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Cassandra PC
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Cassandra PC Contributor

Cassandra PC   1

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Filed: Lift. Cond. (apr) Country: Mexico
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Just starting down the AOS road and have a question...

I would like to send AOS stuff a.s.a.p after marriage and was told by the county that a certified copy of the marriage certificate could take 6 weeks after the wedding! I understand that in California our marriage can be "public" or "confidential" (originally created to protect movie stars, means you have to give permission for records to be accessed). At least in San Francisco, confidential marriage records are held by the county clerk and only take 10 days to get a certified copy. Seems easier.

Anyone have any experience with a "confidential marriage license"?? I'm wondering if USCIS would think we were trying to hide something.

Started our visa journey applying for K-1: Oct 11, 2006

Interview at CDJ, K-1 visa granted: Feb 13, 2007

Married: Apr 13 2007

AOS approved: Aug 29, 2007

I-751 Lifting Conditions approved: Aug 8, 2009

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lucyrich Proficient

lucyrich   20

Posted
Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Venezuela
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Posted

A confidential marriage license is only available if you've already been cohabitating before marriage. It also has the restriction that the ceremony must be held in the county where you apply for the license (not sure if you have to apply in your county of residence). So it may not be appropriate for everyone.

Either way, the marriage is recorded at the county clerk's office.

We got a public marriage license, and had the certified copy in hand the day after our wedding. We called the county clerk beforehand to confirm that we'd be able to do this, (and I recommend you do the same), but we just walked into the office in the morning with the signed and witnessed marriage license, told the clerk we wanted to get the copies, and then we returned later that afternoon to get the officially certified and recorded copies.

Most people aren't in such a hurry, so their standard procedure takes a week or more, but they can hurry it up if you have a reason to. No extra charge, and they were friendly and polite.

04 Apr, 2004: Got married

05 Apr, 2004: I-130 Sent to CSC

13 Apr, 2004: I-130 NOA 1

19 Apr, 2004: I-129F Sent to MSC

29 Apr, 2004: I-129F NOA 1

13 Aug, 2004: I-130 Approved by CSC

28 Dec, 2004: I-130 Case Complete at NVC

18 Jan, 2005: Got the visa approved in Caracas

22 Jan, 2005: Flew home together! CCS->MIA->SFO

25 May, 2005: I-129F finally approved! We won't pursue it.

8 June, 2006: Our baby girl is born!

24 Oct, 2006: Window for filing I-751 opens

25 Oct, 2006: I-751 mailed to CSC

18 Nov, 2006: I-751 NOA1 received from CSC

30 Nov, 2006: I-751 Biometrics taken

05 Apr, 2007: I-751 approved, card production ordered

23 Jan, 2008: N-400 sent to CSC via certified mail

19 Feb, 2008: N-400 Biometrics taken

27 Mar, 2008: Naturalization interview notice received (NOA2 for N-400)

30 May, 2008: Naturalization interview, passed the test!

17 June, 2008: Naturalization oath notice mailed

15 July, 2008: Naturalization oath ceremony!

16 July, 2008: Registered to vote and applied for US passport

26 July, 2008: US Passport arrived.

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Nancy2015 Proficient

Nancy2015   2

Posted
Filed: Citizen (apr) Country: Russia
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Posted
Just starting down the AOS road and have a question...

I would like to send AOS stuff a.s.a.p after marriage and was told by the county that a certified copy of the marriage certificate could take 6 weeks after the wedding! I understand that in California our marriage can be "public" or "confidential" (originally created to protect movie stars, means you have to give permission for records to be accessed). At least in San Francisco, confidential marriage records are held by the county clerk and only take 10 days to get a certified copy. Seems easier.

Anyone have any experience with a "confidential marriage license"?? I'm wondering if USCIS would think we were trying to hide something.

I got married in CA and got my marriage certificate the very next day. But we got married in the City Clerk's office, so maybe that is why it didn't take long.

We had a confidential marriage, USCIS didn't care. Confidential means that no one else will be able to get a copy of your marriage certificate, except for you two. Me and hubby thought it was a good idea, and did the confidential thing :)

Don't worry about USCIS :)

Filed AOS from F-1
Green Card approved on 01/04/07
Conditions removed 01/29/09

Citizenship Oath 08/23/12

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  • 11 years later...
Jaret&Rachael Explorer

Jaret&Rachael   106

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Filed: IR-1/CR-1 Visa Country: Canada
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Posted
On ‎3‎/‎13‎/‎2007 at 6:59 PM, Nancy2015 said:

I got married in CA and got my marriage certificate the very next day. But we got married in the City Clerk's office, so maybe that is why it didn't take long.

We had a confidential marriage, USCIS didn't care. Confidential means that no one else will be able to get a copy of your marriage certificate, except for you two. Me and hubby thought it was a good idea, and did the confidential thing :)

Don't worry about USCIS :)

Thank you so much for this. 

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