Israelis can have a civil wedding online—here's how

This ruling and the possibility of getting married remotely via the Internet have brought Israel closer to civil marriage than ever before since the establishment of the state. However, this response to freedom of choice in marriage is not sufficient, and we must continue to demand legislation for civil marriage and divorce.

Updated official data received from the Utah County Passport & Marriage Office indicate that in 2024 some 5,316 Israelis were married through Utah marriages, placing Israel at the very top of the list of countries whose citizens use this pioneering channel, which allows locals and residents of other states in the United States and beyond to marry online.

In 2024, approximately 27,000 marriage licenses were issued in the state of Utah, with about one-third to Utah residents, another third to U.S. residents from other states, and the final third to couples from 183 countries worldwide. Israel leads the rest of the world by a huge margin: 5,316 Israelis registered for marriage – about 30% of all applicants from countries outside the U.S.

Following Israel are China with 1,859 applicants and the Philippines with 1,796 applicants, each with only about 10%. Most applicants from countries outside the United States, including Israel, do so due to restrictions in their countries on the freedom of marriage in their countries.

These numbers represent more than 3,000 couples in which both partners or one of them is Israeli, who were married through Utah marriages in 2024. This is a significant increase compared to previous data: in a period of 15 months, between May 2020 and July 2021, only 637 Israelis were married through Utah marriages.

According to estimates by the Hiddush organization, approximately 700,000 of the country's citizens cannot marry in Israel at all, including approximately half a million immigrants whose Judaism is unrecognized by the Rabbinate because their mother is not Jewish; same-sex couples; Reform and Conservative converts; and couples who are disqualified or prohibited from marrying according to Orthodox Jewish religious law.

Many couples are eligible to be married in Israel but who choose to marry in a Utah marriage or other civil marriage abroad do so because of their refusal to submit to religious coercion and their desire for an egalitarian, secular or religious-liberal ceremony. According to a comparison made by Hiddush regarding the freedom of marriage in all countries of the world, Israel is the only Western democratic country in the world that denies its citizens the right to marry.

The state of Utah is the world's pioneer in creating an opportunity for couples to get married online, without the need for a physical presence. Utah's advantage is that it provides a convenient, accessible and inexpensive solution for Israeli citizens, without the need for a flight abroad and significant financial expenses. The process is simple and fast and costs only about 800 shekels.

What do Utah marriages provide?
Utah marriages give couples legal status which is identical to that of couples married in civil marriage anywhere else in the world. The marriage certificate is an official document, recognized by authorities in the United States and most countries around the world. It is an available, cheap and simple channel for couples who prefer to get married and are not satisfied with an official "publicly known" co-habitation relationship.

Israel’s Supreme Court has ruled unequivocally that the Population Authority must register these couples just as it registers couples who were physically married in Cyprus or other foreign countries.

Registering the marriage grants couples recognition by the state as being a married couple in all civil aspects, and includes all the rights and obligations associated with marriage, such as inheritance, Bituach Le’eumi (Israeli national social security insurance), medical matters, protection of the mutual rights of the spouses and their parenting of their children, the rights of spouses if they are not Israelis and more.

Registration by the Population Authority ensures that the marriage will also be recognized in most countries of the world, such as when applying for a visa for all family members if one of the spouses decides to goes abroad for study or work .

The Utah marriage process is easy, fast and simple. There is no need for legal assistance in any of the four main steps: obtaining a marriage license on the Utah County website, scheduling a virtual ceremony, performing the ceremony itself, and ordering an apostille for the necessary marriage certificate, so that it can be relied upon outside the United States, just like any other official document from a foreign country .

For the process, you will need identification documents (passport or driver's license), two witnesses over the age of 18, and an internet connection with a camera. The ceremony is conducted in basic English, lasts about 30 minutes and can be shared with up to 100 participants via the internet.

Immediately after the ceremony, you will receive a digital marriage certificate and, after ordering the apostille, the original certificate will be sent to Israel within about two weeks accompanied by an apostille. After receiving the original certificate with the apostille, you can go to any branch of the Population Authority in Israel and register as married.

Despite the progress on the issue of marriage, the Chief Rabbinate's monopoly on divorce still exists, so Jewish couples will still have to divorce through the Rabbinate. There is no doubt that the path to full freedom of marriage in Israel is not yet complete.

However, the rabbinical courts do not have jurisdiction over same-sex couples or couples in which one or both partners are not recognized by the rabbinate as Jews. These couples fall under the jurisdiction of the family courts.

The information we have collected indicates that the Rabbinical Courts do not delay or create obstacles for couples who were married in civil marriages, partly because the Orthodox Rabbinate institutions generally do not recognize the halakhic validity of these marriages. The courts handle the arrangement of a "get lehumra" (divorce for stringency) or the dissolution of the marriage in these circumstances in a quick and matter-of-fact manner.

In any case, and to ensure that even if, God forbid, the marriage ends, the separation will be done in accordance with the wishes of the couple – it is recommended that every couple (even if they were married in a halakhic marriage) draw up a financial agreement or prenuptial agreement in consultation with a lawyer specializing in family law.