Only if required is confusing me

[kabhatti 2]

Hi folks, I may be a June 2013 filer.... getting the N 400 ready and just double checking.... got the check almost ready, application is nearly done. According to the guide here on visa journey, do I provide divorce certificates of husbands ex-spouses and any other documents other then the front and back of my green card. We are filing the N400 based on marrying a us citizen via the K1 visa. Thanks and sorry I'm new to this part of the visa journey. More specifically, the guide is confusing me when it says "

Only if required, send copies of the following documents (the USCIS will request originals if needed):

If your current legal name is different from the name on your Permanent Resident Card, send:
The document(s) that legally changed your name (marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court document).

If you are applying for naturalization on the basis of marriage to a U.S. citizen, send the following four items:

1. Evidence that your spouse has been a U.S. citizen for the last three years: Birth certificate (if your spouse never lost citizenship since birth), or Naturalization certificate, or Certificate of Citizenship, or The inside of the front cover and signature page of your spouse's current U.S. passport, or Form FS-240, 'Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America', and
2. Your current marriage certificate; and

3. Proof of termination of all prior marriages of your spouse-divorce decree(s), annulment(s), or death certificate(s); and

4. Documents referring to you and your spouse:
Tax returns, bank accounts, leases, mortgages, or birth certificates of children, or Internal Revenue Service (IRS)-certified copies of the income tax forms that you both filed for the past three years, or An IRS tax return transcript for the last three years.

[BigDaddy28 228]

If you were married before yes you have to provide divorce decree, if you didn't get married before than you just give them a copy of the marriage certificate. you can send a copy of the birth certificate and a copy of the tax returns. Do not send origginal documents because they will keep it. Good luck

[kabhatti 2]

I guess I was also confused because we've done all that during the whole k1 process and probably the lifting of conditions .... I thought this was the easiest application to fill out.... just gotta dig out those divorce papers now as I am the US Citizen with all the baggage. Just to be clear, my wife's the one applying for naturalization and I'm her US Citizen. She was never married before. Thanks

[Autumnal 25]

A photocopy of the original documents, or a certified copy of the original documents, are perfectly acceptable. My divorce decree was only available as a certified copy from the circuit court; they don't issue "originals," per se. I had no trouble using a photocopy of the certified copy for my application.