How to Get Married in Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico, with its lush white sandy beaches and warm sun, provides a unique spot for couples to get married. Find out what is required for your wedding in Puerto Rico.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. If you want to get married in Puerto Rico, there is nothing legal or technical stopping you, but you'll need to plan ahead and get a few documents together, fill in a few forms and pay a few fees.
   
   Puerto Rico has two types of marriage ceremonies, civil and religious. The civil ceremony is the only one that has any legal standing. The civil ceremony requires that the couple have positive identification, such as a passport or birth certificate, a blood test, and wait three days from the filing of the paperwork to the ceremony itself.

2. Get your marriage certificate as soon as possible. It can be acquired in advance from the Puerto Rico Department of Health. Visit the Demographic Registry to obtain the license, and purchase two license stamps (total stamp cost is US $30). You can expect to receive your marriage license within 10 days of your wedding date.

3. Remember: You'll need certain identification for a Puerto Rico Marriage License--Valid photo identification or passports and proof of divorce or a death certificate (if applicable).

4. Make sure you get your blood tests from a federally certified laboratory (in the U.S. or Puerto Rico) within 10 days of the wedding date. A doctor will need to sign and certify marriage certificate and blood tests in Puerto Rico.

5. Those are the technical basics. After you get all of the above steps out of the way, you can either have a fancy formal wedding in a church or you can just have a civil ceremony performed.

[doitrightnow]

on 11/21/2009 The 10-day window between your blood test and the wedding is required, but that doesn't mean they'll have the results done on time. The bureaucrats at the lab actually suggested we MOVE OUR WEDDING DATE TO SUIT THEIR LACK OF PUNCTUALITY. We were married in Puerto Rico and it was a nightmare (and we're from here, so Spanish wasn't an issue). The bureaucracy at all agencies in PR is capricious and they are incredibly unhelpful to outsiders. For example, our forms said one thing in English and another in Spanish. So please, please, please ... take our advice and honeymoon on our beautiful island, but forget the wedding. Or just do a recommittal.