Similar to New York City issued Birth Certificates there are two separate forms of marriage certificate – short form (“Marriage Record for domestic use”) and extended form (“Marriage Record for foreign use”).
You can order and pick up your Marriage Certificate from any of the 5 New York City Marriage Bureau’s – there is one in each New York City borough (Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island).
Please remember: For an apostille or foreign embassy legalization purposes you will need to obtain an extended certified copy of the marriage certificate with an original signature of the Acting City Clerk.The Extended form has additional information on it (i.e. info about the groom & bride parents, the father name, mother name, witnesses, previously marriages, etc) this information is not on the short form.
According to the standard apostille procedure, only certified copy of an extended marriage Certificate can be apostilled – there should be an original hand signature and the certification stamp of the City Clerk. This is the first step for getting an Apostille for your Marriage Registration or certificate.
New York City issued Marriage Certificate to be submitted for apostille or certificate of authentication must be authenticated by the County Clerk. As we mentioned before marriage certificate should bear wet signature of the City Clerk together with embossed seal and Certification Stamp at the back.
Due to the volume of matters received, the County Clerk of New York County generally requires three weeks to process applications for authentication that are submitted by mail. Documents presented in proper form in person are processed immediately.
The third step in the process is the issuance of the marriage certificate apostille or certificate of authentication by the New York State Department of State. An application form must be completed. The documents in question, properly authenticated, must be attached and a fee paid.
