In short
Article 384 sets four form requirements for marrying: submitting to the medical exams the law demands, signing a sworn declaration attesting capacity to marry — contained in the marriage certificate the Registro Demográfico provides — obtaining the marriage licence, and formalising the contract before an authorised person with the law’s forms and solemnities. Article 385 says which exams: each party is obliged to take medical exams to determine the existence of syphilis, gonorrhoea, chlamydia, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and any other sexually transmitted disease the Secretary of Health determines. Article 386 is the one with the most consequences and the one almost nobody knows: each party is obliged to inform the other of the result, and the deliberate and conscious concealment of information compromising the other party’s physical and emotional integrity constitutes a defect of consent. Article 387 asks the physician, before issuing the certificate, to be convinced the applicant is the same person who will marry. And Article 388 closes with two rules worth reading together: the medical certificate must be filed at the Registro Demográfico within ten days of its issuance in order to obtain the marriage licence, and it is archived there without being usable to deny the marriage licence or to impede its celebration. That is, the result closes the door on nobody. The only thing the Code punishes is hiding it from the person you are about to marry.
What is it?
They are Articles 384 to 388 of the Civil Code of 2020: the medical exams required before marrying, what happens to the result, and what happens if it is hidden.
Who can do it?
Anyone about to marry in Puerto Rico.
Requirements
- Submitting to the medical exams the law demands is one of marriage’s four form requirements.Verified against the official source
- The exams determine the existence of syphilis, gonorrhoea, chlamydia and the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).Verified against the official source
- Also any other sexually transmitted disease the Secretary of Health determines.Verified against the official source
- Each party is obliged to inform the other of the exams’ result.Verified against the official source
- Deliberate and conscious concealment of information compromising the other’s physical and emotional integrity is a defect of consent.Verified against the official source
- The medical certificate must be filed at the Registro Demográfico within ten days of its issuance.Verified against the official source
- The certificate is archived and may not be used to deny the marriage licence or impede its celebration.Verified against the official source
Documents you need
Cost
Step by step
Step 1: Take the exams
Article 385: syphilis, gonorrhoea, chlamydia, HIV and any other STI the Secretary of Health determines.
Step 2: Bring identification
Article 387: the physician must be convinced you are the same person who will marry.
Step 3: Tell your partner the result
Article 386: each party is obliged to inform the other of the exams’ result.
Step 4: Because hiding it has a consequence
The same article: deliberate and conscious concealment constitutes a defect of consent.
Step 5: Count the ten days
Article 388: the certificate is filed at the Registro Demográfico within ten days of issuance.
Step 6: The result does not block the wedding
The same article: it may not be used to deny the licence or impede the celebration.
Step 7: Sign the sworn declaration
Article 384: it attests capacity to marry and sits in the Registro Demográfico’s certificate.
Where to do it
The Code publishes no cost here: it does not say what the exams cost, who pays, where they are taken, or what the marriage licence costs. That is why cost stays unverified. Nor does it say how long the licence lasts once obtained. The only term it sets is Article 388’s ten days for filing the medical certificate, which is a filing deadline and not a processing time. It does not say which other sexually transmitted diseases the Secretary of Health has determined, because that is set by them and not by the Code. It does not define what information compromises the other party’s physical and emotional integrity. And it does not say what follows procedurally when concealment is treated as a defect of consent: annulment of marriage has its own articles, not read for this batch. The sworn declaration’s contents are in Article 389 and were not read here either.
How long it takes
What to do if something goes wrong
The most important part of these five articles is two rules that explain each other and are worth knowing before taking the exam, not after. The first is Article 388: the medical certificate is archived at the Registro Demográfico and may not be used to deny the marriage licence or to impede its celebration. A positive result, of anything Article 385 lists, closes the door on nobody. No one may be left unable to marry because of it. The second is Article 386, and it runs in exactly the opposite direction: each party is obliged to inform the other of the result, and the deliberate and conscious concealment of information compromising their physical and emotional integrity constitutes a defect of consent. Read them together and the design becomes clear: the State does not stop you marrying, but requires the other person to decide knowing. The article asks that the concealment be deliberate and conscious, and does not define what information compromises that integrity; this guide does not define it on the Code’s behalf, nor say what follows, because annulment of marriage sits in other articles not read here. Practically, two details that waste trips. One: the certificate has a short life for these purposes, because Article 388 gives ten days from its issuance to file it at the Registro Demográfico. Let it sit and you start over. Two: Article 387 requires the physician to be convinced that whoever is examined is whoever marries, so identification is not optional. And a warning about what this guide cannot give you: the Code publishes no costs for exams or licence, and does not say where the tests are taken, so no figure appears here. MiPRFácil does not represent anyone in court and gives no legal advice.
Common mistakes
- Fearing a positive result blocks the wedding: Article 388 forbids using the certificate for that.
- Keeping the result quiet: Article 386 makes deliberate concealment a defect of consent.
- Letting the medical certificate sit: there are ten days from issuance to file it.
- Going to the exam without identification: the physician must be convinced you are the one marrying.
- Believing the list of tests is closed: the Secretary of Health may determine other STIs.
- Looking in the Code for the cost of the exams or the licence: it publishes neither.
- Assuming the ten-day term is the processing time: it is a deadline for filing the certificate.
- Expecting these articles to say what follows concealment: annulment is in others.
Frequently asked questions
Does a positive result stop me marrying?
No. Article 388 says the medical certificate may not be used to deny the licence or impede the celebration.
Must I show the result to my partner?
Yes. Article 386 obliges each party to inform the other of the exams’ result.
What if it was hidden from me?
The same article says deliberate and conscious concealment of information compromising the other’s physical and emotional integrity is a defect of consent.
How long is the medical certificate good for?
Article 388 gives ten days from issuance to file it at the Registro Demográfico and obtain the licence.
Official sources
These are the government pages this guide is based on.
- Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico
Poder Judicial
bvirtualogp.pr.gov
Last verified
September 12, 2026
MiPRFácil is an independent informational website and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the Government of Puerto Rico or any government agency.
MiPRFácil does not submit applications on your behalf.
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