Marriage license as a proof of relationship

[dkrivosheyev 0]

Did anyone try to obtain a marriage license prior to fiancee's K1 interview as a proof af relationship? I don't know about other states, but in the state of Florida you have to get a marriage license in order to get married. I was thinking to get one and send it to my fiancee for her embassy interview in addition to the usual letter of intent to marry. This will be an official document from the court showing that you have solid plans to marry. Did anyone do that before?

Thank you!

[Otto 83]

Did anyone try to obtain a marriage license prior to fiancee's K1 interview as a proof af relationship? I don't know about other states, but in the state of Florida you have to get a marriage license in order to get married. I was thinking to get one and send it to my fiancee for her embassy interview in addition to the usual letter of intent to marry. This will be an official document from the court showing that you have solid plans to marry. Did anyone do that before?

Thank you!

dkrivosheyev,

I've not heard of anyone doing this - it's not something I would think is either possible (since most states require the presence of both parties) or something that is necessary - and it's certainly not proof of a relationship. Stick with the guides and other 'best practices' you see here and you should be OK.

[~Nini~ 2]

The only issues I could see with a marriage license being used as proof of relationship are these:

1) whether the consulate officer would see the marriage license and assume that you were already married

2) the validity period of the marriage license (I'm not sure about Florida, but in Pennsylvania once the marriage license is issued you have only a certain amount of time to use it before it's invalidated)

3) whether it's possible to obtain a marriage license without both parties present (in some states it's required for both applicants to be present at the time of application)

So far I haven't heard anyone use a marriage license as proof. I don't see how it can help to prove that you both are in a valid relationship, other than that it proves intent to marry. IMO, the consulate officer could see it as a physical indication that you both wish to enter into a marriage, which is honestly the same thing as a letter of intent.

Edited October 6, 2007 by Nini & Bee

[pushbrk 12,569]

Did anyone try to obtain a marriage license prior to fiancee's K1 interview as a proof af relationship? I don't know about other states, but in the state of Florida you have to get a marriage license in order to get married. I was thinking to get one and send it to my fiancee for her embassy interview in addition to the usual letter of intent to marry. This will be an official document from the court showing that you have solid plans to marry. Did anyone do that before?

Thank you!

Can hurt. Won't help. Don't think you can get a license without her there anyway.

[Caladan 19]

Most states (I'd say all, but there's probably an exception somewhere) require both parties to go in person to obtain the marriage license, and most of the licenses expire after a certain number of days so even if you could get it, by the time you got it to her and she had the interview, it wouldn't be proof of anything.

Even if it were proof. It's not a proof of relationship. It's a proof that you intend to marry (if you could get it, which you can't), which your letter of intent does just as well, but it's not as though having a marriage license makes you more serious or believable.

[dkrivosheyev 0]

Thanks for the reply everyone! You all are probably right - it is not much of a proof.

Thank you!

[knl 0]

I am a resident of Florida and both parties have to be present, show their Id and sign the marriage license. In order to obtain the marriage license.

[knl 0]

I wanted to add, in the state of Florida the marriage license expires in 2 months.

[athena_ny 1]

She has to be there to get the marriage license. It won't work.

Besides, it expires in 60 days.

[chris4gretchen 1]

the marriage license isnt a good one since she has to be there and limited time of validity but you can list her as a beneficary on your life insurance. Thats one of the things i did, she is listed as fiance and i have copies of the paperwork from my insurance company. Maybe you can look into that.

Chris

Edited October 6, 2007 by chris4gretchen