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KLS2010

Marriage 'Certificate' vs Marriage 'License'

By KLS2010 in National Visa Center (Dept of State)

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KLS2010 Collaborator

KLS2010   30

Posted
Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Australia
 Timeline
Posted

If I have posted this in the wrong forum, I apologise.

I married my USC husband in Harris County (Houston) TX in 2010.

We had our approved I-130 petition forwarded to the NVC at the end of April. On June 8th we got an RFE asking for our original marriage certificate - but we already put that in the IV package. Everything else in the package was fine except the marriage certificate. We requested a supervisor review as we knew it was in there.

Three weeks later we still haven't gotten anywhere. After getting a whole lot of excuses as to what was actually wrong (first it was missing altogether, then they didn't think it was 'authentic'), the supervisor my husband spoke to yesterday has finally said she believes the problem lies in the fact our documentation says 'Marriage License', not 'Marraige Certificate'. I am aware that the NVC requires the original or a certified copy of the marriage certificate...but therein lies our problem - the state of Texas does not issue Marriage 'Certificates'! As far as I am aware, (from my own research and also from what the judge who married us has told us), the Marriage 'License' is the only official proof of marriage issued by Harris County. The front of the license gives the authorisation to marry the two people named, the back is where the person who carries out the ceremony signs it and it is dated. The person performing the ceremony then forwards this to the County Clerk's Office, where the details are recorded, and then the original is mailed back to the couple. It is this original that we sent to the NVC with our package.

I'm interested in hearing from anyone else who was married in Texas, and has encountered the same problem - how did you resolve the situation?

I appreciate any information!

USCIS

30 Nov 2010 - Sent I-130 to Chicago

1 Dec 2010 - I-130 received at Chicago

18 Apr 2011 - APPROVED!! NOA2 text and email

NVC

29 Apr 2011 - Case entered into the system/Case number assigned; Medical Exam in Sydney

30 Apr 2011 - Police Check Application sent

2 May 2011 - Called NVC and got Invoice ID number

3 May 2011 - Sent DS-3032 email

4 May 2011 - Received email reply from NVC for DS-3032; Received Medical Exam results

5 May 2011 - AOS invoiced and paid

7 May 2011 - AOS package sent; IV invoiced and paid

9 May 2011 - AOS package delivered to NVC according to tracking

20 May 2011 - RFE for missing IV package....still waiting on Police Certificate!

24 May 2011 - Received Police Certificate after 25 days (so much for 7-10!); IV package sent

27 May 2011 - IV package delivered according to tracking

8 Jun 2011 - RFE for original marriage certificate; requested supervisor review since we KNOW it was in the package!

30 Jun 2011 - SIF and CC - FINALLY!!!!

13 Jul 2011 - Interview date assigned! Scheduled for August 9th @ 10am

9 Aug 2011 - Interview - APPROVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

12 Aug 2011 - Visa in hand

24 Aug 2011 - POE @ LAX

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Moomin Proficient

Moomin   292

Posted
Filed: AOS (apr) Country: Denmark
 Timeline
Posted

Go to County clerk's office where the marriage took place and ask for certified copy of marriage license, has that worked out?

http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/vs/marriagedivorce/mdfaq.shtm - scroll down, read about common law marriage.

certified copy info: http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/vs/reqproc/mdverification.shtm

K1 process, October 2010 > POE, July 2011

I-129F approved in 180 days from NOA1 date. (195 days from filing to NOA2 in hand)

Interview took 224 days from I-129F NOA1 date. (241 days from filing petition until visa in hand)

From filing I-129F petition until POE: 285 days

Click timeline or "about me" for all details.

AOS process, December 2011 > July 2012

EAD/AP Approval took 51 days from NOA1 date to email update. (77 days from filing until EAD/AP in hand)

AOS Approval took 206 days from NOA1 date to email update. (231 days from filing until greencard in hand)

From filing I-129F petition until greencard in hand: 655 days

Click timeline or "about me" for all details.

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KLS2010 Collaborator

KLS2010   30

Posted
Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Australia
 Timeline
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Posted

I have no idea what goes on at the NVC....cos we just got our SIF and CC!!!!

According to the operator, they can not see any further issues and the marriage certificate is now showing as 'acceptable'. Have no idea why it's 'acceptable' now, when it wasn't a month ago.

USCIS

30 Nov 2010 - Sent I-130 to Chicago

1 Dec 2010 - I-130 received at Chicago

18 Apr 2011 - APPROVED!! NOA2 text and email

NVC

29 Apr 2011 - Case entered into the system/Case number assigned; Medical Exam in Sydney

30 Apr 2011 - Police Check Application sent

2 May 2011 - Called NVC and got Invoice ID number

3 May 2011 - Sent DS-3032 email

4 May 2011 - Received email reply from NVC for DS-3032; Received Medical Exam results

5 May 2011 - AOS invoiced and paid

7 May 2011 - AOS package sent; IV invoiced and paid

9 May 2011 - AOS package delivered to NVC according to tracking

20 May 2011 - RFE for missing IV package....still waiting on Police Certificate!

24 May 2011 - Received Police Certificate after 25 days (so much for 7-10!); IV package sent

27 May 2011 - IV package delivered according to tracking

8 Jun 2011 - RFE for original marriage certificate; requested supervisor review since we KNOW it was in the package!

30 Jun 2011 - SIF and CC - FINALLY!!!!

13 Jul 2011 - Interview date assigned! Scheduled for August 9th @ 10am

9 Aug 2011 - Interview - APPROVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

12 Aug 2011 - Visa in hand

24 Aug 2011 - POE @ LAX

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Brother Hesekiel Mentor

Brother Hesekiel   2,236

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Filed: Other Timeline
Posted

That's why Texas is the Lone Star State: nobody wants to make out with them!

James Bond had a license to kill. It didn't mean he killed, but he was allowed to. The same applies to the marriage license: it's a permission to get married. Once you got married, you get a Certificate of Marriage.

If Texas handles that differently, then it's time to pack that firearm and challenge the guy who's responsible for that screwup!

There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism. When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans. Some of the very best Americans I have ever known were naturalized Americans, Americans born abroad. But a hyphenated American is not an American at all . . . . The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality, than with the other citizens of the American Republic . . . . There is no such thing as a hyphenated American who is a good American. The only man who is a good American is the man who is an American and nothing else.

President Teddy Roosevelt on Columbus Day 1915

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