Dear Military Spouse: How Long Does It Take For The Military to Recognize a Marriage?

My daughter and her boyfriend, who is in the army, are planning to get engaged soon. They are under the impression that it could take up to 6 months after they are married for the military to recognize their marriage and before she could go live with him. Is this true? How long does it take for the military to recognize a marriage?

Sincerely,
Janet M.

Hi Janet,

The Army will recognize their marriage as soon as he turns in a certified copy of the Marriage License to DEERS showing they are married. Now the length of how long it takes to get the Marriage License filed by the state in order to get a certified copy varies widely from state to state. For instance, here in Texas when you get married at the courthouse they typically will file it right then and give you certified copies. However, if you get married say in a church typically the marriage license is mailed off and it can take 30 days to be filed and returned. It is best to ask the county clerk’s office or whatever office handles marriage licenses on how long it will take to be filed so you can get a certified copy.

They can live together as soon as they are married, heck even before if they wanted. Typically, a Soldier will need to be of a certain rank to move out of the barracks (unless married or a single parent). However, many will have an apartment out in town and just maintain a barracks room. Not recommended that any of them do this as it can cause them to get in trouble. Anyways, once they are married he will be able to move out as soon as he can show proof of the marriage.

If they plan to live on post instead of off post, it is true that typically there is a waiting list. You can read more about that at How Long Does it Take to Get Housing?

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any more questions!