Expedite marriage certificate - is it worth it?

[drenie_elyonie 12]

Hi, has anybody else gotten married in Vegas recently? We are planning to get married in Little Chapel of the Flowers on the 1st week of Feb, and they are offering me this expedite service for the marriage certificate, but it costs a whopping $155!!!! and even then, they could only give us the certificate THREE days after the wedding date. Does anyone else think this is ridiculous? Now I know that legally the minister has 10 days to file for the certificate, but I can't help feeling ripped off....

If you're wondering why we need the certificate so soon, it's because my fiance is in the navy and we need to start on some paperwork soon after the wedding.

Any advice?

[ricnally 259]

Yes, that's a rip off and, in Vegas, you should be able to get it the same day (or the next day) for no extra charge. You may have to deliver the papers to the office yourself, though. (BTW, my husband had his first wedding at that Chapel 20 years ago!). We wanted our marriage certificate immediately too. I had my visa in hand in Vancouver on a Friday morning and was married the following Monday morning in Lompoc, CA and had marriage certificate in hand that day by 4pm. (Lompoc is especially quick because of their proximitiy to Vandenburg AFB).

[ricky and elaine 8]

Hi We were married in Las Vegas in April. We asked the person to give us the signed marriage license to mail in. (Technically they are suppose to send it in) We took it to the post office and had it express mailed to the city recorder. It arrived the next day...We went in and got the license for $15 a copy. We finished filling out the I-130 petition and sent it off within 5 days of the wedding. You just need more than a few days in Vegas. It was really simple. Just a bit of running around.

[vazpayne19 24]

Hi, has anybody else gotten married in Vegas recently? We are planning to get married in Little Chapel of the Flowers on the 1st week of Feb, and they are offering me this expedite service for the marriage certificate, but it costs a whopping $155!!!! and even then, they could only give us the certificate THREE days after the wedding date. Does anyone else think this is ridiculous? Now I know that legally the minister has 10 days to file for the certificate, but I can't help feeling ripped off....

If you're wondering why we need the certificate so soon, it's because my fiance is in the navy and we need to start on some paperwork soon after the wedding.

Any advice?

Hello! I hope I can help somehow. We got married here in Guam and we waited for 2weeks for the actual Marriage Certificate. What we did was we asked the public health to give us at least a certified copy of our marriage license becuase we need to do some paper works in the AirForce. She photocopied the marriage license with the wedding details and stamp on it as a certified true copy of the marriage certificate at least to submit the documents needed. Hope it helps! Edited January 14, 2014 by vazpayne19

[drenie_elyonie 12]

Yes, that's a rip off and, in Vegas, you should be able to get it the same day (or the next day) for no extra charge. You may have to deliver the papers to the office yourself, though. (BTW, my husband had his first wedding at that Chapel 20 years ago!). We wanted our marriage certificate immediately too. I had my visa in hand in Vancouver on a Friday morning and was married the following Monday morning in Lompoc, CA and had marriage certificate in hand that day by 4pm. (Lompoc is especially quick because of their proximitiy to Vandenburg AFB).

ricnally, thanks for the tip! No reason to pay $155 if we can do it ourselves! So it doesn't matter who gives the papers to the office, right? It doesn't have to be the minister/officiant who married us?

Hi We were married in Las Vegas in April. We asked the person to give us the signed marriage license to mail in. (Technically they are suppose to send it in) We took it to the post office and had it express mailed to the city recorder. It arrived the next day...We went in and got the license for $15 a copy. We finished filling out the I-130 petition and sent it off within 5 days of the wedding. You just need more than a few days in Vegas. It was really simple. Just a bit of running around.

Hi ricky and elaine, do we really need to send it by mail or can we go into the office and give it personally to the recorder?

Hello! I hope I can help somehow. We got married here in Guam and we waited for 2weeks for the actual Marriage Certificate. What we did was we asked the public health to give us at least a certified copy of our marriage license becuase we need to do some paper works in the AirForce. She photocopied the marriage license with the wedding details and stamp on it as a certified true copy of the marriage certificate at least to submit the documents needed. Hope it helps!

Hi vazpayne19, thanks for sharing! I'm actually getting more stressed with all of the paperwork needed, more than the wedding itself! Just wondering, you said the public health gave you a certified copy of the signed license, so were they the ones who married you too? Just asking because since we are getting married in a chapel, if we decide to do the same thing you guys did, will they be able to provide the certified copy or do we need to take the license to a public health office/ some other place with authority to say that it is indeed a certified copy.

[ricnally 259]

Just to clarifiy: a "certified copy" is all you EVER get. The "original" remains at the county clerk's office. When you're getting it, you should ask for a few certified copies because you might need them later on for something. When people talk about "original" marriage certificate/birth certificate/divorce decree, they are referring to a certified copy from the issuing office. It will have a raised or coloured stamp on it to show it's certified. Also, don't get confused between the marriage licence and marriage certificate. It's the latter that is required for AOS.

Edited January 14, 2014 by ricnally

[drenie_elyonie 12]

Just to clarifiy: a "certified copy" is all you EVER get. The "original" remains at the county clerk's office. When you're getting it, you should ask for a few certified copies because you might need them later on for something. When people talk about "original" marriage certificate/birth certificate/divorce decree, they are referring to a certified copy from the issuing office. It will have a raised or coloured stamp on it to show it's certified. Also, don't get confused between the marriage licence and marriage certificate. It's the latter that is required for AOS.

Yup, this just gets confusing sometimes...okay so first we get the marriage license then we sign it at the wedding (us and officiant) and then that's what gets submitted to the county clerk, then afterwards we can request for certified copied of the marriage certificate once they are able to process it, correct? One other question though, is the officiant the only one allowed to submit the marriage license, or can we do it ourselves?

[ricnally 259]

Yup, this just gets confusing sometimes...okay so first we get the marriage license then we sign it at the wedding (us and officiant) and then that's what gets submitted to the county clerk, then afterwards we can request for certified copied of the marriage certificate once they are able to process it, correct? One other question though, is the officiant the only one allowed to submit the marriage license, or can we do it ourselves?

We did it ourselves. Hotfooted it over to the office by noon and they had it processed and certified copies for us by 4pm. (We were at that stupid office 3 times on our wedding day! lol)

[TBoneTX 46,151]

We did it ourselves. Hotfooted it over to the office by noon and they had it processed and certified copies for us by 4pm.

We did this, too, directly after the marriage, and they prepared the copies while we waited. Of the 7 copies that we had made, we ended up using 5.