How To Get a Marriage License in New York, USA
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Brandon and I got our marriage license at Newburgh Town Hall on December 22nd 2011. We got it right away on that day and the clerk also gave us a copy of local judges and other marriage officiators.
What are the requirements needed to get a marriage license?
1. Birth Certificate of you and your fiance
2. Social Security Number (How to get a SSN?)
3. Identification. So we brought both of our passports
When can you get married after you got your marriage license?
About 72 hours. On their site, it says, marriage ceremony may not take place within 24 hours from the exact time that the license was issued.
Does a marriage license have an expiration date?
Yes, it’s valid for 60 days.
What last name can you use after you got married?
In my case, I chose to keep my last name so I didn’t have to change anything (my signature, other ID’s like my passport and SSN). But here are the choices I got from this website:
One or both parties to a marriage may elect to change the surname by which he or she wishes to be known after the marriage by entering the new name in the appropriate space provided on the marriage license. The new name must consist of one of the following options:
- the surname of the other spouse
- any former surname of either spouse
- a name combining into a single surname all or a segment of the premarriage surname or any former surname of each spouse
- a combination name separated by a hyphen, provided that each part of such combination surname is the premarriage surname, or any former surname, of each of the spouses.
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Next Step: Get Married! 
Source:
http://www.health.ny.gov/publications/4210/