Marriage License Information

To Obtain a Marriage License

To obtain a marriage license at our Clerk’s office, you will need the following:

  • Both parties need to be present at the same time. See Who May Marry in Virginia for age requirement and prohibited marriages in Virginia. If both parties cannot be present, please contact our office to request an affidavit. 
  • Both parties must have a valid, non-expired government issued photo ID such as a driver’s license, passport, or DMV issued ID card
  • $30 fee payable by cash, check, money order or credit card. All credit card transactions will include a 4% surcharge.

Requirements

  • There are no residency requirements and couples may purchase their marriage license at any Circuit Court in Virginia.
  • The marriage ceremony must be performed in Virginia within 60 days after the license is issued. The day the license is issued counts as Day 1 as there is no waiting period required between application and issuance of the license and a couple may be married immediately after the issuance of a license.
  • No blood test is required.
  • For divorced persons, there is no statutory waiting period before marriage after the divorce is granted. A copy of divorce decree is not required. 

Online Application

Use our ONLINE APPLICATION to complete the information for the application prior to coming to the office. After submitting the information for both parties, you will need to come to our office to take the oath and receive the license. 

Hours

Marriage licenses are issued Monday - Friday, from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. We request that you complete the application prior to coming to the office. We have one public station available to use if you cannot complete the application prior to coming to the office. We ask that you arrive no later than 4:15 pm to have time to complete the process. 


Officiants for the Ceremony

Our office does not provide "Justice of the Peace" services at the Courthouse for immediate unions. There is a list of authorized civil celebrants available here. If you want to get married at the courthouse or do not have an officiant, you can contact one of them directly to perform the ceremony. An officiant who is authorized by a circuit court in Virginia must perform the ceremony and complete the certificate at the bottom of the license. VIRGINIA DOES NOT RECOGNIZE ONLINE ORDINATIONS. 

If you have an individual that you want to perform the ceremony and they are not currently authorized by a Virginia circuit court to perform ceremonies, the individual will need to contact a circuit court within their judicial circuit to petition to become a one-time civil celebrant. If the individual does not live in Virginia, please contact our Civil Division at 540-564-3113 or 540-564-3114 to see if they could be authorized under § 20-23. AGAIN, VIRGINIA DOES NOT RECOGNIZE ONLINE ORDINATIONS.

How to Request a Certified Copy Online

  • Go to www.rockinghamcountyva.gov/sra. 
    • Accept the disclaimer. Click on Document Search - Web. Scroll to the bottom of the page to click on Marriage Search and Certified Copy Request
    • Enter one of the names as it was on the application in the Either Party Name field then click Search.
    • If there is a date under Marriage Date, you can request a copy by clicking on the shopping cart + button that appears on the far right when the cursor is on the record or you can view the record and click on the +Purchase button on the right side of the screen. If there is not a marriage date shown or a shopping cart icon, the license has not been returned yet. Check again later.
    • The purchase window will appear, enter the # of copies you need and click on Proceed to Checkout. 
    • Enter Customer Information and Shipping Information and click on Place your Order to proceed to the payment screen. Enter your credit card information to complete the process. 
    • Requests received before 4:00 PM will be processed and mailed on the same day. Requests received after 4:00 PM, on weekends or holidays will be processed and mailed the next business day.