Find Hawaii Marriage Records
Hawaii marriage records are maintained by the State Department of Health, Office of Health Status Monitoring. The state has registered marriages since 1842, and certified copies of marriage certificates are available online, by mail, or in person at the main office in Honolulu. Searching Hawaii marriage records requires proof of eligibility and a valid government-issued ID. Whether you need a copy for a name change, to confirm marital status, or for family history research, this guide explains where to go, who qualifies to get these records, and how the request process works across all five Hawaii counties.
Hawaii Marriage Records Overview
Hawaii Department of Health Vital Records
The Hawaii State Department of Health, Office of Health Status Monitoring is the central place to find marriage records in Hawaii. The office sits at 1250 Punchbowl Street, Room 103, at the corner of Beretania and Punchbowl Streets in Honolulu. It is on the first floor of the main DOH building. Hours are Monday through Friday from 7:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., excluding state holidays. Appointments are encouraged, but walk-in service is available between scheduled visits as time allows. Metered parking at the building costs $2 per hour, payable by cash or card. The main contact for marriage certificates is (808) 586-4539 or doh.issuanceQuery@doh.hawaii.gov. Visit health.hawaii.gov/vitalrecords for the latest details.
The Marriage License Office has its own schedule. It is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. This is a separate window from the records issuance office. If you need a license for an upcoming ceremony, you go to the license window. If you need a certified copy of a past marriage record, you go to the Correction and Registration Office, which runs 7:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Neighbor island residents do not have to travel to Oahu to get help. Big Island residents can reach their District Health Office at (808) 974-6008. Maui County residents call (808) 984-8210. Kauai residents can call (808) 241-3498. All residents can order records online regardless of where they live in the state.
The Hawaii DOH Vital Records homepage is the official starting point for all marriage record requests, license information, and ordering options statewide.
Order Hawaii Marriage Records Online
The fastest way to get a certified copy of a Hawaii marriage record is through the state's online ordering portal. The site is vitrec.ehawaii.gov/vitalrecords. It covers birth, marriage, civil union, and death certificates from July 1909 to the present. You need a valid government-issued ID ready to upload when placing your order. Only debit or credit card payments are accepted online.
The fee to get a certified copy of a Hawaii marriage certificate is $10.00 for the first copy. Each additional copy of the same record costs $4.00. A $2.50 portal administration fee applies per order for up to five copies. All fees are non-refundable, including in cases where no record is found after a search. Creating a free eHawaii account lets you check order status under "My Orders" and makes it easier to re-order later. Guest users can track their order with the "Track Order" feature on the site. The name on your payment card should match the name on your order form to prevent delays. Average processing and mailing time is currently 6 to 8 weeks.
The Hawaii DOH birth and marriage certificates page covers every ordering method in detail, including what identification is required and how to avoid common delays.
Mail-in orders are accepted too. Download the application form from the DOH website, fill it out, and mail it with a copy of your government-issued ID and payment. For mail orders, only cashier's checks, certified checks, or money orders are accepted, made payable to State Department of Health. Send requests to: State Department of Health, Office of Health Status Monitoring, Issuance/Vital Statistics Section, P.O. Box 3378, Honolulu, HI 96801. Personal checks are not accepted. In-person orders can be paid by cash, credit card, cashier's check, certified check, or money order.
Note: Apostille or authentication requests must be submitted by mail only and cannot be handled in person at the Punchbowl Street office.
Hawaii Marriage License Requirements
To lawfully marry in Hawaii, a couple must first get a license from an authorized marriage license agent. This is required under Section 572-1.7 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes. A marriage license gives permission for the ceremony to take place. A marriage certificate is the separate document that confirms the legal marriage was performed. These two documents serve different purposes and come from different steps in the process.
The cost to get a marriage or civil union license in Hawaii is $65.00, made up of a $60 application fee and a $5 portal fee. There are no state residency requirements and no U.S. citizenship requirements. Blood tests are not needed. The legal age to marry is 18. Proof of age is required, and a certified birth certificate must be shown for anyone 18 or under. Parental or guardian consent with government-issued photo ID is required for minors. If either applicant was previously married, they must show the original divorce decree or death certificate if the divorce or death happened less than 30 days before picking up the license. No waiting period applies once the license is issued. Cousins may marry in Hawaii, but the blood relationship cannot be closer than first cousins.
The Hawaii DOH marriage licenses page lists every requirement, walks through the online application steps, and explains what to expect when you meet with a license agent.
Couples must complete the online application at emrs.ehawaii.gov before meeting with an agent. The application stays active for up to one year from the date it is submitted. After you pay online, you get a Locator ID and a list of authorized agents on the island where the ceremony will take place. Both people must appear together in person before the agent with valid government-issued photo IDs. The agent checks your documents and issues the license on the spot.
The official Hawaii marriage license agents list shows all authorized agents organized by island and community, with contact details for each.
Marriage performers must register online with the state. Any performer commissioned before 2012 must apply online and indicate they will perform both civil unions and marriages. Performers must complete ceremony information electronically so couples can access their temporary certificate. The full directory of licensed agents by county is at health.hawaii.gov/vitalrecords/marriage-licenses/license-agents.
The marriage license agent directory lets you search for a currently authorized agent near you on any Hawaii island.
Who Can Request Hawaii Marriage Records
Hawaii law limits who can get a certified copy of a marriage record. Under HRS §338-18, the state registrar may only issue a certified copy to someone with a direct and tangible interest in the record. The information must be needed for the determination of personal or property rights. Violations of these rules carry legal penalties.
Eligible persons include the individual named on the record, their spouse, parents, children, grandchildren, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, legal guardians, agencies acting on behalf of the person, personal representatives of estates, and those with a court order. Adoptive parents completing an adoption also qualify, as do persons who need to verify a former spouse's marital status for alimony purposes, or those confirming the death of a co-owner of property for credit insurance. For marriage events that occurred more than 75 years ago, the records are open to the public. Index data showing a person's name, age, sex, date, and file number can also be released to the general public for any record regardless of date.
HRS §338-18 at law.justia.com defines who may obtain copies of vital records and what qualifies as a direct and tangible interest under Hawaii law.
The Hawaii Open Government Guide at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press explains how state records access laws apply to vital records. The Uniform Information Practices Act does not override the stricter confidentiality rules found in HRS §338-18. The department can also share certain data with authorized federal, state, or local government agencies as permitted by law.
The Hawaii Open Government Guide at rcfp.org covers access rules for vital statistics, explaining how privacy protections interact with public records law in Hawaii.
Hawaii Marriage Laws and Certificate Rules
Hawaii's rules for how marriage records are created and maintained come from the Hawaii Revised Statutes. Under HRS §572-13, every person authorized to solemnize a marriage must make and keep a record of every ceremony they perform. That record must contain the names of both parties, their place of residence, and the date of the marriage. Anyone authorized to perform marriages who fails to keep this record faces a $50 fine.
The law requires performers to report each marriage to the Department of Health agent in the district where the ceremony took place, and to do so within three business days. The report must include all the facts set out in the standard certificate of marriage. If a solemnizer fails to file the report, the couple can submit a notarized affidavit attesting to the marriage. Once that affidavit is received, the marriage is validated as of the date stated. The department then delivers one certified copy of the certificate to the couple and can issue additional certified copies for the prescribed fee. Copies certified by the department carry the same legal weight as the original.
The Hawaii marriage laws summary at theamm.org covers basic requirements including the minimum age, relationship restrictions, and what happens if the ceremony is not reported on time.
For general information on searching Hawaii marriage records and what courts are involved, hawaiicourtrecords.org offers a useful overview of where records are held and how the search process works.
Historical Hawaii Marriage Records
The Hawaii State Archives holds a collection of marriage records going back to the early 1800s. The Vital Statistics Collection was assembled from records kept by marriage license agents, clergy who performed ceremonies, school agents, and the Territorial Treasurer. Reports of licenses granted span 1841 to 1893 and include the names of both parties, the date the license was issued, and sometimes the couple's place of residence. Marriage licenses in the collection span 1837 to 1929. Early records from the 1800s show names, date, district, and sometimes residence in Hawaiian. By the late 1800s, they added nationality, age, prior marital status, and residence. By 1928, forms included birthplace, length of residency, race, and birthplace of parents.
The collection is organized by island. Letter codes identify the island: "H" for Hawaii Island, "M" for Maui, "Mo" for Molokai, "N" for Niihau, "K" for Kauai, and "O" for Oahu. The Hawaii State Archives Digital Archives at digitalarchives.hawaii.gov has put many of these records online. The mission of the project is to develop a digital repository that provides reliable long-term access to authentic digital records, protecting them from loss, alteration, and obsolescence. Marriage Record Indexes are available through the site. To use them, find a reference number in the index, which tells you the island, volume, and page number, and then locate the actual record on digitized microfilm through the same system.
The Hawaii State Archives Digital Archives provides free online access to marriage record indexes and historical vital records going back to the 1800s.
Microfilm copies of vital records indexes are also available at the Hawaii State Library, Hawaii and Pacific Collection at 478 South King Street in Honolulu. Branch libraries in Hilo, Kahului, Kaneohe, Lihue, and Kailua-Kona hold indexes to birth records for 1896 to 1909. The Hawaiian Genealogy Indexes at Ulukau Hawaiian Electronic Library include marriage records indexed by island from 1826 to 1929. The Hawaii State Archives also has a partial index to newspaper notices of births, marriages, and deaths published before 1950, covering publications like the Pacific Commercial Advertiser, Honolulu Advertiser, and Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
Genealogy Resources for Hawaii Marriage Records
The University of Hawaii at Manoa Library provides a detailed genealogy research guide for Hawaii vital records. The guide at guides.library.manoa.hawaii.edu explains how to use the Hawaii State Archives marriage indexes, how the island-based reference numbering system works, and where to find microfilm. Oahu marriage indexes cover 1832 to 1910 in Volumes 1 and 2, and 1911 to 1929 in additional volumes. Marriage records for other islands are organized by their own separate series. Statewide registration of births and marriages began in 1842, though few records exist before 1896, and statewide compliance was not consistent until 1929.
The UH Manoa Library genealogy guide helps researchers navigate Hawaii's marriage record indexes, state archives, and historical vital records collections.
For marriage records older than 115 years, individuals with a direct interest can request access through the Department of Health's genealogy program at health.hawaii.gov/vitalrecords/genealogy. Appointments can be scheduled for events more than 115 years old. For records between 75 and 115 years old, a direct and tangible interest must still be shown. Fees follow the standard schedule: $10 for the first certified copy and $4 for each additional copy. Requests require official forms, supporting documents, and payment mailed to the DOH.
The Hawaii DOH genealogy records page explains the process for requesting older marriage records for genealogy purposes, including eligibility rules and how to schedule an appointment.
Family History Centers run by the Genealogical Society of Utah operate on every major island. Locations include Honolulu, Kalihi, Kaneohe, Laie, Mililani, and Waipahu on Oahu. Centers on the neighbor islands also provide access to microfilm copies of vital records and can help researchers locate specific marriage records through the FamilySearch network.
Browse Hawaii Marriage Records by County
Hawaii has five counties, each with its own marriage license agents and District Health Office resources. Select a county below to find local office contact details, agent information, and county-specific marriage record resources.
Hawaii Marriage Records in Major Cities
Residents of major Hawaii cities access marriage license services through local authorized agents. The state vital records system handles certified copy requests for all locations. Select a city to find the agents and offices that serve your area.