New York media outlet The City reported that the New York City Marriage Bureau recorded a 33% increase in marriage license applications in November 2024, the month Trump was re-elected.
This rush to marry was also evident just before Trump’s first term. Between November 2016 and January 2017, 15,000 people got married, compared to only 11,700 in the same period the previous year. This represents a 28% increase, according to data from the New York Bureau of Marriage.
Private wedding service providers have also noted the increase just before Trump’s second term. “We saw a 150% hike in weddings from December 2023 to December 2024,” says Marta Bezkorovayna, founder of Perfect Wedding, a wedding planning firm in New York. “Most of the bookings were last minute, and I would say the main reason is that couples couldn’t get an appointment at the registry office because it was fully booked.”
To get married in New York City, couples must apply for a marriage license online and then schedule the ceremony. If immediate appointments are not available, they can choose a later date or hire a private company with a registered officiant to perform the ceremony. Then, the officiant, the newlyweds and their witnesses sign the license and file it with the registrar’s office, which subsequently issues the marriage certificate.
Trump campaigned on promises of mass deportations and the revocation of H-1B visas, a type of visa for skilled foreign workers that allows U.S. employers to hire them for approximately six years. Although immigration to the U.S. has increased since the pandemic, obtaining legal status remains costly and complex. For many, marriage is the most affordable, stable, and secure path to legal residency.
“Applying for an artist visa would have cost me between $6,000 and $10,000, while the family-based Green Card application cost me only $2,000,” says Lina Munar, a Colombian author who moved to New York to pursue a master’s degree in creative writing at New York University. While living in the city, she fell in love with Jacqueline Jackson, an American biologist from New Jersey.
They met at the Gay Pride march in New York in 2022. After nearly three years in a relationship, they knew they wanted to stay together. But in the summer of 2024, Trump’s possible re-election and the rise of conservative rhetoric made them feel their relationship was at risk. After exploring several visa options, Munar, 29, and Jackson, 28, decided to get married just three days after Trump’s re-election.
