Marriage date different to wedding celebration date

[shoesoff 6]

Hey guys and gals,

 

I wanted to ask a pretty specific question about something my fiancée and I are contemplating and what effects that may have on our(my) application for AOS.

 

Our wedding is on October 7th, but in a desperate bid to alleviate an intense amount of stress surrounding the timing of things on that day, we are thinking about going and getting officially married on our own in a courthouse a few weeks before hand. I'm curious what you think that would look like to someone reading through our application - An official signed certificate of marriage on say September 26th, with a witness and some basic photos of us in the courthouse in Portland, along with lots of other evidence of a big celebration with friends and family at our wedding on October 7th in Los Angeles. We'd obviously include a letter explaining the difference, citing not only the pressure from various family and guests but also our original intent to get married in the city we met. Do you think this kind of thing happens often? It's understandably going to look strange but do you think it would be concerning to someone making a choice about our application?

 

We would really appreciate your thoughts on this.

 

Thank you,
Peter (& Alexa)

[Wuozopo 4,293]

Agree. The party date doesn't matter to immigration. Keep it simple and don't muddy the waters  by offering two dates. You have one date and one marriage certificate. Marry as soon as possible after you enter the US so you can get the AOS/EAD/AP applications filed.

[ricky90501 15]

Your official marriage date for the purpose of the AOS would be September 26, so all documentation should reference that date as your marriage date. USCIS does not care if you had a ceremony on a different date. As long as you clearly explain that, you are fine. We had a similar situation with our AOS. We did a ceremony in Japan for family prior to my wife (fiance at the time) moving to the US on a K-1 visa. However, our official legal marriage happened here in the US on a later date so our marriage certificate states that date. We just explained to the immigration officer during the AOS interview that the ceremony in Japan (we showed photos from the ceremony as evidence of marriage) was a non-legal ceremony and she was fine with that.

[shoesoff 6]

Thanks for the replies. We will definitely refer to the marriage certificate courthouse date for the application and beyond.

 

In terms of the photos taken, what would you suggest are the requirements for that? We really just want to get married alone but I know there obviously needs to be witnesses and some kind of photo documentation. Curious exactly what that means though. If we had one friend come and snap a few photos of us signing the document and saying our I dos, would that suffice? He'd be able to testify as a witness too...

[Teepee 14]

In a place like Nigeria we mostly have separate days for courthouse and probably traditional wedding ceremonies. the only acceptable date of all is that which specifies the legality of your union is the date on the marriage certificate.

 

 

[Wuozopo 4,293]

34 minutes ago, shoesoff said:

Thanks for the replies. We will definitely refer to the marriage certificate courthouse date for the application and beyond.

 

In terms of the photos taken, what would you suggest are the requirements for that? We really just want to get married alone but I know there obviously needs to be witnesses and some kind of photo documentation. Curious exactly what that means though. If we had one friend come and snap a few photos of us signing the document and saying our I dos, would that suffice? He'd be able to testify as a witness too...

It depends on your state if you need witnesses. Mine only require the signature of the officiant. I think the point of photos is to show your marriage date was important enough to you to at least document it with a photo, even selfies. Hand your phone to a clerk and pose with the judge. Maybe go out to dinner or drinks with friends that night and get the waiter to snap the group. We are a picture taking society with cameras always conveniently  in our pocket. It would be really odd not to have anything to mark the day except a piece of paper. That would be like having a baby, but only a birth certificate to show somebody. Or doing a cap and gown graduation, but only a diploma to record the day. 

[shoesoff 6]

That all makes total sense. Thank you so much!

 

We will find out about the requirement for witnesses, unless anyone happens to know the rules for Oregon?

 

Seriously everyone. Thank you.

[Wuozopo 4,293]

2 hours ago, shoesoff said:

That all makes total sense. Thank you so much!

 

We will find out about the requirement for witnesses, unless anyone happens to know the rules for Oregon?

 

Seriously everyone. Thank you.

 

This is looks like the officiant fills in the bottom of the license when he does the marriage. And there are witness signatures as well. Then this would go back to the county to get registered in the county records. Once registered they can issue you some kind of certified document saying you are married.

 

Edit: Photo didn't work. See it here http://teamramey.blogspot.com/2006/12/three-month-reflection.html

Edited July 21, 2017 by Wuozopo

[shoesoff 6]

Thank you so much!
I only just saw this response. I'm sorry
Incredibly helpful though. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[Fr8dog 312]

FYI. For AOS purposes, the USCIS could not care less about how many people are at your official wedding and if there are photos taken or not. We had the quickie marriage (in and out and married in 15 minutes flat). without pictures, witnesses, wedding bands. We do not believe in that stuff and rather spent the money on a vacation or the house. We filed the required documents, plus some financial papers and got approved without an interview.

If you do decide to include stuff from your wedding party, do not date it. Less changes of people getting confused that way.