC police officer..

[bc3159 2]

The only people you see are people waiting to get married...You get married one at a time separtely inside a seperate room/office..I know its not romantic...but like I said...having a formal wedding in the philippines once AOS papers are done and also have approval to go back while waiting for her papers to finish.

[Inky 1,110]

Sounds simple, but sorry for a dumb question here... how do you pick a judge? I don't know any. And then what do you actually do to get married by the judge? Do you wait in the court room with all the others who have an appointment that day (for a crime or whatever), then go up to bench when its our turn? (I hope not, sounds intimidating and reminds me of my divorce.)

They give you a list when you apply for the license.

You don't see anyone. You wait outside the court room that you are told to go to. You go in when you are called in and you wait for the judge. The judge comes in ( ours was a criminal court judge ) then he stands with you at the front of the court room and marrys you and signs your paper and then you leave and hand the paper over to the licensing office and get your certificate in about 5-10 mins and your done.

[wantmybaby 4]

Good, that doesn't sound too bad. Do people "dress up" at all? (It seems kind of pointless since it is rather clerical sounding.)

[BethandBilly 86]

Justice of the Peace can marry you in NH, you go online, look for one that does marriages, check out there location etc and see if they are available and where. We did a JP wedding in NH and it was fireside, it was beautiful Good Luck and Congrats

[Inky 1,110]

Good, that doesn't sound too bad. Do people "dress up" at all? (It seems kind of pointless since it is rather clerical sounding.)

Some do some don't. I saw a guy in a full on suit and a chick in full on wedding gown.

We just wore new nice jeans, he wore a button up shirt with collar and i had on a shirt that was nice a little more " dressy " than just a regular tshirt.

[wantmybaby 4]

Justice of the Peace can marry you in NH, you go online, look for one that does marriages, check out there location etc and see if they are available and where. We did a JP wedding in NH and it was fireside, it was beautiful Good Luck and Congrats

Oh, NH can? Since I'm moving to NH, I have a preference for getting married in NH. And, without SSN?

[beejay 123]

Ours wasn't in a courtroom but in the empty lobby of the closed courthouse on an Saturday morning. The building itself is kinda art deco and the judge had us stand under a big marble statue in the lobby with the few family members we brought standing off to the side. It was actually quite nice especially since I didn't know what to expect - I had assumed what most of you described. The judge also had a nice thing that she and her husband had previously worked on about what makes a good marriage that she read during our ceremony (I think she would read it for all marriages that she performed). The security guard had my husband and I write our wedding date on the back of a postcard with a picture of the marble statue on it and he said he would mail it to us - which he did. After the ceremony nobody rushed us out, we were able to take our time and take some pictures. My sister tried to take quite a few artsy shots of the statue, most of which weren't as successful as she wanted them to be.

We didn't know the judge or anything, it was luck of the draw. She was one of the names we picked off the county website of judges that performed marriages and her assistant was the first one that got back to us. We were pleasantly surprised by the whole experience and I'm glad that it happened the way it did.

edit: Just wiki'd and the statue is made of onyx not marble

Edited March 7, 2012 by beejay

[wantmybaby 4]

While searching for eloping in NH, I found a minister who has a web site and advertises elopement packages. And, he's just 5 miles away from where we will be moving to. He'll do the wedding at his house or any park or other place in the area (kind of bleak in March though so not sure where outside I'd want to do it). So, he looks like a good choice so far. And, he confirmed that no SSN is needed.

Now, if I only had remembered to tell my fiancee to bring that certified divorce certificate I had sent her for the interview. She left it at home and is in transit now, so too late. Oh well, another $20 and SASE to the court house.

[Glyn and Kathy 288]

Hubby and I got married in Manchester NH and he didn't have a SSN yet. That was in 2006.