Everything you need to know about Marriage Licenses in the Chicago area
Couples getting married in Kane County must obtain a marriage license from the Kane County Clerk’s office. If issued by the Cook County Clerk’s office, your marriage license is only valid within Cook County. When you apply for your marriage license at the Cook County Clerk’s office, you need to present valid government-issued photo I.D. such as a driver’s license or a passport.
Office hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with extended hours for marriage license services on Wednesday from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. You can learn more about applying for a marriage license by visiting the Cook County Clerk’s office website at Chicago Marriage License. For now, same-sex couples in Illinois no longer have to wait until June 1, 2014 to marry in the state, nor do they have to travel to Iowa, Minnesota, or one of the other states that recognizes same-sex marriage They can apply for a marriage license in Cook County immediately. The Cook County Clerk began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples on February 21, 2014, immediately after the ruling.
Although this may not seem like a lot, recent data from the clerk’s office showed couples who completed the marriage license application online saved a total of 11,724 minutes. A marriage license can be obtained the same day and is valid for 60 days (beginning the day after it is issued, and ONLY in that particular county). Photo: Tony Aranda and David Beauchamp, of Edgewater, became the 10,000th same-sex couple to apply for a marriage license at the Cook County Clerk’s Vital Records Office.
Edgewater residents surprised by fanfare when they apply for marriage license at Cook County Clerk’s office on Wednesday. Cook County began issuing same-sex marriage licenses in February 2014 when a federal judge in Chicago ruled it did not have to wait until the law making same-sex marriage legal statewide took effect on June 1, 2014. Orr expects this week to hit a milestone of 10,000 marriage licenses for same-sex couples since February 2014, when Cook County first started issuing same-sex marriage licenses.
He and his partner were the 9,191st same-sex couple to be issued a marriage license in Cook County when they married in May. Whether you’re from the state or hosting a destination wedding here, you’ll want to know that there is a three-day waiting period between applying and receiving your marriage license, plus the license is valid for 60 days once it’s been issued. Required Wait Time: There is a waiting period of 3 business days before license is valid and the actual marriage can occur.
Identification Needed: A legal and valid government issued ID is required to receive a marriage license. In terms of legally marrying in Alabama, it’s pretty simple—there’s no waiting period, but marriage licenses are only valid for 30 days. If you’re up for about a 4-hour drive, you could head to Ohio Clerk’s there issue marriage licenses immediately and in most county courthouses, there’s a minister or two in the hallway outside the clerk’s office who can perform the ceremony. For a comprehensive guide on how to get your marriage license, visit www.usmarriagelaws.com for more info.
(b) The solemnization of the marriage is not invalidated by the fact that the person solemnizing the marriage was not legally qualified to solemnize it, if either party to the marriage believed him or her to be so qualified or by the fact that the marriage was inadvertently solemnized in a county in Illinois other than the county where the license was issued. The online marriage license application process is just the latest of a number of time- and money-saving elements Orr’s office has implemented in recent years, including Online Voter Registration; the online Running for Office Starter Kit; Assisting with the Cook County Tax Portal; Making Clerk and Treasurer tax data available to the public online; Using GIS technology to create the online TIF Viewer and more. On average, the application has shaved roughly 6 minutes off each Cook County Clerk’s office marriage license visit – turning in many cases a 10-minute trip into a four-minute visit.
Cook County Clerk David Orr has announced a new online feature allowing soon-to-be newlyweds the opportunity to fill out most of their marriage application license information online, saving the couple and taxpayers time and money. Last year, the county clerk’s office issued 35,802 marriage licenses, compared with 36,198 in 2016; 35,253 in 2015; 36,738 in 2014; 31,016 in 2013; and 32,292 in 2012, according to the clerk’s office. Typically, couples have to wait one business day after their license is issued to get married in Cook County.
