Not sure if this is the correct place, but this is in ref to an I-130 application.

[Aradieus 2]

Hello everyone, I'm trying to move my wife and step-son to the US. I am a US citizen born and raised. I met my wife in Europe while working for the US government in Romania. To make a long story short, we like many others were separated during COVID and got married online. We originally planned to get married in Romania, but Romania does not have a Philippines Embassy and we were not allowed to leave Romania because of their Covid rules. Ok, so not to deviate to much from the information I'm trying to obtain here. We for legal purposes were married in Utah. I was in the US at the time and my wife was in the Philippines.

 

Going through the I-130 they are talking about a marriage certificate, for the purposes of how my wife changed her spousal name to her married name. Now, we have a PSA marriage certificate in the Philippines and that allowed her to use her married name for her new Philippines passport. My question is this: Do we need a marriage certificate or is the PSA fine? I'm literally dumping every document I can think of into the I-130, so they can't have any excuses or ask for any sort of documentation. Any and all information would be very helpful, since this would give two people a better shot at life. Thank you.

[top_secret 2,563]

If you married in Utah then you need a Utah marriage certificate.  A PSA Report of Marriage is considered a marriage certificate in the Philippines but it has no legal value in the US.  You can submit the PSA ROM as relationship evidence but the Utah marriage certificate is the only one that counts to in the US.

Edited 9 hours ago by top_secret

[Lemonslice 5,004]

8 hours ago, Aradieus said:

Hello everyone, I'm trying to move my wife and step-son to the US. I am a US citizen born and raised. I met my wife in Europe while working for the US government in Romania. To make a long story short, we like many others were separated during COVID and got married online. We originally planned to get married in Romania, but Romania does not have a Philippines Embassy and we were not allowed to leave Romania because of their Covid rules. Ok, so not to deviate to much from the information I'm trying to obtain here. We for legal purposes were married in Utah. I was in the US at the time and my wife was in the Philippines.

 

Going through the I-130 they are talking about a marriage certificate, for the purposes of how my wife changed her spousal name to her married name. Now, we have a PSA marriage certificate in the Philippines and that allowed her to use her married name for her new Philippines passport. My question is this: Do we need a marriage certificate or is the PSA fine? I'm literally dumping every document I can think of into the I-130, so they can't have any excuses or ask for any sort of documentation. Any and all information would be very helpful, since this would give two people a better shot at life. Thank you.

Did you see each other in person after getting married?

[Aradieus 2]

9 hours ago, top_secret said:

If you married in Utah then you need a Utah marriage certificate.  A PSA Report of Marriage is considered a marriage certificate in the Philippines but it has no legal value in the US.  You can submit the PSA ROM as relationship evidence but the Utah marriage certificate is the only one that counts to in the US.

I actually just realized out marriage license is also a marriage certificate lol. It literally says & marriage certificate. 

[Aradieus 2]

2 hours ago, Lemonslice said:

Did you see each other in person after getting married?

Yes. It took about five months to secure a spousal Visa to the Philippines, but we have had a domicile ever since 12/21

 

We also lived together for two years in Romania. So 2 years unmarried and almost 3 married.