City Clerk’s Office
News Release
(Friday, May 22, 2020) – In response to the closure of City Hall due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rochester City Clerk’s Office today announced that couples seeking to obtain marriage licenses will now be able to do so through an online application process.
Interested couples can visit https://www.cityofrochester.gov/marriagelicense/ to complete the online application form and upload all required supporting documentation. Once all of the necessary information has been submitted, all documents will be reviewed by the Clerk’s Licensing Office. Upon approval, applicants will receive a link to pay the required license fee online using a valid credit or debit card.
In addition, staff from the City Clerk’s Licensing Office will also host Zoom meetings with both parties to review the entire application for completeness.
As an additional service, the Clerk’s Office is also offering virtual civil wedding ceremonies online via Zoom. Online civil wedding ceremonies will be performed by the City Clerk or Deputy City Clerk and can be requested at https://www.cityofrochester.gov/marriageceremonies/. Couples must submit the required documentation and include two preferred dates/times for their ceremony. Once the request has been reviewed and approved, the wedding couple will receive their confirmed date/time, a Zoom meeting invite for their wedding ceremony and a link to pay for the ceremony online with a credit or debit card.
Wedding ceremonies can only be performed for couples who are both 18 years of age or older and who are physically located within the city limits of Rochester at the time of the actual ceremony. Witnesses for the ceremony must also be 18 years of age or older, and must also be physically located within the city limits at the time the ceremony takes place.
In addition to the above services, plans are already underway to add online applications for domestic partnerships in the near future.
The City Clerk’s Office also announced that marriage licenses that expired during the COVID-19 crisis will be honored for an extended period. Licenses that were issued prior to the start of the pandemic shut-down and were set to expire after March 16, 2020 can be extended for an additional 60 days from the original date of issue. You may request a reissuance of a marriage license at https://www.cityofrochester.gov/marriagelicense/.
Marriage licenses that are obtained through the online application process will not be eligible for any type of extension beyond the designated expiration date.
For more information regarding the online marriage license application process or virtual civil wedding ceremonies, contact the City Clerk’s Licensing Staff at 585-428-6617.
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Media Contact: For more information, contact City Clerk Hazel Washington at (585) 428-7421.