Getting married by the mayor

[CharlieTanger 76]

With the K-1 visa does it really matter if we get married by our town mayor at his office or at a venue on a Saturday? Are there any major differences like in processing times to obtain the marriage certificate and such? I thought I read somewhere along the forums that getting married in the office will allow us to get copies of the certificate quicker or something?

[military-wife 9]

If you get married at a venue, you should get it within a week or two. We had our wedding at a Church and the officiant filed it the next day. We got our certificate within a few days (less than a week).

[Ash.1101 1,756]

Processing times are quicker the quicker the signed license gets back to the office for processing, the only time location matters is if say you're far off and it takes time for the signed liscense to get back to the office, but if you're in the same city, you can take the signed license down yourself if you want, the processing time would be how ever long it's taking them to process them that day.

If you get married on a weekday, it'll process faster than on a weekend because they're closed on the weekends.

Also, remember, every city/county/parish has different rules. While some may have gotten theirs back the same day, others may have taken a couple of weeks. It's best to ask where ever you're filing it at the estimated times and if marrying in the courthouse affects it.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Charlie--ask the question at the office that issues the license. Every state and county has their own individual workload and procedures of how long it will take them to record the marriage into the county records and prepare your certified copy. Often an officiant will say they will handle turning it in for you. You can politely ask them to sign off in the proper place on the license and walk it in to the office that registers it. The office could say we will do that while you wait or it takes us three weeks to process this and mail it to you. Find out what your county does.

[CharlieTanger 76]

Thanks everyone!

[yuna628 9,680]

Our minister understood that getting our documents were important and gave us the choice of doing it ourselves or letting her file. To top it off our local law states the paperwork must be returned within five days of the wedding and copies are given fast. We trusted our minister to handle it, and went four days after the wedding to the clerk, and easily obtained the copies. It is something that is best discussed with the person that will be marrying you as every state and county is different.