Marriage Certificate for applying the AOS

[korameri 0]

Hi,

My wife came to the state as a K-1 visa & currently is in process of changing her status to permanant (I-485).

We just got married a week ago at the East Los Angeles District Office and waiting for our marriage certificate (AOS requirements), but they said that we need to wait for about 10 weeks to get the marriage certificate.

I was shocked because if we need to wait that long, my wife's k-1 visa will be expired.

Actually I have the customer copy of the "Marriage license/certificate" which is signed by the commisioner who hosted our marriage at the district offce, but this is not the actual one.

Does anyone know if this copy would work for the AOS application or do I need to wait for the actual one to come?

Any comments will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

[Otto 83]

The license you're referring to has not been recorded so it will likely not be sufficient for AOS (you'll have to wait).

(Something other folks can learn from this - when you get married - ask to hand deliver the signed marriage license yourself to the County Clerk's office - or whichever office handles marriages - so you can get the document recorded yourself - this is allowable in most states - that way you're not waiting for things to come in the mail.)

By the way - the K-1 visa isn't the issue any longer (that was used/voided when she entered the US) - the I-94 in her passport is the document that governs her status (which would expire 90 days after her entry to the US). Even so - should you go a bit over that because you're waiting for the marriage certificate, you'll be fine - just file the AOS as soon as possible.