You asked a series of questions about marriage. We answer them separately below. Our answers to your immigration-related questions are based on guidance from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Most of these materials are on-line at http://www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/services/residency/family.htm.

What are the requirements for obtaining a marriage license in Connecticut?

Application. State law prohibits registrars of vital statistics (usually town clerks) from issuing marriage licenses unless both people intending to marry personally appear (not necessarily together) and apply. Applications must be dated, signed, and sworn by each applicant and specify each applicant's name; age; Social Security number; race; occupation; birthplace; residence; whether single, widowed, or divorced; and whether they are under the supervision of a conservator or guardian (CGS § 46b-25).

Syphilis Tests. Each applicant must provide a signed statement from a licensed health professional (the law specifies the professionals who may do this) documenting that he or she is not infected with syphilis or in a communicable (i.e., infectious) stage of that disease. The statement must indicate that the applicant submitted to a standard laboratory blood test and if the test was positive, had his skin and appropriate mucous membranes examined. A laboratory statement verifying the test and the exact name of the tested person must also accompany it. Neither the medical nor the laboratory statement contains the actual test results. License applications must be made within 35 days of the blood test (CGS §§ 46b-24 and –26).

Rubella Immunity Tests. Female applicants under age 50 who are capable of pregnancy must also submit a statement on a Public Health Department form, signed by one of the law's specified health professionals, indicating that they had a blood test for rubella (German measles) immunity along with a verifying laboratory statement. The law specifies that rubella immunity is not a prerequisite for marriage license issuance, but it mandates that applicants who may become pregnant be informed of their immune status and told of its pregnancy-related consequences (Id.).

Exceptions. A probate judge for the district in which the marriage is to be celebrated can order that the test requirements be waived. He can do this after hearing evidence and concluding that public policy or the physical condition of either applicant requires the marriage to be celebrated without delay. When this occurs, the law permits registrars to issue licenses immediately, provided all other licensing requirements are met (CGS § 46b-27).

Restrictions on license issuance to incompetent people and minors. The law imposes additional requirements when one of the applicants is either under a court-ordered conservatorship (i.e., has been found to have a mental, emotional, or physical condition that prevents them from properly managing their affairs) or under age 18. In the former case, clerks cannot issue licenses without the conservator's written consent. Signatures on such documents must be made in the presence of, and acknowledged by, a judge, court clerk, attorney, or notary (CGS § 46b-29).

Minors cannot get marriage licenses without adult consent. If they are under age 16, the license must have a probate court judge's written notation granting the child permission to marry. All minors must provide documents showing their parents' or guardians' written consent, signed and acknowledged in the same manner as described above. A probate judge's consent, written on the license, is required when no parent or guardian lives in the United States (CGS § 46b-30).

What documentation must be presented to obtain a license in Connecticut?

State law does not specify the documents marriage license applicants must provide, other than the physician's and laboratory certificates and written permissions described above. Depending on the circumstances and the issuing town's practices, clerks may request documents they deem necessary to establish marriage license eligibility. These commonly include passports, driver's licenses, and certified birth certificates.

How do Connecticut marriage license requirements differ from those of other states? Is Connecticut more lenient or stricter? Is it easier to get a license and get married in Connecticut than in New York or Massachusetts?

Marriage license requirements vary widely from state to state, making it difficult to assess where Connecticut falls along the spectrum. It does not appear to rank at either extreme in comparison with all states. We have enclosed a chart from the Legal Information Institute comparing the rules in the 50 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia with respect to (1) recognition of common law marriages, (2) age of consent, (3) pre-marital test requirements, and (4) marriage license restrictions (i.e., waiting periods and license expirations). In most cases, the chart also provides citations to each state's specific laws. The report, with hyperlinks to relevant state statutes is also on-line at http://www4.law.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/htm_hl?DB=topics&STEMMER=en&WORDS=marriag+licens+marri+&COLOUR=Red&STYLE=s&URL=http://wwwsecure.law.cornell.edu/topics/Table_Marriage.htm#muscat_highlighter_first_match.

We have also enclosed documents from the Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth and New York Department of Health describing the process for obtaining marriage licenses in those states. This information is also available on-line at http://www.state.ma.us/sec/cis/cismrg/mrgidx.htm and http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/consumer/vr/married.htm, respectively.

Unlike Connecticut, both Massachusetts and New York have waiting periods (three days in the former and 24 hours from the exact time the license was issued in the latter). Massachusetts, but not New York, requires pre-marital syphilis examinations and AIDS counseling. Like Connecticut, both states have procedures permitting courts to waive some licensing requirements and requiring minors to obtain consent to marry.

How does a non-citizen benefit from marrying a U.S. citizen? Does a non-citizen become a citizen upon marrying? How does the U.S. monitor marriages to determine if they are, in fact, real and not on paper only?

Federal laws treat non-citizens who marry U.S. citizens as “family-based” immigrants. As such, they can obtain visas to immigrate into the United States as soon as the INS approves their visa petitions. Many other people experience long delays after INS grants their petitions because of numerical visa limits set by Congress. (Family-based immigrants must still meet other INS requirements, including proving that they do not have specified medical conditions and being “sponsored” by a citizen or permanent resident who shows he is financially able to support them).

Foreign spouses of U.S. citizens are eligible to apply for conditional permanent resident status. Among other things, this allows them to work and travel freely in and out of the United States. INS grants this status to foreign spouses after determining that they have not entered into a sham marriage (i.e., married in order to avoid the immigration laws). The agency makes this determination after examining the application and supporting documents the couple submits and conducting an in-person interview.

The couple must apply to INS to have the conditional status removed after two years. INS again conducts an investigation, examining documents for evidence of jointly owned property and other indications of legitimate marriage. It may re-interview the couple or waive this if it determines that the supporting documentation is sufficient. If the couple fails to apply to have the conditional status removed, or if INS determines that the marriage is not legitimate, the alien loses his permanent resident status. Unless he petitions and qualifies under some other immigration category, he may then be required to leave the country.

Foreign spouses whose applications for conditional status removal are granted become full permanent residents. They may apply to become naturalized citizens five years after the date INS granted them conditional status, provided they meet durational residency and other eligibility requirements.

How do two non-citizens benefit by marrying in the U.S.?

We are not aware of a specific benefit conferred on both spouses when two non-citizens marry in the United States except for the ability, in some situations, to get a visa immediately for a partner who would otherwise be subject to numerical quotas or other immigration restrictions. For example, the non-citizen spouse of a foreign national who is in the United States under a temporary work visa (the H1-B visa for workers in jobs certified by the U.S. Department of Labor is one such arrangement) is considered the “dependent” of the visa-holder, and entitled to an H-4 visa allowing him to enter or remain in the United States with his spouse.

Spouses of H1-B holders also become eligible for permanent resident status if the H1-B holder becomes eligible. (The above rules apply to non-citizen marriages celebrated in foreign countries as well as to those performed here.)

How can Connecticut's laws governing marriages and the issuance of marriage licenses be changed to prevent people from obtaining licenses with false or incomplete documentation?

Courts interpreting Connecticut's marriage license laws have determined that the state's public policy favors recognizing the validity of marriages, even when some statutory licensing requirements have not been met. In Carabetta v. Carabetta, for example, the Connecticut Supreme Court held that a marriage performed without a license was not automatically invalid (182 Conn. 344 (1980)). The justices concluded that the legislature's failure to enact a law making such unions void, while expressly doing so for marriages between closely related individuals, demonstrated its intent that they not be invalidated. They drew further support for this conclusion from the legislature's periodic enactment of laws validating marriages such as those performed by unauthorized justices of the peace (CGS § 46b-22a) or in towns other than the town where the license was issued (CGS § 46b-24a).

Following this reasoning, the legislature could (1) specify documentation (other than that already required) that license applicants must present to obtain licenses, (2) declare marriages based on false or incomplete license applications to be void, or (3) both. Another possibility might be to make it a crime to give false or materially incomplete information in order to obtain a marriage license.

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