Original marriage certificate, or copy? (For AOS..)

[paulreed 0]

Hello,

We obtained an extra copy of our marriage certificate just in case we'd need an original in our packet for AOS.

Will a copy suffice, or should we send one of our originals? The guide said "certified copy." Not sure what that means.

[trillium13 84]

A certified copy is issued by the office that registered your marriage certificate. It usually has a special stamp of some kind. It's essentially an "official" copy instead of just a photocopy, if that makes any sense. A photocopy could potentially be altered in some way, so they want a certified one.

Go to the office where your certificate was issued and tell them you need a certified copy. Wouldn't hurt to have more than one. There is usually a charge that varies from office to office.

Some people send photocopies and have no problems-we sent a certified one to be certain we wouldn't have issues. DON'T send your original.

[lady-alone 0]

Will a copy suffice, or should we send one of our originals? The guide said "certified copy." Not sure what that means.

A copy should suffice - the I-485 instructions clearly states "a copy of your marriage certificate".

TruckerLoVE

[rahulv 4]

copy of "certified copy of marriage certificate". No need to send original. But make sure you send copy of the certified marriage certificate.

[conny 0]

copy of "certified copy of marriage certificate". No need to send original. But make sure you send copy of the certified marriage certificate.

Rahulv, pardon my interruption, but couple of corrections here. First off, there's no original - that is kept at clerk's office and NO ONE ever has it (other than clerk). Second, there's no such thing as certified marriage certificate. The question I think still is - what do they mean by copy of marriage certiificate? I think they mean that thing with stamp on it that you receive from clerk's office, not a photocopy of it.

[Nich-Nick 3,354]

Here's my take on marriage documents. (The same would be true of birth certificates.)

A marriage is recorded normally at the county clerks office, probably at the courthouse of the county where the marriage took place.

They give you a copy of the record and "certify" it by putting the county seal or embossing it or stamping it and perhaps adding a signature of the official at the courthouse to show it is an official record of that county.

If you want another certified copy at a later date, they will photocopy the original record they have on file and certify it....with a stamp, seal, embossing as well as sign and date when they gave you that photocopy. Often there is wording in a stamped-on bit that says something like "I certify that this is a true copy of the records of Smith County, TX. Signed Jane Jones, county clerk."

So a "certified copy" is merely a photocopy that somebody official certified as true and correct.

If you make a photocopy of the document that shows the stamp, or embossing or signature, then that's a photocopy of a certified copy. Many send just that with AOS. We chose to get another certified copy, but I think the photocopy would be fine. They can always ask for original/certified copies to be shown at an interview.

[Eric-Pris 1,607]

Never send any "original" documents, always photocopy it and send that. This includes the marriage certificate.

Btw, you don't need any certified copies of anything. We did not certify or notorize anything for AOS.

[TBoneTX 46,173]

Never send any "original" documents, always photocopy it and send that. This includes the marriage certificate.

Follow Nich-Nick's advice. Edited November 11, 2009 by TBoneTX