January 11, 13

NEWS / Pocket-sized marriage certificate for Chicago-area couples now available

Married couples and same-sex couples with a civil union living in Cook County, which includes the metropolis of Chicago, will now be able to obtain a wallet-sized marriage certificate, county clerk David Orr announced Thursday. Married couples with different surnames will also encounter no difficulty in getting such a certificate themselves.

Orr took note of the fact that smaller certificates were becoming increasingly popular because they can fit into a wallet just like a driver’s license, allowing for them to carried around just about anywhere, the Associated Press reports.

The procedure to obtain a mini-certificate is identical to getting a standard-sized marriage certificate. Married and civilly-united couples can order one at a Cook County Bureau of Vital Records office, and can send in their applications via the mail. The fee is the same as for regular certificates - $15.

The certificates include the couple’s names, license number, as well as the clerk’s signature and the county seal.

It appears that vital records are keeping pace with increasingly diminutive electronic gadgets, and more and more counties throughout the United States are issuing pocket-sized birth and marriage certificates.

Tags: marriage certificate, marriage, birth and marriage certificates, vital records,