Marriage in Florida

[Keisha 0]

We are not there yet, I haven't had my K1 interview yet, but thinking ahead of time.

In Florida, what is the shortest time possible to get married and get your marriage certificate to be able to file for AOS?

We will have a wedding ceremony later, so first it will just be about paperwork and fees and filing... The reason I am asking is because my interview is on the 12th of July, and the fees for AOS filing increase on the 30th of July.... I have a son, so the fees for us will not be double, but double-double.

[Dan J 277]

There is a 3 day waiting period, unless you take the marriage preperation course. It may take about 10 days to get a copy of your marriage certificate. Provided you are ready to file when you receive the certificate, you should be able to make it by the 30th. It doesnt look like an SSN is required, so you can get married and file for that later.

[ivona 0]

You do NOT need your SSN, just bring your passport and they will use you Alien number in the documents. We got married in Tallahassee and the lady didn't ask what kind of visa I was on or any of that stuff.

It is true that you have to have the 3 day wait, but after that you can have any public notary notarize the document and you are married. I'm guessing that is what it would take for you guys to get the marriage certificate with a few days difference, by the time you deliver it back to them and then the time it takes them to process and so on.

We went to a notary at our bank and she actually recommended that we just go back to the office that issued the certificate and to do it there. We did that, and got the marriage certificate right away with no wait.

[athena_ny 1]

There is no 10 day wait for the marriage certificate if you marry at the courthouse (and I'm not sure where that number came from, anyway), which if you want to do the civil ceremony first to beat the fees, I would recommend. We got two copies of our marriage certificate AT the wedding in Clearwater Beach.

You don't need an SSN, they just want some kind of identification showing the person standing in front of them in the one getting married. My husband used his expired passport - no I-94 or anything (not that it mattered, he'd accumulated about 4.5 years of illegal presence at that point).

You can get married right away if you've taken the marriage preparation course, but by the time you get to taking the course you could probably get married anyway, which is why we didn't do it. It's 93.50 for the marriage license, and an extra 30.00 if the courthouse performs the ceremony.

[bora bora 1]

As soon as you get here, go to the county clerk and get your marriage license. You have to wait 3 days then you get married.

As soon as you get married - go back to the clerk's office and get a certified copy of your marriage certificate.

Do not mail it - that is what takes long.

We got married on a Sunday - by Tuesday (2 days later) our AOS paperwork was in the mail.

Good luck...work on the AOS paperwork now.

[Karly-n-Bruce 0]

We also had a civil ceremony. Like everyone said, you have to wait three days before marrying after getting the license. Also, my husband and I were married by a county clerk (I think that's what they're called) and she made two notarized copies of our marriage certificate for us while we were there (she gave us two because Bruce is in the military and needed one for work- something she knew and just handed to us). There was no waiting for us to receive our certificate, we got them just before she performed our "ceremony".

Edited June 15, 2007 by Karly-n-Bruce

[athena_ny 1]

We also had a civil ceremony. Like everyone said, you have to wait three days before marrying after getting the license. Also, my husband and I were married by a county clerk (I think that's what they're called) and she made two notarized copies of our marriage certificate for us while we were there (she gave us two because Bruce is in the military and needed one for work- something she knew and just handed to us). There was no waiting for us to receive our certificate, we got them just before she performed our "ceremony".

I thought 2 was standard. They told us that we get two included in the fee, anything past that is like 2.00 a copy.

[Karly-n-Bruce 0]

We also had a civil ceremony. Like everyone said, you have to wait three days before marrying after getting the license. Also, my husband and I were married by a county clerk (I think that's what they're called) and she made two notarized copies of our marriage certificate for us while we were there (she gave us two because Bruce is in the military and needed one for work- something she knew and just handed to us). There was no waiting for us to receive our certificate, we got them just before she performed our "ceremony".

I thought 2 was standard. They told us that we get two included in the fee, anything past that is like 2.00 a copy.

Oh, maybe it is. I remember her asking Bruce is he was in the military, he said yes and she told him we'll need two copies of the certificate, so I figured it had something to do with the military. Maybe not...

[bora bora 1]

We were married at a friend's house by my co-worker. She is a notary and notarized the license there. The next day we took the notarized license to the county clerk where we received the actual certificate. This is the same paper - only that it is recorded with the state - legalized I guess.

We received one copy for free and every additional copy is $2.50. We got a couple - one for AOS, SSA (for me, the USC to change my name), etc.

In order to be able to mail out the AOS paperwork ASAP - the rest of the documents need to be ready, so as soon as you're married you can send out the papers.

[boo boo 1]

Hello

I applied for the marriage license and married the same day at the courthouse (02/14/2007).....did not have to wait any days...and then we went to apply for the SSN card the same day...no problems.

[boo boo 1]

I know that if you take the marriage counseling before you get married....the licence is cheaper, but I did not take it and got married the same day that I applied for the license....thru Seminole County Courthouse

[Keisha 0]

Thank you very much for your stories! My fiance lives in St. Petersburg, so we will get married there.

Do we have to schedule an appointment at a county clerk's or at a couthouse or can we just show up?

[Karly-n-Bruce 0]

Thank you very much for your stories! My fiance lives in St. Petersburg, so we will get married there.

Do we have to schedule an appointment at a county clerk's or at a couthouse or can we just show up?

We scheduled an appointment, so I'm assuming you're supposed to, but I'm not 100% sure.

[athena_ny 1]

Thank you very much for your stories! My fiance lives in St. Petersburg, so we will get married there.

Do we have to schedule an appointment at a county clerk's or at a couthouse or can we just show up?

We scheduled an appointment, so I'm assuming you're supposed to, but I'm not 100% sure.

TO the OP:

I live in St Pete! Unfortunately.

We got our license at the one on 66th St N (near Tyrone Mall, which I'm sure you'll know once you get here), and got married in Clearwater Beach, because the one on 66th St N was kind of skanky - you do NOT need an appointment. We walked in on a Friday and were married in 20 minutes.

Clearwater Beach is a bit of a haul, but I'm happy we got married at that courthouse - got some great pictures in front of the tree mural there.

[PCKAA 0]

I got married in florida on the 1st June.. If you don't live in Florida, you don't need to wait 3 days for the marriage licence, you can pick it up the same day so that there is no wait.

We went early just in case, but there were no problems. We were married on Friday on the beach, got it notarised by the court house on Monday and sent off AOS forms the same day.. Good luck to you!!

I'm sure you can get it all done in one day if you're not having the official wedding ceremony on that day..