certified copy of marriage...

[dolphin1 5]

hi, my AOS interview will be next week, they ask about a certified copy of marriage contract, the one i got i sent it wilth the AOS file months ago , do i have to just copy the marriage contract we have and take it with the original to show them ? . thank you

[YuAndDan 153]

USCIS no longer routinely requires submission of original documents or "certified copies." Instead, ordinary legible photocopies of such documents (including naturalization certificates and alien registration cards) will be acceptable for initial filing and approval of petitions and applications.

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/men...00045f3d6a1RCRD

You should have sent in a photo-copy and kept the original for future uses like AOS interview. Bring the original marriage cert to the interview.

[dolphin1 5]

i sent the original certified copy with the AOS file as they asked about, now i think i have just the copy of the certified copy, i will take it and take the original marriage certificate, thank you for ur help Dan.

[lucyrich 20]

There's a terminology issue here.

You don't have your original marriage certificate. It's locked up in a vault somewhere in a government office, maybe the office of a county clerk or county recorder.

The closest to an original you can get is a "certified copy". That's the copy that you get directly from a government official, containing a raised seal, emblem, stamp, or other mark that shows that the government employee who made the copy certifies that it's an accurate copy of the certificate that's in the government vault.

Normal procedure is that, when you file a petition, you mail them an ordinary photocopy of your certified copy of the marriage certificate. At the interview, you bring both a second photocopy and the actual certified copy. They'll look at the certified copy, verify the seal, hand it back to you, and they'll normally keep the second photocopy.

If you already mailed them a certified copy, I wouldn't automatically assume they'll have it with them at the interview. It's possible, I don't know. But they may still want to see a certified copy of your marriage certificate. They may be unwilling to pull the papers out of your file and return that certified copy to you. You probably should go to the courthouse (or wherever) and get a second certified copy of your marriage certificate, and bring that to the interview with you, along with a photocopy of it.