How to request a marriage certificate in Puerto Rico

It is the certified copy of the marriage record filed with Puerto Rico’s Demographic Registry. It is used for nearly any procedure where you must prove the marriage: adding a spouse to a health plan, claiming benefits, inheritance matters, surname changes on official documents, and immigration processes. The Registry is the custodian of these records and the only entity that issues certified copies: the certificate the church gave you, or the one you signed on the wedding day, does not replace the Registry’s.

The law limits who may request one to the “interested party”. For a marriage, the Registry states the applicant must be one of the spouses or an interested party as defined in Act No. 24 of April 22, 1931. To request the certificate of another person over 18, the Registry asks for an authorization letter from that person along with their valid ID. An attorney hired for the filing presents an authorization letter, current identification of whoever hired them, and also completes Form RD-37.

• Being one of the spouses or an interested party: the Demographic Registry states that eligibility is determined under the interested-party definition in Act No. 24 of April 22, 1931.Verified against the official source
• If you are requesting the certificate of another person over 18, an authorization letter from them together with their valid identification.Verified against the official source
• Completing the request in full with the details of the marriage and of the applicant.Verified against the official source
• The marriage details as they were registered: both spouses’ full names, the date, and the municipality where it took place.
• A valid mailing address if you want it sent to you, since the online channels dispatch by post.

• Current photo identification issued by the government of your state or country of residence. The Registry names a driver license, a passport or a state ID as the most widely accepted; foreign nationals must present a current passport, visa or residence card.
• If you apply by mail, Form RD-226, “Solicitud por Correo de Certificación de Matrimonio en Puerto Rico”, revision date February 2020, available in Spanish and English. The Registry warns that any other format or template will NOT be accepted.
• If you apply by mail, a photocopy of both sides of your current ID showing name, photo, signature, issue date and expiration date. Through that channel only a passport, a U.S. state or territory driver license, or a state or territory ID card are accepted.
• If a hired attorney handles the filing, Form RD-37 in addition to the authorization letter and current identification of whoever hired them.

1. 1

   Step 1: Confirm you are an interested party

   If you are one of the spouses, you are covered. If you are requesting the certificate of someone else’s marriage, the Registry will want an authorization letter from that person with their valid ID, or the evidence that establishes you as an interested party under the law. Sorting this out before you go or pay is what prevents a wasted trip.

2. 2

   Step 2: Gather the marriage details as they were registered

   You need both spouses’ full names as they appear in the record, the date, and the municipality where the marriage took place. If either of you changed a surname afterwards, note the original name too: the search runs against what the record said when it was filed, not against the name used today.

3. 3

   Step 3: Choose the channel based on how fast you need it

   The four routes the Registry publishes are: a local office (the San Juan one is at Centro Gubernamental Minillas, Torre Norte, first level, Santurce), PR.gov, VitalChek — online or by calling toll-free (800) 255-2414, which has a bilingual call center and offers express service — and postal mail. If you are in a hurry, VitalChek express is fastest; postal mail is by far the slowest.

4. 4

   Step 4: Pay with the method your channel accepts

   Online and through VitalChek most credit cards are accepted, and the Registry expressly asks that you send neither cash nor personal checks. By postal mail only money orders payable to the Secretary of the Treasury of Puerto Rico are accepted, plus $2.00 for service. If you go in person, payment is in internal revenue stamps.

5. 5

   Step 5: Request all the copies you will need at once

   Since every copy costs the same, there is no penalty for asking for several in one request, and there is one for coming up short: repeating the process means paying shipping again and waiting the full time again. If the certificate is for a health plan, a claim and an immigration process all at once, count how many entities will keep a copy.

6. 6

   Step 6: Check the certificate as soon as it arrives

   Check both spouses’ names, the date and the municipality before using it. An error you did not notice turns into a rejection at the counter of your next procedure, and correcting a record is a separate process before the Demographic Registry.

At a Demographic Registry local office, online through PR.gov or VitalChek, or by postal mail using Form RD-226. The Registry maintains a directory of its local offices across the Island, and the San Juan one is at Centro Gubernamental Minillas, Torre Norte, first level, Santurce.

• Assuming the first copy costs $5.00 because that is how the birth certificate works: for a marriage certificate every copy costs $10.00.
• Being 60 or older and living outside Puerto Rico, and expecting the same discount residents get: for a marriage certificate there is no non-resident discount.
• Presenting the church certificate or the paper signed on the wedding day instead of the Demographic Registry’s certified copy.
• Searching under the surname used today rather than the one on the record when it was filed.
• Asking the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry for a marriage held outside Puerto Rico, which it does not hold.
• Mailing a personal check or a request on your own template: through that channel only money orders and only Form RD-226 as revised in February 2020 are accepted.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Salud de Puerto Rico

  Salud

  www.salud.pr.gov

• Birth certificate — same mail procedure and same channels

  Departamento de Salud

  www.salud.pr.gov

• Demographic Registry — online services

  Departamento de Salud

  www.salud.pr.gov