N-400

[KDOR 1]

Need help and advice please. Interview is in 30 days for Naturalization based on a 3 years marriage to a USC and just realized that our original marriage certificate is missing and all we have copies. We got married in Nigeria and can't obtain another original copy. What to do please?

[iamwhatiam80 92]

30 days is a lot of time. Try to get copy of your original certificate from Nigeria. Worst case ( if they tell you to show in the interview), they may put your case on hold until you submit it to them. You don't want that to happen.

[Brother Hesekiel 2,236]

Need help and advice please. Interview is in 30 days for Naturalization based on a 3 years marriage to a USC and just realized that our original marriage certificate is missing and all we have copies. We got married in Nigeria and can't obtain another original copy. What to do please?

You don't need it. They know that you are married and they have it on file anyway.

[NickD 203]

Nothing worse than being interrupted when compiling that huge stack of evidence for marriage. Left originals either in my scanner or copying machine, maybe you inadvertently included your original in that stack you sent to the USCIS.

In taking a more practical approach to our marriage, we elected to get married here with the knowledge we would have to make the USCIS happy so I found a federal judge with just two witnesses. He was so honored that I asked him, refused to take any money and even accept a donation to one of his charities. At a local courthouse one county away, five bucks for a new original certificate, Wisconsin has a state law that has a $10,000 fine for making copies of the certificate, they want that five bucks. If religious, can always get your marriage blessed in a church, but even at that, if that marriage doesn't work out, church cannot divorce you, still have to go to the state.

We had a large reception here with my friends and relatives, then another one in my wife's home country, everything worked out fine, we even got another toaster. We did agree on getting married here, would be very difficult to get a copy of that marriage certificate in her home country.

When we were compiling all the evidence for marriage, could only ask, how in the heck did the USCIS think they issued a green card in the first place. The evidence required was the same stuff we already submitted for both the AOS and the ROC stages. Wife told me during her interview, when her IO got to our marriage certificate, an original, she still wanted to see hers. That was exactly the same as the one she was holding. Have no idea what would have happened if she didn't have it. If she looked in my wife's thick file, would have found two more exactly like it.

What really teed me off, wanted to see my divorce files again, 50 double sided pages, I copied those double sided or else would have had a stack 100 pages thick. If it wasn't for huge delays in her getting her ten year card, she only received it days before her interview, would have waited another two years. Just need your green card for that.

Thanks to the DOS, she still has to maintain her home country passport, with citizenship, now has to maintain two of them, more money out the door. Ha, bring me your poor, we weren't poor when we started, but sure were afterwards.