What is a single status affidavit?

A sworn statement that you are unmarried and legally free to marry. Foreign governments often require it before they will let a US citizen marry there, since the US has no national single status registry.

Why does another country need this?

Because the United States keeps marriage records at the state and county level with no central registry, there is no federal certificate of single status. The sworn affidavit fills that gap.

Does it need to be notarized and apostilled?

Almost always. You sign it before a notary, and for a Hague Convention country your state then apostilles it. Some countries also want a certified translation.

What if I was married before?

You can still swear you are free to marry now, but the country will likely also ask for a divorce decree or a death certificate for a late spouse, often apostilled as well.

Single Status Affidavit (Free Template)

General information, not legal advice. Each country sets its own marriage requirements, and some want extra documents or a specific format. Confirm what the destination country's authorities expect before you sign.

Quick take: a single status affidavit is your sworn word that you are unmarried and free to marry, and it exists because the United States has no national registry a foreign government can check. If you are marrying abroad, you will usually sign one before a notary, have your state apostille it, and sometimes add a translation. Build yours below.

Make your affidavit ↓

Single status affidavit generator

Enter your name, your status, and where you plan to marry. It produces a printable, sworn statement ready for a notary. Nothing you enter is stored.

Why a foreign wedding needs this at all

Here is the odd truth behind the request: the United States cannot issue a certificate saying you are single, because there is no national marriage database. Marriages are recorded county by county, so no federal office can look you up and confirm you are unmarried. Plenty of other countries do keep central registries and simply pull a certificate of no impediment for their own citizens, so when a foreign registrar asks an American for the equivalent and hears that none exists, the sworn affidavit is the accepted substitute. You are swearing, under oath and before a notary, to the thing their own paperwork would otherwise prove. It feels like a formality, and it is, but skipping it usually means the wedding cannot be registered.

Notarize, then apostille

For the affidavit to carry weight overseas, two steps almost always follow. First you sign it in front of a notary, since an unsworn statement means nothing to a foreign registry. Second, because the document is heading to another country, that country needs to trust the notary is real, which is what an apostille does: your state authenticates the notary's signature so a Hague Convention country will accept it. If your wedding is in a country outside the Convention, the affidavit takes the longer legalization route through that country's consulate instead. Build in time for this, because the apostille step runs on your state's schedule, not yours, and a wedding date is a hard deadline.

When there is a prior marriage

Being divorced or widowed does not stop you from swearing you are free to marry today, but it usually adds paperwork. A registry that is careful about bigamy will want to see how the last marriage ended, which means a divorce decree or a late spouse's death certificate, and those often need to be apostilled too, sometimes translated. Gather them alongside the affidavit rather than after, because discovering the requirement at the consulate window is how couples lose a week. If your name changed with a past marriage or divorce, make sure the name on the affidavit matches your passport, and consider a short statement reconciling the two if they differ.

Questions couples ask

What is a single status affidavit?: A sworn statement that you are unmarried and legally free to marry. Foreign governments often require it before a US citizen can marry there, since the US has no national single status registry.
Why does another country need this?: Because the US keeps marriage records at the state and county level with no central registry, there is no federal certificate of single status. The sworn affidavit fills that gap.
Does it need to be notarized and apostilled?: Almost always. You sign it before a notary, and for a Hague Convention country your state then apostilles it. Some countries also want a certified translation.
What if I was married before?: You can still swear you are free to marry now, but the country will likely also ask for a divorce decree or a late spouse's death certificate, often apostilled as well.

Written by the Trámites Notariales US editorial team. Foreign marriage rules change and vary by country; verify with the destination country's authorities or consulate before relying on this.