How to Fill In the Marriage License Application

Three fields trip up international applicants specifically. The country field is manual entry, not auto-detected from your passport. The zip code field won’t take a non-US postcode. And if you don’t have a Social Security number, you’ll need your county’s affidavit in its place. The application itself is otherwise short, but sorting these out before your appointment saves time at the counter.

Fill it out before you arrive

Most counties let you complete the marriage license application online before your appointment. Do this in advance rather than at the counter: keep the confirmation number it gives you, since you’ll need it when you show up. Morgan County is the one exception found so far, with only a printable form and no online system at all. See Colorado counties compared for which counties offer which.

Enter your country manually

The application has a field for your country, and for international applicants this is a manual entry field, not something that auto-detects or defaults based on your address or ID. Make sure you fill it in correctly rather than assuming it’s inferred from your passport.

Enter 0000 if your postcode is rejected

The online applications expect a US zip code, so a postcode in another format, like a UK one (SW1A 1AA), won’t be accepted. Enter 0000 in the zip code field instead, and put your real address in the other address fields as normal.

If you don’t have a Social Security number

US marriage license applications generally have a field for a Social Security number, which international applicants won’t have. In that situation, you sign a sworn affidavit in its place: a standard, county-provided form, not something you draft yourself. How it’s signed depends on the county. Some need it notarized in advance, some (like El Paso, Arapahoe, and Adams) have a deputy clerk swear you in at the appointment, and Jefferson’s needs no witness at all. See the SSN affidavit, explained for what it actually is and where to get it.

This page is still thin and due for a deeper pass: screenshots walking through each county's actual online application system, since they don't all look the same, and a field-by-field walkthrough of the full form rather than just the few fields international applicants trip on. See where to print documents in Denver if you need to print a paper application (or anything else) without your own printer.

Quick recap

• Complete the application online before your appointment, if your county allows it.
• Save your confirmation number.
• Enter your country manually; don’t assume it’s auto-filled.
• Non-US postcode rejected? Enter 0000 as the zip code.
• No Social Security number? You’ll need your county’s affidavit instead; see the SSN affidavit, explained for the form itself and how your county has it signed.