Getting married in Jamaica
Planning the day from somewhere else? I handle the licence, the documents and the travel, for you and for everyone flying in.
The best-connected island in the Caribbean and the one your guests will need least persuading about. Everything from a Negril beach to a Blue Mountain great house, and flights from almost anywhere.
Timing
Around a day on the island first
Every country asks you to be on the ground for a set time before it will marry you, and Jamaica sits at this end of the range. What exactly applies to the two of you depends on your circumstances, and sorting that out is where we start.
Best suited to: Large guest lists, and anyone who wants the widest choice of venue.
What Jamaica actually requires
Jamaica asks less of your calendar than almost anywhere else in the region. You need to be on the island a day before you marry, and that is the whole of the timing rule.
Checked with the current published requirements in September 2026. Countries change their fees and their rules without announcing it, so treat this as a solid starting point rather than the last word.
The licence
Minister’s Marriage Licence
Most visiting couplesThe licence nearly every visiting couple uses. Issued by the Ministry of Justice and valid for 90 days from the date of issue, so it can be obtained ahead of your date rather than in a rush on arrival.
How long you have to be there
Both of you have to be physically in Jamaica for at least 24 hours before the ceremony. There is no longer residency requirement, and no blood test or medical.
Where it is handled
Ministry of Justice, with the marriage recorded afterwards by the Registrar General’s Department.
What to bring
- Valid passports for both of you
- Certified copies of both birth certificates, which must show your father’s name
- If either of you is divorced, the original or a certified copy of the Decree Absolute
- If either of you is widowed, the previous marriage certificate together with the death certificate
- Written, witnessed parental consent if either of you is under 18
- A certified English translation of anything not already in English
What it costs the country
The licence itself is inexpensive, in the region of US$40 at the time of writing, plus the marriage officer’s own fee. Fees are set by Jamaica and change without notice.
What catches people out
None of these are hidden. They are just the things nobody thinks to check until they are standing at a counter with the wrong piece of paper.
A birth certificate that does not name your father will be refused. This is the single most common reason a Jamaican application stalls, and it is not something you can fix from a hotel room the day before.
The licence can be applied for in advance, and it should be. Leaving it until you land turns a paperwork question into a wedding-day question.
No apostille is required on foreign documents, which catches people out in the other direction: couples spend money having documents legalised that Jamaica never asked for.
Twenty four hours is the legal minimum, not a sensible plan. One delayed connection and the minimum becomes the problem.
You can absolutely do this yourself
Everything above is on this page precisely so you can. Plenty of couples do, and if you are marrying in Jamaica with two passports, two clean birth certificates and no previous marriages, it is not a hard process.
What I am for is the version that is not that. A certificate that does not say what it needs to say. A divorce in another country. Office hours that do not fit your flights. Thirty guests trying to reach the same island in the same week from four different airports. And a planner who needs briefing, chasing and paying while you are in another time zone.
Getting married in Jamaica, in order
- 1
Before you fly
Get your birth certificates out and check them for your father’s name before anything else. Gather passports, and the divorce or death paperwork if it applies. The licence application can begin at this stage rather than on arrival.
- 2
Arriving
Land at least a full day before the ceremony, and preferably two. The 24 hour rule runs to the ceremony itself, so a late flight eats into it.
- 3
The licence and the day
Once the licence is issued, your marriage officer conducts the ceremony and the register is signed by the two of you, the officer and the witnesses.
- 4
Afterwards
Apply to the Registrar General’s Department for the official marriage certificate. You will need it for any name change, immigration matter or bank.
What I take off you
I handle the legal side and the travel, and I bring in a local planner for the day itself so you are not managing that separately either.
- The marriage licence for Jamaica, start to finish
- The exact document list for your situation, checked before you fly
- Flights into Jamaica for the two of you and for guests coming from different countries
- Accommodation, including a block of rooms held together for your guests
- A local planner for the day itself, brought in and managed by me
- Airport transfers and moving everybody around on the day
- One travel page for your guests, so you stop answering the same question forty times
- The marriage certificate afterwards, legalised if you need it recognised outside Jamaica
You don’t have to do this yourself
I can handle the licence, the documents and the travel for a wedding in Jamaica for you. I work out what your country and your destination actually ask for, get the paperwork in order, and keep it moving, so you are not the one chasing offices and re-reading forms to figure out what happens next.
A few corners of Jamaica
Somewhere to start if you have not settled on a spot yet.
Dunn’s River Falls
A terraced waterfall near Ocho Rios that visitors climb hand in hand, cascading straight onto the beach: one of Jamaica’s most-photographed sights.
Blue Mountains
Jamaica’s highest range, home to Blue Mountain Peak (2,256m) and the coffee estates that grow the world-famous Blue Mountain coffee, most of it exported to Japan.
Negril and Seven Mile Beach
A long stretch of white sand on the west coast, with the Negril cliffs at its southern end used for cliff diving and sunset watching.
YS Falls
A quieter, less crowded set of seven waterfalls on the south coast, in St. Elizabeth Parish.
Marrying in Jamaica
How long do we have to be in Jamaica before we can marry?
Around a day on the island first. The exact requirement depends on which licence applies to you and on your circumstances, and it is one of the first things I pin down, because it decides your flights and everybody’s leave.
What do we need to bring to Jamaica?
That depends on where you were born, where you live now and whether either of you has been married before. The form the documents take matters as much as having them, and getting it wrong is what sends couples back to a registry a second time. I work out the exact list for your situation and check everything before you fly.
We are CARICOM nationals. Is it easier for us in Jamaica?
Getting in is easier, and staying long enough is simpler. The marriage licence itself is the same process as for anyone else who does not live in Jamaica, so do not assume free movement covers it.
Does marrying in Jamaica let us live there?
No. Marrying in Jamaica, or marrying a citizen, does not by itself give you the right to remain. That is a separate immigration question. If moving there is the real plan, tell me at the start and we sort both together.
Looking at more than one country? Compare the twelve and I will help you pick.
What it costs
$100
A Move Planning Consultation covering your wedding in Jamaica, the licence, the documents and everybody’s travel, is $100, and it comes off the booking if you go ahead. Tell me what you have in mind and I will tell you what it actually takes.