A certified copy of marriage certificate?

[Sandra_S 0]

Hi everyone!

I'm finally in Los Angeles, getting the marriage licence tomorrow and getting married on new years eve!! I had one question... After marriage I have to send in the AOS package and it says to include a certified copy of the marriage certificate, I know I have read somewhere about this taking time to get..? Were do I get it? Do I take it to a notary?

Am I off?

Thank you..

[payxibka 10,047]

Hi everyone!

I'm finally in Los Angeles, getting the marriage licence tomorrow and getting married on new years eve!! I had one question... After marriage I have to send in the AOS package and it says to include a certified copy of the marriage certificate, I know I have read somewhere about this taking time to get..? Were do I get it? Do I take it to a notary?

Am I off?

Thank you..

A notary cannot certify a document. A certified document will need to come from the clerk of the license bureau or the bureau of vital statistics or whatever the agency is in the city or county that you are being married in.

[Ashleigh-Au 0]

It says all on all the form instructions that photo copies are fine....all I have sent for anything was normal photocopies.

Never had a problem.

[FMore 0]

In NYC you would go to the City Register Office of Vital Records where records of births, deaths and marriages are recorded. For a few Dollars they will give print and certify a copy for you, bvut you must be sure to specify that you need a Certified copy.In LA it should be...

Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk's Office

[lisanne 0]

Hi everyone!

I'm finally in Los Angeles, getting the marriage licence tomorrow and getting married on new years eve!! I had one question... After marriage I have to send in the AOS package and it says to include a certified copy of the marriage certificate, I know I have read somewhere about this taking time to get..? Were do I get it? Do I take it to a notary?

Am I off?

Thank you..

You can get a certified copy of your marriage license at the same place that you apply for it at. After your marriage you can take it in, in person, to be filed and see if you can wait for a copy then and there, or order it at that time. We were able to get a certified copy within just a few minutes, actually we went ahead and got two so we would have an extra just in case. It's certified in that they put their seal (imprint) on it showing it's an original copy from their office. Best wishes on your upcoming marriage!!!

[sjoefl01 1]

You really should have asked this question to the folks that gave you the liscense. In Florida you take the paper they gave you to the minister ( notary ). They perform the marriage and send it back to the state. The state in turn generates the official marriage liscense and mailed it to us. That is the document that USCIS wants. Just make a copy. Don't send them your original. You will need it several times.

[mychelle 1]

after getting our marriage license at the county-clerks/registrars office, we got married there a week later. after the civil ceremony, they gave us the CUSTOMER COPY of our marriage license (which was actually an original, since the signatures were all original.) since it seemed like an original document...i just went ahead and copied the front and back (there is a back portion with watermark ink text) and use the copy to send with our AOS. at the time when we paid for CERTIFIED copies, they did not say anything about same day service (i was told to wait for the copies in a month). i should have asked whether they provide same day service but with all the excitement and we couldn't wait to go to brunch...i forgot to. anyways, if they send an RFE for it, i just hope they send it sooner.

the I-485 says this:

Based on admission as the K-1 fiancé(e) of a U. S.citizen and subsequent marriage to that citizen.

Attach a copy of the fiancé(e) petition approval notice, a copy of your marriage certificate and your Form 1-94.

Edited December 13, 2006 by mychelle

[Sandra_S 0]

Hi everyone!

I'm finally in Los Angeles, getting the marriage licence tomorrow and getting married on new years eve!! I had one question... After marriage I have to send in the AOS package and it says to include a certified copy of the marriage certificate, I know I have read somewhere about this taking time to get..? Were do I get it? Do I take it to a notary?

Am I off?

Thank you..

You can get a certified copy of your marriage license at the same place that you apply for it at. After your marriage you can take it in, in person, to be filed and see if you can wait for a copy then and there, or order it at that time. We were able to get a certified copy within just a few minutes, actually we went ahead and got two so we would have an extra just in case. It's certified in that they put their seal (imprint) on it showing it's an original copy from their office. Best wishes on your upcoming marriage!!!

Thanks for the help!! So... I just go back to the same place where we filed the marriage licence and file the papers again.. after our wedding and ask for a certified marriage certificate?

[Dr_LHA 3]

Hi everyone!

I'm finally in Los Angeles, getting the marriage licence tomorrow and getting married on new years eve!! I had one question... After marriage I have to send in the AOS package and it says to include a certified copy of the marriage certificate, I know I have read somewhere about this taking time to get..? Were do I get it? Do I take it to a notary?

Am I off?

You need to send USCIS a photocopy of the "certified copy" of your marriage license. You can the "certified copy" from the county registar's/clerk's office. I would ask about when you get your license tomorrow. Not that when you get the actual marriage license copy, its an official government document with seal. Like all such documents, USCIS does not want the original, but rather a photocopy of the original. You will be asked for the originals at interview. The current guide entry saying that you have to include a "certified copy of your marriage certificate" is wrong, as it implies you should include the original document.

[Sandra_S 0]

Hi everyone!

I'm finally in Los Angeles, getting the marriage licence tomorrow and getting married on new years eve!! I had one question... After marriage I have to send in the AOS package and it says to include a certified copy of the marriage certificate, I know I have read somewhere about this taking time to get..? Were do I get it? Do I take it to a notary?

Am I off?

You need to send USCIS a photocopy of the "certified copy" of your marriage license. You can the "certified copy" from the county registar's/clerk's office. I would ask about when you get your license tomorrow. Not that when you get the actual marriage license copy, its an official government document with seal. Like all such documents, USCIS does not want the original, but rather a photocopy of the original. You will be asked for the originals at interview. The current guide entry saying that you have to include a "certified copy of your marriage certificate" is wrong, as it implies you should include the original document.

So this means I will go back after the ceremony and ask for a certified copy of the license, make a copy and send to USCIS, I can't get it before the ceremony?

thanks...

[sjoefl01 1]

You can't get it before the ceremony because you are not married until the ceremony is performed. The person that performs the marriage certifies and notarizes the document that is used to generate the official document.

[Yodrak 7]

Sandra_S,

No, a certified copy of the registered marriage certificate. Sometimes the license becomes the certificate when completed after the ceremony, but do not confuse a marriage license - which means that you are approved by the state to get married - with a marriage certificate - which means that you are recognized by the state as having gotten married.

Yodrak

So this means I will go back after the ceremony and ask for a certified copy of the license, ....

[noviademexicano 0]

It is confusing, I know our Certified copy of marriage certificate has our actual certificate on one side and our marriage license on the other. I ordered 2 at the time that we applied for our marriage license. After we got married and they received and recorded our marriage, they sent both certified copies to us by mail. I sent one with AOS packet and kept the other.

[Ladylethal 12]

So, does it have to be a certified copy or not?

[sjoefl01 1]

It is really simple. It has to be a copy of a certified copy of the marriage certificate. That is the document that proves you have been married and the marriage has been recorded by the government into their official " book of life ".

They give you a liscense which allows you to marry and then they give you a certificate which says you have accomplished the marriage.

So, does it have to be a certified copy or not?