Is civil marriage valid immediately?

[NickD 203]

We were married at the county courthouse in Oklahoma. We applied for the marriage license and were married by a judge about 20 minutes later. After the ceremony we had to sign the certificate, the judge signed it, and two witnesses signed it. We then went to the court clerks office, where the certificate was completed and signed by the clerk. We got our copy of the certificate at that time, no waiting, and purchased additional certified copies for only $1.50 each. The entire process took less than an hour. The marriage is valid as soon as the judge pronounces you husband and wife. You will be able to file jointly with your wife for your 2009 taxes. If she has no SSN you can request an ITIN from the IRS.

Our marriage certificates are gold plated, so they charge 8 bucks a copy, but if you get more than one, the extras are five bucks a piece. USCIS wants a ton of them besides all that other stuff. In our state, can get fined by making a copy of it so have to pay the extra five bucks. Think we are getting ripped off, again. But the copies look exactly like the original in every respect.