How do I do this?

[Alexander De Ridder 0]

I fly to usa may 8 with my k-1.

We'll get married on saturday june 30.

So halfway june i'll request my marriage licence ... during the ceremony we sign the licence,

and at this point it becomes a marriage certificate?

Is it certified because of the witnesses?

Is a copy of that paper sufficient?

We would like to file our AOS the same day or the day after, and have all our papers ready by the time we get married,

because we want to go on a honeymoon the next day.

Is this possible? Because the step by step guide says: copy of a certified marriage certificate, and this requires

another week to get, no? Or what ??

In short: is it possible for us to leave on honeymoon after our marriage? We'll already lose almost two months of our three before

the marriage in preparations, so I'm concerned we'd lose too much time.

Oh and what about her name change? Does she need to change her name on her social security card first, and then all the AoS papers

need to be filled out with her married name?

Edited April 22, 2007 by Alexander De Ridder

[KarenCee 3]

I fly to usa may 8 with my k-1.

We'll get married on saturday june 30. Congratulations!

So halfway june i'll request my marriage licence ... during the ceremony we sign the licence,

and at this point it becomes a marriage certificate?Once it is taken to the appropriate office...here where we live it is the Probate Office...once it is taken there and certified then it becomes your certified marriage license

Is it certified because of the witnesses?No...it is certified at the office where you applied for it

Is a copy of that paper sufficient?The general consensus says yes, my husband and I sent a certified copy with our AOS application

We would like to file our AOS the same day or the day after, and have all our papers ready by the time we get married,

because we want to go on a honeymoon the next day.

Is this possible? Because the step by step guide says: copy of a certified marriage certificate, and this requires

another week to get, no? Or what ??ONLY if you are able to take the marriage certificate, signed by the official, in person to the office where you applied for the license. If the official mails it in, it could take a few weeks. The pastor who married us signed the certificate there at the reception, gave it to us, and on the following Monday we took it in person to the Probate Office. We were able to get our certified marriage certificate within 10 minutes.

In short: is it possible for us to leave on honeymoon after our marriage? We'll already lose almost two months of our three before the marriage in preparations, so I'm concerned we'd lose too much time. Only if you honeymoon within the US and its territories. You cannot take an international honeymoon. For you to leave the country before your green card is issued you will need to have Advanced Parole approved. That takes about 90 days and is filed concurrently with AOS and EAD (if you want to work)

Oh and what about her name change? Does she need to change her name on her social security card first, and then all the AoS papers need to be filled out with her married name? Name change is simple. She goes to the SSA with her certified marriage certificate, and with the proper forms filled out the agent will order her a new SS card...same number but with her new name. Yes, all the AOS papers are filled out with her new name...sending in the certified marriage certificate proves the name change.

[mRx 16]

Edit::: KarenCee answered quicker...

Edited April 22, 2007 by matt85

[bora bora 1]

My fiance and I got our license in March (I was off of work because of Spring break) and it's good until the end of May. We're getting married in a week and we'll be sending the AOS paperwork 2 days later (that's the plan).

The day after we get married we're going to pick up a few certified copies and then mail one of those with the AOS package.

The rest of the paperwork is basically done so it'll be easy to include the marriage certificate and send it on its way. You can do the same thing.

[pnd629 0]

We were told the marriage is not legal until the county records the marriage. Just taking out the license does not mean a marriage took place. After our wedding the church sent the paperwork to the county office and we had to wait two weeks until we were able to get a certified copy of our marriage certificate. Perhaps things work differently in other parts of the country.

The AOS instructions ask for a certified copy of the marriage certificate. I believe that means the copy that has been recorded with the county.

[Dr_LHA 3]

A photocopy of the cerfitied copy of the marriage certificate is fine. Save yourself the $5 (or whatever it costs). There are staving children in Africa who need help if you really want to spend that money.

[KarenCee 3]

We were told the marriage is not legal until the county records the marriage. Just taking out the license does not mean a marriage took place. After our wedding the church sent the paperwork to the county office and we had to wait two weeks until we were able to get a certified copy of our marriage certificate. Perhaps things work differently in other parts of the country.

The AOS instructions ask for a certified copy of the marriage certificate. I believe that means the copy that has been recorded with the county.

Not every pastor or official who marries a couple mails in the license. If you tell them why you need to take it yourself, most of the time they are quite amenable about it as ours was. Ours WAS recorded with the court (Probate Court) before we sent anything in even though we presented the license in person. We waited about 10 minutes for the whole thing. You are correct though, the marriage is not legal until it is recorded.

[bora bora 1]

We were told (in Florida) that the day after we marry we can take our signed/notarized marriage license to the county clerk and they will issue our marriage certificate right then and there.

The county clerk told us that we can mail it in, but since we want to send the AOS packet immediately after getting married we can do it in person and they will give us the certified copies at that time.

I know that a lot depends on the state you live in. In Florida a notary can marry you (which is what we're doing) and it may be possible not to even need witnesses - but we have some anyway.

Good luck.