Will USCIS Take a Temp customer copy of the marriage certificate for AOS?

[Haydnator 274]

I apologize  for asking this question, as Ive been it asked before, only with confusing answers. My fiance is coming in on the K1 next week, and we plan to get married in LA county pretty soon after. I looked at wedding chapels, and the one we are thinking of gives you a temp copy of the marriage certificate on the day (with notary and officiate signatures), but then also  request a certified copy that will come from the County clerk office to you in 6-8 weeks.

 

Would it be ok to just send USCIS the temp copy for AOS, EAD, and AP, and then send them the certified copy when it comes if we get an RFE? In people experience have they accepted that as proof or no?

 

 

[SalishSea 18,125]

17 minutes ago, Haydnator said:

I apologize  for asking this question, as Ive been it asked before, only with confusing answers. My fiance is coming in on the K1 next week, and we plan to get married in LA county pretty soon after. I looked at wedding chapels, and the one we are thinking of gives you a temp copy of the marriage certificate on the day (with notary and officiate signatures), but then also  request a certified copy that will come from the County clerk office to you in 6-8 weeks.

 

Would it be ok to just send USCIS the temp copy for AOS, EAD, and AP, and then send them the certified copy when it comes if we get an RFE? In people experience have they accepted that as proof or no?

 

 

No, they will not accept the commemorative copy from the chapel.  Only the real thing.

[geowrian 22,338]

I'm not sure if it will be accepted or not, but generally a copy of the certified certificate is suggested.

 

I would not suggest filing with the expectation to receive an RFE for a required document. USCIS provided a memo recently (2018?) with guidance to deny instead of RFE "placeholder" applications. Placeholder applications are essentially those filed without the required documents in anticipation of providing it later.

[Mike E 11,742]

Your plan risks an RFE, and also risks being taken into custody by ICE.

 

Do not get married in LA county or any county bordering LA county. Get married in a county that gives you a marriage cert in a couple days. This way there will be time to:

 

* Apply for SS card (2 days after POE). Need passport and I-94. Must no be married yet.

 

* Get SS card (2 weeks later)

 

* Add the K-1 to a utility bill

 

* Open a joint bank account

 

* Get married

 

* Get marriage cert

 

* Take cert, SS card, utility bill, bank statement to DMV to get a REAL ID (must be done at day 30 or earlier)

 

* Apply for AoS with a real marriage cert, plus the joint utility bill, and bank account statement as proof of bonafide marriage. Do this well before day 90 so that there is time to get an I-797 back which extends authorized presence.

Edited February 4, 2020 by Mike E

[p.dang 49]

Look at getting married in orange county. I read from another post that you can get the certify copy within 5-10 business days after they register the marriage certificate with orange county.

 

That my plan to go to orange county and get marry at the orange county.

 

http://www.ocrecorder.com/services/records/marriage

[FlyingPan 11]

I know everyone's experience is different, but I thought I'd add my own here given I was married in LA County last August- 16 days after my wife (then fiance) arrived in country.  We got married at the county office at Norwalk.  They'll give you a temporary marriage certificate that day after it's signed by your 1-2 witnesses.  I immediately used that as proof with my employer to get my wife on my health insurance.  I had previously heard horror stories and long delays about getting the official, certified, permanent marriage certificate in LA, and was nervous about being able to file AOS in a timely manor.   The county clerk I spoke with confidently said that I should have it in 3 weeks.  I really didn't believe it, but 2.5 weeks later, I was very surprised to see an LA County envelope with the certificate in my mailbox.     I'm sure there is some credence to the poor reputation LA County has in turning around marriage certificates, but that was not my experience.    That said, I do think it would be advisable to marry sooner than later after the fiance arrives to give yourself extra time if/when unexpected delays occur.   Good luck!

[mark90 22]

It won't be accepted. You could pick up the original marriage certificates by yourself at the County Clerk's Office to speed up the procedure. 

[yuna628 9,712]

Sorry but they won't accept that. You need a real copy from the clerk.

 

We were able to go in and get ours within days of being married, and asked them for several copies as you're going to need them. Unfortunately it looks like CA takes a long time. Ever considered Vegas?

Edited February 4, 2020 by yuna628

[Haydnator 274]

14 minutes ago, yuna628 said:

Sorry but they won't accept that. You need a real copy from the clerk.

 

We were able to go in and get ours within days of being married, and asked them for several copies as you're going to need them. Unfortunately it looks like CA takes a long time. Ever considered Vegas?

Yes we are considering it more now after what everyone has been saying.

[Cornflake 108]

We got married in Beverly Hills ( kinda LA but not exactly LA) and we got our marriage certificate in 2 weeks.

[Haydnator 274]

3 minutes ago, Cornflake said:

We got married in Beverly Hills ( kinda LA but not exactly LA) and we got our marriage certificate in 2 weeks.

When did you get married?

[FamousJerry 47]

We got married in Beverly Hills court house and got our certified cert in 10days was very fast .

[SalishSea 18,125]

@Loren Yis ordained and offers same day service in Vegas!

[Scandi 4,180]

We got married in L.A. county too and back then (2016) it was supposed to take 8 weeks according to the Norwalk county clerks office (the office that records the marriage). We were "lucky" and only had to wait 4 weeks. 

 

No reason to get married in L.A. county really. We didn't know at the time how long the recording wait was, otherwise we would've chosen another county, or even another state possibly.

[Scandi 4,180]

6 hours ago, mark90 said:

It won't be accepted. You could pick up the original marriage certificates by yourself at the County Clerk's Office to speed up the procedure. 

It only speeds things up by a day or two (the time it takes to ship it). It's the recording that has a wait time of up to 8 weeks, not the marriage certificate. The marriage certificate will be available the same day the marriage has been recorded.