The SSN Affidavit for Marriage License Applicants

Colorado marriage license applications ask for a Social Security number, which trips up most international applicants for the obvious reason: they don’t have one. This isn’t a dead end; it just means one extra form.

What it is, exactly

Colorado’s marriage license statute (C.R.S. 14-14-113) requires a Social Security number on the application, but it allows a substitute. If an applicant doesn’t have one, they sign an affidavit provided by the county clerk’s office instead. The name on that form varies by county: El Paso and Morgan both call theirs the “Affidavit Concerning Social Security Number”; Jefferson’s version is titled “Social Security Number Affidavit for Marriage License Application”; Adams’s is an “Affidavit and Oath” for the marriage license application; Arapahoe’s is the “Affidavit to Accompany Application for Marriage License.” Different wording, same statute behind it, so if your county’s forms page doesn’t turn up an exact phrase match, search for “social security” plus “affidavit” rather than assuming the option isn’t there. See Colorado counties compared for the growing list of counties with a confirmed form name and notarization path.

The important thing this clears up: you don’t draft this yourself. It’s a standard, fill-in-the-blank form the county already has, not something you or a lawyer need to write from scratch. Most counties post it as a downloadable PDF in a “forms” section of their clerk and recorder site, so you can look it up in advance for your specific county.

Three ways to handle the notarization

Which options you have depends on your county:

1. Sign and notarize it in advance, then bring the completed, notarized form to your appointment. See where to find a notary, or every UPS Store in Colorado with a notary, mapped for a specific list, and where to print documents in Denver if you need to print the blank form first.
2. Sign it in front of the deputy county clerk at your appointment. This is common, not a rare exception: plenty of counties let the clerk handle it on the spot, which skips the need to find an outside notary entirely. Broomfield is a confirmed example — its form’s own signature block lets a County Clerk and Recorder Deputy sign it if you appear in person, falling back to an outside notary only if you don’t; see our Broomfield breakdown for the full picture. See how to fill in the license application for more on this.
3. Sign it virtually during a video appointment, if your county runs one. Boulder County confirmed does this: their version (the “Sworn Statement Affidavit”) gets signed on the same call as the rest of the application. See our Boulder County breakdown for the full process. Denver also offers a video appointment option, but its SSN affidavit still needs to be notarized in advance regardless of appointment type; see the Denver breakdown for the distinction.
4. Sign it under oath, with no notarization needed at all. Jefferson County’s version has no notary block or seal on it whatsoever; it’s a statement signed under oath per Colorado statute, not a notarized document, which makes the county’s lack of an on-site notary a non-issue for this specific form. See our Jefferson County breakdown for the full picture.

We've directly confirmed the form name and notarization path for Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, El Paso, Elbert, Jefferson, Larimer, Morgan, and Weld Counties, not all 64, and the naming and process differences show how much even basic details vary county to county. See Colorado counties compared for the full, growing list, and check your own county clerk's site for their version of this form before you assume any option is available.

The takeaway

If you don’t have a Social Security number, look up your specific county clerk’s version of this affidavit ahead of time; the name on it will likely differ from the examples above. Get it notarized before your appointment, confirm your county’s deputy clerk can notarize it on the spot, or check whether your county (like Boulder) handles it virtually, so this doesn’t become a surprise extra step at the counter.