Using a US Marriage Certificate for a Dubai Spouse Visa

Arizona

• -Arizona's health department has said, on a page we could read only in its November 2023 archive, that the Clerk of the Superior Court of the county where you married holds marriage records, and that the state Bureau of Vital Records does not have them.
• -In Maricopa County, a certified copy can be requested once the bottom portion of the license has been returned and recorded.
• -Elsewhere, ask that county's Clerk of the Superior Court.
• -The Secretary of State's authentication page says it must receive "an original notarized or certified recorded document" and that "A photocopy is unacceptable."

California

• -CDPH-VR: public marriages in 1905–1999, 2001 and 2008–2025 only; for 2000 and 2002–2007, the licence county's County Recorder. If you married recently, ask that County Recorder.
• -Confidential marriage: copies only from the licence county's County Clerk, only to the two people named.
• -Informational copies carry "Informational, Not a Valid Document to Establish Identity"; some have signatures redacted. No page checked says whether they can be apostilled; ask the Secretary of State.
• -CDPH's authorized-copy application needs a notarized Sworn Statement, and its form says a sworn statement notarized by a foreign notary must have an apostille attached, unless a US consular officer (or another official it lists) notarized it. Signing in Dubai? The UAE is not in the Apostille Convention, so ask CDPH-VR before you sign.

Colorado

• -Order a copy of the marriage licence from the County Clerk and Recorder where it was issued. The Secretary of State authenticates original certified copies from a Colorado county clerk and recorder, and a notary cannot certify a copy of a record you can get from a Colorado clerk and recorder or vital records office, so a notarized copy of your marriage record will not do.
• -The state health department holds marriage indices only for 1900 to 1939 and from 1975, so the county copy is the one to order. It is also the copy the Secretary of State's list of issuers clearly covers.

Florida

• -The Bureau of Vital Statistics issues an abstract certificate for clerk-recorded marriages from 6 June 1927.
• -Earlier marriages: the clerk of court in the county that issued the license, whom you may also contact if you married very recently and need immediate evidence of the marriage.
• -Before sending a clerk's own copy, confirm with the Florida Department of State (Division of Corporations): its accepted-documents list names a Bureau of Vital Statistics certificate "signed by the State Registrar or the Clerk of the County Courts".
• -Commemorative marriage certificates are "not acceptable for official purposes".

Georgia

• -The State Office of Vital Records holds marriage records only from June 1952 to August 1996; for other dates, use the county probate court.
• -Sources differ on the county: the Department of Public Health says where the license was issued; georgia.gov and the Secretary of State say where the marriage took place. If those differ, confirm with both probate courts.
• -The Secretary of State authenticates only Georgia-issued marriage certificates with an original pen-in-hand signature; a probate court copy does not have to be notarized.

Illinois

• -The Illinois Department of Public Health says it keeps no marriage records; certified copies come only from the county clerk in the county where the marriage occurred.
• -The Secretary of State asks for a certified copy from the county clerk, and says the certificate must be signed by the county clerk, local registrar or Illinois State Registrar.
• -That signer list is wider, but every source names the county clerk, so order from the county clerk where the marriage occurred.

The Secretary of State lines come from that office's pages as the Internet Archive saved them on 21 September 2026; its live site turned us away, even in a normal browser.

Maryland

• -The Division of Vital Records issues certified copies for marriages on or after 1 January 2007.
• -Earlier marriages: the circuit court of the Maryland county where the marriage took place, or the Maryland State Archives.
• -The Secretary of State certifies marriage certificates bearing the issuing department's seal and authorized signature.
• -The Secretary of State's page does not say whether a State Archives copy meets that condition; call the Secretary of State before sending one.
• -No age limit is published on the pages we read, but without a current copy the Secretary of State asks you to call first.

Massachusetts

• -A certified copy comes from the city or town clerk where the marriage license was applied for and filed, or from the Registry of Vital Records and Statistics, the state office, which issues certified copies only.
• -The Massachusetts Archives issues state certified copies for 1841 through 1935 and sends anyone wanting a later record to the Registry.
• -The Archives is not authorized to affix apostilles and cannot send vital certificates directly to the Commissions Section for certification.

Michigan

• -The Office of the Great Seal cannot authenticate an original marriage record, only a certified copy from the county clerk or the Michigan state registrar.
• -The state health department's marriage records date back to 1867; some marriages were never filed with the state.
• -Its "Marriage Authenticated/Exemplified" order, labelled "Apostilled", must name the foreign country and then passes through the Great Seal.
• -The Great Seal issues apostilles only for Hague countries, so name the United Arab Emirates and ask the health department or the Great Seal which certificate the order will carry.

Nevada

• -The Secretary of State says to order a certified copy from the County Clerk's Office where the marriage license was issued. Nevada law also lets a county recorder issue one, so ask the licensing county which office holds your record. In Clark County it is the Clerk: the County Recorder does not record marriages.
• -The state health division instead names the county where the marriage occurred; if the two differ, ask the licensing county.
• -None of the Nevada or UAE pages we read says whether the UAE wants Clark County's certified marriage certificate or its certified abstract of marriage; ask the Dubai authority requesting it.

New Jersey

• -Order from the state office: Treasury says: "We are not able to accept Vital Records from the County, only New Jersey State Registrars." Order a certified copy from the Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, not a "certification", which the Health Department says is not valid for legal purposes.
• -Flag the order: The Health Department says that if you mark the application as needing an "Apostille Seal", the copy comes with the original signature of the State Registrar or an Assistant/Deputy State Registrar; the UAE is not a Hague country, so ask the state office how to mark your order. Then check that the State Registrar's name is at the bottom: Treasury's online apostille application asks you to select it.

New York City (the five boroughs)

• -Who issues it: City Clerk (1950 on); DORIS (1866–1949; ask for a Letter of Exemplification); NYS Department of Health if the licence came from a clerk outside the five boroughs.
• -Order the extended certificate: the City Clerk's hand-signed foreign-use copy, not the short domestic one.
• -County Clerk step: Which County Clerk authenticates the City Clerk's signature? New York's Department of State names the New York County Clerk; the City Clerk's pages give two other answers ("nearest", and "in the same county as our office"). Ask the Department of State before you go.

New York State (outside New York City)

• -Who issues it: The NYS Department of Health (DOH), for licences bought outside New York City, or the town or city clerk where you bought the licence.
• -County Clerk step: Needed for a town or city clerk's copy, from the County Clerk of the county where it was issued; not needed for a DOH copy signed by the Director of Vital Statistics or NYS Registrar; a printed "New York State" does not prove DOH issue.
• -Long form: DOH's "LONG FORM" advice for online or phone orders is worded for apostilles; ask DOH or the New York Department of State which to order.

North Carolina

• -NC Vital Records holds marriage certificates from 1962 to the present; they may also be obtained from the Register of Deeds in the county where the marriage took place.
• -Neither needs notarization before authentication, but the signature certifying the copy must be from April 2000 or later, so a copy certified before then will not do.
• -An uncertified NC Vital Records copy (plain white paper, stamped "Uncertified", no raised seal) is for informational purposes only and is not accepted for legal purposes.

Ohio

• -Ohio's Bureau of Vital Statistics does not keep marriage records; certified copies come only from the county where the marriage was recorded, through its probate court.
• -The Secretary of State's request form accepts certified copies of marriage licenses or certificates and points you to the probate court where the license was issued.
• -Neither the request form nor the Secretary of State's current FAQ sets an age limit for the copy.

Pennsylvania

• -Marriage licenses from 1885 to the present are held by the county that issued the license; request the copy from that county's Register of Wills/Clerk of the Orphans' Court. Send the signed and sealed copy itself: photocopies of certified documents may not be certified.
• -For authentication, the marriage certificate must be signed by the Register of Wills or Clerk of the Orphans' Court, not only by the officiant or clergyperson. A copy signed by an assistant or deputy clerk is not accepted.

Texas

• -DSHS cannot issue a certified marriage licence copy; three DSHS pages name the county clerk where the licence was issued and filed.
• -The DSHS apostille page names the "local registrar" of the county of the event instead; if the wedding took place outside the county that issued the licence, check first with the issuing county's clerk that it holds your record.
• -For Texas's universal Apostille, which serves as an authentication for countries outside the Convention such as the UAE, the copy must have been issued within the past five years.
• -Not a substitute: an heirloom wedding anniversary certificate ("may not be used to establish a marriage relationship") or a DSHS verification letter ("not certified").

Virginia

• -A certified Virginia marriage record can come from the Department of Health's Office of Vital Records (records from 1853), a local Virginia DMV, or the Circuit Court in the city or county where the marriage was recorded.
• -A Circuit Court copy must carry a Certification of Official Record/Triple Seal.
• -Whichever office issues it, the copy must not be notarized and must have been issued within the past 12 months; order a fresh copy if yours is older.

Washington

• -Per the Secretary of State, order a certified copy from the issuing county auditor or the Center for Vital Statistics, Tumwater.
• -The Department of Health holds marriage records from 1968; for earlier ones, contact the county auditor where the license was obtained.
• -For a recent marriage, the Department of Health points you to the county auditor's certified copy, but it also says most federal agencies do not allow the county auditor's copy of your marriage license.
• -The Secretary of State says non-Hague documents also need U.S. State Department and/or embassy certification; ask those offices whether they accept the auditor's copy.

If your state is not listed, ask the office that issued your marriage record (a county, city or town office, or your state's vital-records office, depending on the state) which office authenticates it, as the State Department advises. Our state-by-state guide lists the authenticating office for each state we have verified.