How to Get Married in Mexico as a US Citizen

To get married in Mexico as a US citizen, you complete a civil ceremony at a Mexican Civil Registry Office (Registro Civil) with apostilled and translated US documents, a prenuptial medical exam performed in Mexico, and the witnesses your state requires. Religious and symbolic beach ceremonies carry no legal weight on their own. Plan on at least a few months of lead time so document authentication and translation don’t derail the wedding date.

Who Qualifies

Both people must be at least 18. Mexico has banned child marriage across all 32 federal entities, so the older exceptions permitting minors to marry with parental consent no longer apply.¹ Both must be legally single: never married, divorced, or widowed. If either was previously married, you’ll need proof of how that marriage ended.

US citizens face no residency requirement. You can arrive as a tourist and marry during your stay. But if either party is divorced, some Mexican states impose a one-year waiting period from the date the divorce was finalized before a remarriage is allowed. The US Embassy notes this rule in Tamaulipas and Sonora, and other states may have similar restrictions.² If a prior divorce is in the picture, contact the Civil Registry in the state where you plan to marry well ahead of time.

Documents to Bring

Every state’s Civil Registry sets its own exact requirements, so confirm your list with the office running the ceremony.³ The following are required just about everywhere:

A valid US passport, which proves identity and citizenship. You also need a tourist permit (Forma Migratoria Múltiple, or FMM), available electronically through Mexico’s National Immigration Institute or at the port of entry.⁴
A birth certificate, translated into Spanish by a certified translator and apostilled by the US state that issued it.
A divorce decree or death certificate, if previously married. These also require Spanish translation and an apostille.²
The marriage application form, obtained in person at the local Civil Registry.⁵

Getting an Apostille

An apostille is a certificate attached to a document confirming it is genuine for use in another country. Mexico has been a party to the Hague Apostille Convention since 1995, so apostilled US documents are accepted without further legalization.⁶ Request the apostille from the Secretary of State of the state that issued the document. If your birth certificate was issued in Texas, you go to the Texas Secretary of State. Processing times run from a few days to several weeks depending on the state, and fees vary. Delays here are one of the most common reasons wedding timelines slip, so start early.

Translations

All English-language documents must be translated into Spanish. Some Civil Registry offices require a certified Mexican translator known as a perito traductor; others accept certified US translations. Confirm what your Civil Registry accepts before paying anyone. Certified legal translations typically run $20 to $50 per page, with rush jobs higher.

The Prenuptial Medical Exam

Mexico requires a prenuptial medical exam for both parties, and the exams must be performed in Mexico. Results from US doctors are not accepted.² The exam typically includes blood screening for HIV and syphilis (VDRL) and blood typing. Some states also require a chest X-ray.⁵

Results are usually valid only for a short window, typically no more than 15 days before the ceremony.² You can’t take care of this months ahead. Arrive with enough lead time to schedule the exam, get results (often available within 24 hours), and still hit your ceremony date. Budget roughly $200 to $300 USD per person, though costs vary by clinic and location.

Choosing a Property Regime

Most US couples don’t see this step coming. When you marry in Mexico, you declare a property regime on the marriage application. The two options are:

Sociedad conyugal (joint property): assets acquired during the marriage become shared. This requires signing a marital property agreement called capitulaciones matrimoniales before the wedding, spelling out how property is managed and divided.
Separación de bienes (separate property): each spouse keeps ownership and control of their own assets. No formal agreement is needed, since the law treats each person as owning what belongs to them individually.

You mark the choice on the marriage application at the Civil Registry.⁵ Joint-property contracts are flexible and can cover a wide range of arrangements, but they must be executed before the ceremony. In some states, the default when nothing is specified is separate property. The regime can be changed later before a family law judge or a notary public, but getting it right the first time is far simpler. If either of you owns significant assets or property in Mexico, a Mexican family law attorney is worth the fee.

The Civil Ceremony

The ceremony takes place at the Civil Registry Office and is conducted by a civil official. This is the only form of marriage that carries legal weight in Mexico.² Religious or symbolic ceremonies are fine on their own terms but do not replace the civil one.

Ceremonies are conducted in Spanish. English translation is often available on request, or you can bring your own interpreter. Book the appointment in advance. For ceremonies inside the Civil Registry, a few days’ notice is common. If you want the official to travel to a hotel, beach, or private venue, some states require at least 14 days’ notice and charge a higher fee.²

Witnesses

Every civil marriage in Mexico requires witnesses who are at least 18 and carry valid photo ID. The number varies by state. Quintana Roo, home to Cancún, Playa del Carmen, and Cozumel, requires four witnesses.³ Others require only two.² Witnesses do not need to be Mexican citizens; US citizens with valid passports can serve. Confirm the count with your Civil Registry.

Fees

Marriage fees vary by state and depend on whether the ceremony happens at the office or off-site. Expect a few hundred to around 1,300 Mexican pesos as a rough guide, with off-site ceremonies costing more.⁵ Ask the local Civil Registry for its current schedule.

Your Marriage Certificate and Its Apostille

After the ceremony, the Civil Registry issues your official marriage certificate, the Acta de Matrimonio.² This is your legal proof of marriage under Mexican law and the foundation for everything that follows in the US.

Request multiple certified copies at the time of the ceremony. You’ll need them for US agencies, and ordering extras on the spot is far easier than requesting them from abroad later.

To use the marriage certificate outside Mexico, you need a Mexican apostille. Because the Acta de Matrimonio is a state-level document, the apostille is issued by the state government office (typically the Secretaría de Gobierno) in the state where you married.⁶ Handling this while still in Mexico is much simpler than doing it remotely from the US. The apostilled certificate then needs a certified English translation for use with US agencies.

Making the Marriage Valid in the United States

The US recognizes marriages that are legally valid in the country where they took place. There is no federal registry for foreign marriages and no separate US registration process.⁷ If your Mexican civil marriage followed Mexican law and doesn’t violate US public policy (such as polygamy), it counts as a valid marriage for all purposes, including immigration, taxes, and benefits.

What makes recognition smooth in practice is having your apostilled, translated Acta de Matrimonio in hand. Without it, expect delays or pushback from government agencies, insurance companies, and financial institutions. It is your single most important document after the wedding.²

What Marriage Alone Does Not Do

Marrying a Mexican citizen does not automatically give your spouse the right to live or work in the United States. That requires a separate petition through USCIS on Form I-130, along with evidence the marriage is genuine and, for a spouse in Mexico, an immigrant visa interview handled through the US Consulate General in Ciudad Juárez.⁸⁹ The overall timeline from filing to visa issuance often runs a year or more.

On taxes, once married you may elect to treat a nonresident-alien spouse as a US resident and file jointly, which requires an ITIN for a spouse without a Social Security number and subjects their worldwide income to US taxation.¹⁰¹¹ Weigh both sides before making the election.

If you change your name, the apostilled and translated Acta de Matrimonio is the key document for updating your Social Security card and US passport. The State Department accepts a foreign marriage certificate as documentation for a name change, and recognizes name changes based on the law of the country where the marriage took place.¹² Update Social Security first, since other agencies verify against that record.¹³ Acceptable marriage-based changes include adding your spouse’s last name, replacing yours with theirs, or moving your current last name into a middle-name position; anything more creative requires a court order.

1
OHCHR. Experts of the Committee on the Rights of the Child Praise Mexico’s Progress Decreasing
2
U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Mexico. Marriage
3
Consulmex SRE. Foreign Nationals Wishing to Get Married in Mexico
4
Instituto Nacional de Migración. Multiple Immigration Form (FMM)
5
sre.gob.mx. Marriage in Mexico
6
Consulado de México. Apostille
7
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Volume 12 – Citizenship and Naturalization Part G – Spouses of U.S. Citizens Chapter 2 – Marriage and Marital Union for Naturalization
8
USCIS. Instructions for Form I-130, Petition for Alien Relative
9
U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Mexico. The Interview – Family-Based Immigration
10
Internal Revenue Service. Nonresident Spouse
11
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form W-7
12
U.S. Department of State. 8 FAM 403.1 Name Usage and Name Changes
13
Social Security Administration. Application for a Social Security Card (Form SS-5-FS Instructions)