File AOS now or wait until marriage certificate

[Melinyel 5]

My wife came from Mexico and we got legally married October 24th here in Minneapolis MN, her 90 days ends on December 16th. It has been over 5 weeks and we still haven't gotten our certified copy of our marriage certificate and we are trying to figure out the best course of action, and below are what it sounds like are the normal answers. Is there another route I don't know about? Any other benefits or drawbacks I am missing? It really seems like the process should have better answers for this extremely common situation.

1: Apply with what we currently have, and best case scenario she will either get an RFE which we can respond to with the certificate, and worst case scenario, she gets denied and we have to reapply and lose on on a chunk of money. But she would be legally here the whole time. Is it better to wait until the very last day to send it just in case we do get the certificate?

2: Wait for the certificate, which should in theory arrive soon, and apply the moment we get a certified copy. She would have a gap in her legal stay, which from what I have heard wouldn't necessarily affect her visa process, but could be bad if for some reason we bump into ICE in that time period.

One other specific detail, we have a family trip planned to Texas in January where we would be flying domestically. Any reason to think that would call scrutiny to her current status?

[Coco8 1,042]

Yes, apply now.

 

Enclose whatever you received, like a temporary certificate or something, and include a note that you haven't received the official one yet. You should also complain to the city; it can't take this long and they will be even slower over the holidays.

 

Once you receive the certificate, you can add it to your case before even getting an RFE.

[arken 4,197]

Your AOS will be rejected since there is no basis to process it without a marriage certificate. They will send back your entire package which will mean it's not pending if you are concerned about.

[Verrou 1,962]

i will wait for the original certified marriage certificate and then apply AOS. every cities timeline for marriage certificate processing is not the same 

 

Edited December 3, 2021 by Misscloud

[SalishSea 18,064]

25 minutes ago, Coco8 said:

Yes, apply now.

 

Enclose whatever you received, like a temporary certificate or something, and include a note that you haven't received the official one yet. You should also complain to the city; it can't take this long and they will be even slower over the holidays.

 

Once you receive the certificate, you can add it to your case before even getting an RFE.

I don't recommend this.  They will reject the entire package outright.

 

It can take 10 weeks to get certified marriage certificates in some jurisdictions, yet another parameter to consider when weighing the K vs CR visa options.

[Melinyel 5]

If we go the route of waiting to apply, is there any sort of paperwork that we should/could keep on hand that could help prove we are actively working on the process? I've heard of people applying for a social security number separately, would that be a benefit to us?

Also, I am leaving work early today to try to see if I have any more luck in person at the city than I have had over the phone getting information or timelines on getting the marriage certificate processed

[SalishSea 18,064]

22 minutes ago, Melinyel said:

If we go the route of waiting to apply, is there any sort of paperwork that we should/could keep on hand that could help prove we are actively working on the process? I've heard of people applying for a social security number separately, would that be a benefit to us?

Also, I am leaving work early today to try to see if I have any more luck in person at the city than I have had over the phone getting information or timelines on getting the marriage certificate processed

The SSN should have been applied for before the marriage.  There can be problems with the SSA/SAVE system interface if you do it after.  

 

You can definitely try.

[Dashinka 24,707]

1 hour ago, arken said:

Your AOS will be rejected since there is no basis to process it without a marriage certificate. They will send back your entire package which will mean it's not pending if you are concerned about.

This ^^^^^^  Do not file a package without all the required evidence, USCIS will reject the package and you will have to re-file.

[arken 4,197]

26 minutes ago, Melinyel said:

I've heard of people applying for a social security number separately, would that be a benefit to us?

The 90 day validity is within two weeks, they won't process the SSN at this time. Your wife need to wait for EAD or GC  once you file for AOS.

 

29 minutes ago, Melinyel said:

is there any sort of paperwork that we should/could keep on hand that could help prove we are actively working on the process?

This will have no meaning.

No problem immigration wise as long as your wife stays away from getting cops' or ice's attention till she get i485 NOA1. Not that rejected i485 notice isn't NOA1.

[Crazy Cat 42,032]

Filing without the required documents could be seen as a "place holder" application.  USCIS has the discretion to outright deny placeholders.  If that happens, you will have to pay the fee again.  I would wait. 

Edited December 3, 2021 by Crazy Cat

[Melinyel 5]

Update from going into the city office where we had submitted the marriage certificate paperwork. They have no idea why we didn't get one in the mail, or why the online system doesn't show up as having our marriage registered, but $18 later and I walked out with two certified marriage certificates (seems like a spare is never a bad idea). So I suppose if anyone else in the future has any issues and calls/emails/online-forms aren't working, just walk in and tell them you need help and don't know what to do.

Looks like we won't have to go either route, but I do appreciate all the comments. This choice seems like a highly debated choice, and I am really grateful that I don't have to actually make that decision now.

[Letspaintcookies 2,310]

And no, she can travel domestic as much as she wants. Still carry all the documents like the NOA1 that you hopefully have by that time and a copy of the marriage certificate with you.

[Melinyel 5]

To just rub salt in the wounds, the first one we had been waiting on for 5 weeks just showed up in the mail box like an hour after we got the other certified copies from the source. But at least now we have extra copies. I will take the advice given and keep that with her passport, and add the NOA once we get that.

[Jaccerz 1]

we got married in july, we didnt get our certificate from St Louis county until end of September. During that time, we requested new copies be mailed out. we also went in and got said copy in September, and then at the end of September, the mail ones finally showed up. 

[Sarah&Facundo 599]

I'll be honest. When we applied for AOS after getting married, I didn't know we were supposed to send a certified copy. When we received our marriage certificate in the mail a few days after our wedding, I scanned a copy on my printer and put it in the AOS package. We went through the AOS interview and my husband has had his green card for over two years, and still no one has ever asked for a certified copy. This could have been a fluke though, so who knows?