NEWS / Bridgeport, CT, imposes wait period for marriage license due to staffing issues

Bridgeport, the most populous city in Connecticut, has decided to impose a mandatory 48-hour waiting period for couples applying to receive their marriage license. The policy change comes as a result of a spike in marriage applications in the city, leading to the numerically limited city staff to work under pressure and make an excessive number of errors in the filings.

"Everyone makes mistakes, right?” Bridgeport Health Director Dr. Elizabeth Rivera-Rodriguez was quoted by ctpost as stating. She noted that errors on marriage certificate filings were becoming more prevalent as employees were getting overwhelmed with a swarm of new marriage applications, particularly involving out-of-state individuals.

"You're rushing ... because there is somebody else in line," she said. "It got to be too much for my staff."

Chief Administrative Officer Thomas Gaudett, serving directly under Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim, concurred with this assessment of the situation, noting that correcting errors on records involved more work than getting it right the first time.

In response to the spike in marriage applications, Gaudett also issued a memorandum warning city employees who are also justices of peace or religious officials that they could not officiate weddings while on the clock. On April 15, the City of Bridgeport also started requiring non-residents to schedule marriage appointments online rather than just showing up as walk ins.

Bridgeport is not the only city reporting a notable spike in marriage license applications in Connecticut. New Haven Independent reported an influx of out-of-state non-citizens trying to get married in the city.

According to Connecticut law and regulations, couples must first obtain a marriage license before appearing before an officiator entitled by state law to perform a marriage ceremony. Among individuals entitled to do so are judges, family support magistrates, referees, justices of the peace, and members of the clergy. The officiator then submits the license to the registrar of vital records of the town in which the marriage took place. Couples are then able to obtain a marriage certificate to confirm their marriage.