Certified copy of a marriage certificate

[thesnowman 1]

I am about to file all the forms for adjusting status, employment and advanced parole, but it asks for a certified copy of my marriage certificate. Can I just send in my marriage certificate that I got from the wedding or do I need to get a certified copy (which takes 30 days to come).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[YuAndDan 153]

Not a good idea to send the origional unless you dont want it back, You should be able to get a certified one at the local office of vital statistics. In my case I would go to the office and get another copy from my town office.

Another possibility is have it copied and certified by a notary, can be done in many states. See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Certified_copy

[jsassman 1]

According to the I-485 instruction I'm reading, only a copy of your marriage certificate is required. USCIS dropped the requirement for originals a few years back.

[Waiting in Vancouver 6]

On my RFE I got from CSC regarding the so called missing marriage certificate it stated the following:

"K1/MARRIAGE CERTIFICATE: Please submit a copy of your marriage certificate indicating that you have married your United States citizen fiance(e) within 90 days of your admission into the United States as a K-1 nonimmigrant. If the marriage occurred in the United States, the document must show that the marriage was registered and recorded with the county, state or civil authorities. If the marriage occurred outside the United States, the marriage certificate must be accompanied by a certified English translation if the document is in a language other than English."

So it does state a copy of your marriage certificate but make sure what ever your supplying does show that it was registered with the county, state or civil authorities ... Because what you received after the ceremony many not show that it was registered with the county yet ...

Also what I find intresting in the above statement is that even though they recognize that I arrived on a K-1 Visa they make the statement what to do if the marriage occured outside the United States ... ROFL

I gather that this is a generic message they use but I still find it funny