Hawaii Marriage License Information
DISCLAIMER NOTICE
All information herein is provided to the best of our knowledge and is subject to change without notice. We do not warranty the correctness of the following information. Please confirm all information directly with the State of Hawaii Marriage License Office. See link provided below.
Marriage licenses can only be issued by the State of Hawaii Health Dept. and are valid for 30 days. No one can do this for you, and our help is not required. You must appear in person at the Health Dept. to apply for your license.When you receive your license, you must bring it to the ceremony or you will not be married!
Licenses are issued Monday to Friday before 3:30 pm at the marriage license office except on US and Hawaii state holidays, and "furlough" closure days (see link below). Check the official website to confirm all open dates.
WEEKENDS: Marriage licenses can be issued on Saturdays and Sundays and possibly other closure dates by appointment only with one of their designated administrators. Please check with the marriage license office to confirm the availability of this service and their agents.
FURLOUGH CLOSURE DAYS: The Health Dept. and marriage license office will be closed e days a month on furlough closure days. Make sure you plan to get your license on a day when it is opened!
What You Need To Do
1). Download the Marriage License Application from the Hawaii State Dept. of Health website. FYI: There is a space for the name of your officiate on the form but, this is not a requirement, they will still issue you a license. Note: We will email you the name of your officiate or minister when you make your last payment.
2). When you arrive in Hawaii, both of you must go the the State of Hawaii, Department of Health building on Oahu with proper I.D. as specified on the official website.
3). Your license will be issued while you wait. FYI: Our clients tell us that if you have your application filled out, it's takes only 15-20 minutes. Also, that it is less busy in the afternoons vs. the early morning. Sometimes in the morning the line is long and it can take over an hour.
4). BRING YOUR OFFICIAL MARRIAGE LICENSE TO THE CEREMONY! Our "decorative wedding certificate" is not a marriage license!
5). After the ceremony, the officiate/minister will have you sign the license in his/her presence (do not sign before) and will affix his/her signature and license number to the marriage license. Don't worry about having a witness we provide that.
6). The officiate will take the license from your possession as required by law and will submit your marriage license with the marriage license office for processing usually within the next few days. FYI: Marriage license copies can only be ordered through the Health Dept. and photocopies are not allowed (the officiate can lose his license) so please do not ask.
7). It can take up to 120 days to receive your official marriage license from the State of Hawaii. The marriage office offers an expedited service (see below).
Expedited Marriage License Processing
Marriage license processing can take up to 120 days before you receive your license copy in the mail (we actually suspect that it's much sooner than people expect. This is a statutory requirement.
When you apply for your marriage license they will also give you an additional form with a green envelope, which will allow you to "expedite" your license processing and reduce the processing time to as little as 30 days.
Note: Furlough days and recent staff cutbacks may make this time longer or even unavailable. Please check with the marriage office website (see link above) or directly.
|
