I-130 RFE HELP NEEDED!!!!!!

[maria_b84 0]

Hi everyone.....today we finally got our RFE for the I-130 in the mail. It basically says that the Marriage Certificate we submitted was not valid as a proof that we're really married. It was a PHOTOCOPY of the original and they probably thought it was fake or something. Anyways, they asked for a Marriage Certificate from the CIVIL AUTHORITY. Well, that's where we got confused.

We got married in Bell County, Belton TEXAS and that's where we have always got our marriage certificates. It is a Courthouse and I guess it is a civil authority. And that's the place where we got married so it must be the marriage certificate they want! The marriage certificate we have form texas is a REAL one and has the seal. But a friend of mine also told me that there's another place where you can get marriage certificates from and its called the VITAL STATISTICS (or whatever that damn thing is called) and now we're getting confused:

What marriage certificate do we need to send? The one from Bell County or we need to have the other one form the Vital Statistics?

Thanks a lot!!!!

Mike&Maria

[meddykomp 0]

You say you sent a photocopy oroginally? They probably want the original with the seal. As long as that is a marriage certificate and not a marriage license, it is probably what they are looking for.

[moondancer627 0]

Right after we got married we went over to the court house and got a certified copy of our marriage certificate.

The county clerk noterized and stamped it as official.

Don't know how it works in Texas.

This is Pima County, Tucson Arizona.

Go to the court house and ask for a certified copy.

good luck,

moondancer

[Yodrak 7]

maria_b,

Was the 'marriage certificate' that you submitted the same document that was used to record the marriage with the proper governmental authority? And if so, was the photocopy made before or after it was recorded?

I can see a source of confusion since you had a civil marriage rather than a religious one, but the document that the USCIS wants is one that shows the marriage was recorded, not a document that shows a ceremony took place.

Yodrak

Hi everyone.....today we finally got our RFE for the I-130 in the mail. It basically says that the Marriage Certificate we submitted was not valid as a proof that we're really married. It was a PHOTOCOPY of the original and they probably thought it was fake or something. Anyways, they asked for a Marriage Certificate from the CIVIL AUTHORITY. Well, that's where we got confused.

We got married in Bell County, Belton TEXAS and that's where we have always got our marriage certificates. It is a Courthouse and I guess it is a civil authority. And that's the place where we got married so it must be the marriage certificate they want! The marriage certificate we have form texas is a REAL one and has the seal. But a friend of mine also told me that there's another place where you can get marriage certificates from and its called the VITAL STATISTICS (or whatever that damn thing is called) and now we're getting confused:

What marriage certificate do we need to send? The one from Bell County or we need to have the other one form the Vital Statistics?

Thanks a lot!!!!

Mike&Maria

[maria_b84 0]

maria_b,

Was the 'marriage certificate' that you submitted the same document that was used to record the marriage with the proper governmental authority? And if so, was the photocopy made before or after it was recorded?

I can see a source of confusion since you had a civil marriage rather than a religious one, but the document that the USCIS wants is one that shows the marriage was recorded, not a document that shows a ceremony took place.

Yodrak

Hi Yodrak

we submitted a PHOTOCOPY of our Marriage certificate. We got married on april 27 2004 and we sent the I-130 in October 2005. So I guess the copy was made a long time after the marriage was recorded!!!! The marriage is recorded because we asked for a new certified copy like last week and it got to Ohio today, straight from Bell County. They have recorded our marriage for sure and it is recorded in Belton, Bell County, TX.