Utah Online Marriage for Couples in Israel
Both of you at home in Israel, a licensed Utah officiant on screen, and a US marriage certificate in your inbox after the ceremony. The Interior Ministry registration is yours to do, and the walkthrough on this page is free.
The Population and Immigration Authority registers these marriages in the population registry under the Supreme Court ruling of 7 March 2023.
Is a Utah online marriage registered in Israel?
Start with the question everyone asks. Yes, a marriage solemnised by video under Utah law is entered in Israel's population registry. On 7 March 2023 the Supreme Court rejected the State's appeals and held that the Population and Immigration Authority must register Utah marriages the same way it registers any civil marriage validly celebrated abroad, even where both partners sat in Israel during the ceremony. Since then registration has run as routine, on the strength of an apostilled marriage certificate and a change-of-status form.
We are not an agency and not a law firm. We are the people who perform the ceremony: officiants licensed in the State of Utah, who run the call, sign the licence and file it with the county. That is why our price is on this page, in dollars and in shekels, and why there is no broker layer between you and the ceremony. The parts we do not do, such as ordering the apostille and registering at the Interior Ministry, we explain step by step, without charging for it.
About the notice you will hear during the ceremony
Since 6 May 2026, Utah law requires every remote ceremony to include a notice that the marriage "may be invalid in the country where the parties to the marriage reside." You will hear it at your own ceremony, so here is the Israeli context: for Israel, that question has already been asked, litigated, and answered. The Supreme Court ruled in March 2023 that the Interior Ministry must register these marriages, and it does. The warning is generic language Utah requires for every country; it is not news about Israel.
The couples who come to us from Israel are usually in one of a few situations. The Rabbinate will not marry them, over a question of Jewish status, a mixed marriage, or a halachic bar. They are two men or two women. One of them is a foreign national and the registration and visa side is complicated enough without a flight to Cyprus. Or they simply want a civil wedding on their own terms. Many of our English-speaking couples are olim marrying a partner from home, or a couple split between Israel and the United States. According to Hiddush, about 3,000 couples with at least one Israeli partner married this way in 2024 alone.
How the Utah route works
You apply for the marriage licence online with Utah County, within 33 days of your ceremony date. Each of you needs a photo ID with your name in Latin letters, which in practice means a passport, because an Israeli Teudat Zehut carries no English name. The application takes a scan of the passport and a selfie. There is no residency requirement and no waiting period. The ceremony runs over video with a Utah-licensed officiant and two adult witnesses, who can join from anywhere. Utah County emails the digital certificate usually the same or the next working day, and the printed, apostilled certificate follows by courier a few weeks later.
The full legal write-up, with sources, sits in a separate guide: the Utah online marriage guide for Israeli couples.
Four steps, on Israel time
From licence application to a registered marriage, most couples take about two months.
Apply for the Utah County licence, one to two business days
Fill in the county's online form with a passport scan and a selfie, and pay the county $71 (about ₪240). The same form is where you order the apostille and courier to Israel, and we will show you exactly which boxes to tick. The licence is valid for 32 days.
The Zoom ceremony, the same week, in your evening
Israel is nine hours ahead of Utah (except for a fortnight around the clock changes). A ceremony at 20:00 in Tel Aviv is 11:00 in Utah, the middle of the officiant's working day, so a Sunday-to-Thursday evening for you is a comfortable hour for us. The calendar shows open slots in your own time zone. The ceremony takes about fifteen minutes, in plain English, and you can add vows in Hebrew.
Digital certificate right away, apostilled certificate in four to six weeks
Straight after the ceremony the officiant files the signed licence and Utah County emails a digital marriage certificate. The printed certificate with the State of Utah apostille attached comes by courier to your address in Israel. Do not separate the apostille from the certificate.
Register at the Interior Ministry, one to two weeks
Take the original certificate, the change-of-personal-status form (MR6) and your ID cards to the Population Authority bureau for your address. The clerk updates the registry and you leave recorded as married. The full walkthrough is further down this page.
What it costs, in shekels and without surprises
Our price: $349 for the ceremony, about ₪1,190, plus the $71 licence fee (about ₪240) paid directly to Utah County. You are charged in dollars. The shekel figures on this page assume a rate of ₪3.4 to the dollar, so what lands on your card will move a little with the day's rate and your bank's conversion fee.
For a fair comparison you have to add the apostille and courier to Israel, which every couple pays Utah County for (about $45 for the apostille and handling, and about $75 for FedEx, together about ₪410). Most Israeli agencies include those in their price, so the table compares all-in cost.
| Route | All-in cost per couple | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Do it yourself through a Utah County deputy clerk | about ₪800 | A few-minute ceremony with a clerk, no recording, no witnesses, nobody to answer questions. The cheapest route, and anyone with time and patience can do it. |
| Vowed and Clear | about ₪1,840 (₪1,430 ceremony and fee, plus about ₪410 apostille and courier paid to the county) | Our own licensed officiant, a personal ceremony with your vows, a recording, the digital certificate the same day, a Hebrew registration guide, and people who answer by email and chat. Professional witnesses and an interpreter are extra. |
| Israeli Utah-marriage agencies | ₪1,000 to ₪2,500 | A broker between you and the county, usually including apostille and courier, sometimes witnesses. The ceremony itself is performed by a Utah officiant the agency works with. |
| MarryFromHome (Israeli package) | ₪2,550 | A US provider with a Hebrew page. Includes apostille and registered mail. Hebrew interpreter extra. |
Prices as published on the providers' sites, September 2026. Israeli law firms in this space do not publish prices on their websites, so they are not in the table.
The full breakdown of what is and is not included is on the pricing page.
Apostille and courier: order them from the county, and we show you where
For the Population Authority to register the marriage, the certificate needs a State of Utah apostille. We do not sell that service and we do not mark it up, because Utah County offers it at cost: on the licence application, under "Optional Documents and Services", you tick "Apostille Request", choose Israel as the destination, and pay the county about $45 (apostille and handling) plus about $75 for FedEx to Israel. Amounts as shown on the county's site, September 2026.
When you fill in the application we go through the form with you and point at exactly which boxes to tick, so the order is linked to your licence and you do not have to verify your identity again after the ceremony. If you forget, you can still order after the ceremony through the county's document portal. The apostilled certificate arrives in four to six weeks. In the meantime you already have the digital certificate by email.
Seen an offer of a "fast" apostille for hundreds of dollars? It is the same stamp, from the same government office in Utah. The only difference is who stands in the queue.
Registering at the Interior Ministry, step by step
This is the part you do yourselves, which is why we wrote it out in full. We do not fill in forms on your behalf or represent you before the authority, and this is general information, not legal advice.
- Download the "Notice of Change of Personal Status" form (MR6) from the change of personal status service page on gov.il. Fill it in by hand and sign it. Both partners attend the bureau, so pick a day that works for both of you.
- Book an appointment at the Population Authority bureau for your home address through GoVisit (which replaced MyVisit). Some bureaus take marriage registration without an appointment, but booking saves you a morning.
- Bring the original, and copies. The original Utah certificate with the apostille attached (never separated), a photocopy of it, both ID cards, and, if the bureau asked for it, a printout of the digital certificate.
- Notarised translation: maybe. Under the authority's procedure, a certificate not in Hebrew or Arabic may need a notarised Hebrew translation. The Utah certificate is short and in English, and some clerks waive the translation while others do not. Budget ₪200 to ₪350 at a notary, and go without one first if you can live with a second visit.
- A non-Israeli partner also brings a single-status (or civil-status) certificate from their home country, apostilled and with a notarised Hebrew translation. Get that before the ceremony, not after.
- Name change. If you want to change your surname, do it at the same visit, on the same form, and you get a new ID card. You can put it off, but one visit beats two.
The clerk updates the registry, and the process usually completes within one to two weeks. Got a question about a specific case? The right place is the Kol Zchut procedure page or the bureau itself, not us.
Add-ons, if you want them
Everything else on this page is included in the ceremony price or paid directly to Utah County.
Professional witnesses, $25 each
About ₪85 each. Both witnesses need an ID with a Latin-letter name and have to be awake for your slot, so most couples from Israel take both of ours.
Live Hebrew interpreter, $50
About ₪170. The ceremony itself is in plain English and takes about fifteen minutes; add the interpreter at checkout if a parent or partner will follow it better in Hebrew.
Rush scheduling, $100
About ₪340. We perform the ceremony within 24 hours of Utah County approving your licence, and refund the fee in full if we cannot.
Who we marry
Couples in about 40 countries have married through us
Israel is one of the countries we hear from most, and the officiant on your call is one of ours, licensed in Utah, not a subcontractor found for the occasion. Our reviews are public on Trustpilot; read them before you book.
Read reviews on TrustpilotKeep reading
The legal background, the 2023 ruling, and who this route is for, with sources.
How Utah online marriage worksThe licence, the ceremony and the certificate, start to finish.
PricingWhat is included, what the add-ons cost, and what you pay Utah County.
Ask us something firstEmail or live chat. We answer in English; the registration guide above is also in Hebrew.
Frequently asked questions
What couples in Israel ask us before they book.
Ready when you both are
$349 for the ceremony (about ₪1,190) plus the $71 Utah County licence fee, charged in US dollars. Evening slots in Israel are late morning in Utah, and the digital certificate usually lands in your inbox the same or the next working day.
Sources and official references
- Library of Congress: Israel Supreme Court rejects State appeals against order to register marriages officiated in Utah via video (21 March 2023)
- Kol Zchut: registering civil marriages celebrated outside Israel (procedure, Hebrew)
- gov.il, Population and Immigration Authority: change of personal status (form MR6)
- GoVisit: appointments at Population and Immigration Authority bureaus
- Utah County Clerk: marriage licence, fees and the notice required by law since 6 May 2026
- Utah County Clerk: apostille and document ordering guide
- Utah County Clerk: international shipping costs
- Times of Israel: about 3,000 Israeli couples married through Utah in 2024 (Hiddush data, February 2025)
- Civil Marriage Israel: the do-it-yourself deputy-clerk route and its cost
- MarryFromHome: Israeli package (price as published)
General information, not legal advice. This page describes our Utah-based ceremony service and published information about how Israel registers marriages celebrated abroad. We are a ceremony provider, not a law firm, and we are not licensed to practise law in Israel or anywhere else. We do not fill in registration forms for couples, represent anyone before the Population and Immigration Authority, or give opinions on divorce, halachic status, or immigration. For your own situation, speak to an Israeli family lawyer or the authority directly. Correct as at 14 September 2026; procedures and legislation change.