How to get a marriage license, and what it costs
Fees, waiting periods and expiry dates for California, Texas, Florida, New York and six more states, each checked on a state or county website in October 2026.
A marriage license is the state's permission for the two of you to marry. You get it before the wedding, from a county or town office, and in most states it only works for a limited number of days. After the ceremony your officiant signs it and sends it back, the office records it, and from then on you can order copies of your marriage certificate.
Nothing about the license is federal. Each state sets its own rules, and in most states the county sets the fee, so two couples in the same state can pay different amounts.
License or certificate?
The license comes first: it lets you marry. The certificate is the record that you did. Los Angeles County puts it plainly: buying a license does not make you married. You still need a ceremony, and the signed license has to be returned and recorded. When you change your name or update insurance, you will be asked for a certified copy of the certificate, not the license.
How to apply, step by step
- Pick the right office. In Texas any county clerk can issue your license, and New York lets you apply to any town or city clerk in the state. Ohio residents apply in the county where one of them lives. In Ohio and Georgia, couples from out of state apply in the county where the ceremony will take place.
- Fill in the application online if you can. Los Angeles County and Franklin County (Ohio) ask you to start online, and Wake County (North Carolina) lets you do it before you arrive.
- Go together, with ID. Almost every office wants both of you there with a valid photo ID. Los Angeles County and New York City do not accept expired ones. Texas is one of the few states where one partner can apply for an absent partner with a notarized affidavit.
- Bring proof of a divorce if it was recent. Los Angeles County wants the court order if a divorce was final within the last two years. Elsewhere, at least know the date and place of every earlier divorce.
- Pay the fee and check the dates. Note the first day you may marry and the last.
- Hold the ceremony inside the window. Your officiant returns the signed license. In California and Philadelphia the deadline for that is 10 days.
- Order certified copies. Gwinnett County (Georgia) charges $10 a copy, and so do town and city clerks in New York outside New York City.
A license works only in the state that issued it. Florida, New York, Michigan and California all say so on their official pages. If you marry in another state, apply there. Illinois is stricter still: a Cook County license covers only ceremonies in Chicago and suburban Cook County.
Fees, waiting periods and validity in the 10 largest states
These are the ten most populous states in the Census Bureau's 2025 estimates. Fees are for the county named in parentheses, checked on official sites in October 2026. Another county in the same state may charge a different fee.
| State | Where you apply | Fee | Waiting period | Valid for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | County clerk | $91 for a public license (Los Angeles) | None | 90 days |
| Texas | Any county clerk | $81, up to $60 less with a Twogether in Texas course (Harris) | 72 hours, waived with the course | 90 days |
| Florida | County clerk of court | $86, or $61 with a premarital course (Miami-Dade) | 3 days for Florida residents, waived with the course | 60 days |
| New York | Any town or city clerk | $35 in New York City, $40 elsewhere | 24 hours | 60 days |
| Pennsylvania | County marriage license office | $90 (Philadelphia) | 3 days | 60 days |
| Illinois | County clerk | $60 (Cook) | 1 day | 60 days |
| Ohio | County probate court | $65 (Franklin) | None | 60 days |
| Georgia | County probate court | $56, or $16 with premarital education (Gwinnett) | None listed | Ask the court |
| North Carolina | County register of deeds | $60 (Wake) | None listed | 60 days |
| Michigan | County clerk | $30, or $40 if neither of you lives in Michigan (Wayne) | 3 days, $10 to waive it (Macomb) | 33 days from the application |
"None listed" means the court's page describes the process without any wait. The Georgia court pages we checked do not give an expiry date, so ask when you apply.
Two fees need a second look. Los Angeles County proposed raising its public license fee from $91 to $176 in 2025, then pulled the plan for review; in October 2026 the county's fee page still shows $91. In Harris County, Texas, the fee is $181 if neither of you has ID that shows Texas residency.
Next to the venue and the caterer, the license is small money. For the rest of the budget, our wedding cost calculator gives a line-by-line estimate for your guest count.
Premarital courses that lower the fee
Three of the big states reward a premarital course. In Texas a Twogether in Texas certificate takes up to $60 off in Harris County and removes the 72-hour wait. Florida residents skip the three-day wait with a course of at least four hours, and Miami-Dade charges $61 instead of $86. Georgia counties cut the fee for a course of at least six hours: Gwinnett charges $16 instead of $56.
If you were going to do premarital counseling anyway, take the certificate with you when you apply.
Witnesses
The rules vary more than couples expect. New York needs at least one witness and sets no minimum age. In Los Angeles County a confidential license needs no witness. For the county's express ceremony on a public license you bring one witness, or the county provides one for $20. North Carolina magistrates in Wake County ask for two witnesses aged 18 or over. Pennsylvania's self-uniting license, which lets a couple marry without an officiant, needs two witnesses to sign.
Changing your name
Nobody has to change their name. In New York you can choose your new surname on the license application itself, and the certificate then proves the change is lawful. Afterwards, tell Social Security (the change is free) and update your driver's license and passport, each time with a certified copy of the certificate.
If one of you is not a US citizen
Most states do not ask about citizenship or residency for the license. Los Angeles County says so directly, and New York City accepts a valid passport from any country as ID. Documents in another language need an English translation: Los Angeles County wants it done by a certified translator and notarized.
The license and immigration are separate questions. If your partner comes on a K-1 fiancé(e) visa, USCIS requires the wedding within 90 days of their arrival, so book the license appointment for soon after they arrive and check that the waiting period fits.
When to get the license
Work backwards from the validity window. A Michigan license lasts 33 days from the application, so a license bought two months early has already expired. In California and Texas you have 90 days. Most of the others give you 60.
Two things can trip you up. Appointments: Los Angeles County opens slots only three weeks ahead, and the New York City Clerk takes appointments only, with no walk-ins. And the waiting period: in Texas, a license bought on Thursday afternoon is not usable on Saturday.
A safe plan for most states is to apply three to four weeks before the wedding. That leaves time for a waiting period and a missing document, and still sits well inside a 60-day window. Our dated wedding checklist puts the license step in the right week for your date.
In Wedding Harmony you can keep the appointment, the waiting period and the expiry date as tasks with reminders, next to the rest of the plan.