AOS Certified Copy of Marriage Certificate

[bimik 4]

Hi Everyone !

We finally got married on July 21st at San Francisco City Hall. We received a souvenir marriage certificate on the same day. The original marriage certificate is to be sent to us in a few weeks. I just read in the instructions that we will need to file a certified copy of marriage certificate with I-485 package. Does this mean that I need to apply asap with SF City Hall ? I don't know how much time it will require to get a certified copy or is there a way to have it certified anywhere else once we receive the original form?

Thank you

Bimik

[engineer21 51]

Hi Everyone !

We finally got married on July 21st at San Francisco City Hall. We received a souvenir marriage certificate on the same day. The original marriage certificate is to be sent to us in a few weeks. I just read in the instructions that we will need to file a certified copy of marriage certificate with I-485 package. Does this mean that I need to apply asap with SF City Hall ? I don't know how much time it will require to get a certified copy or is there a way to have it certified anywhere else once we receive the original form?

Thank you

Bimik

The copy you get from the city hall should already be a certified coppy.

I don't know how it works in SF, but when we went to get ours they simply printed it out and certified it (with a raised seal) right then and there.

You don't need to send the actual certified copy with your AOS. Just a regular xerox copy of it. Keep the original cert. copy for your self.

[payxibka 10,044]

Hi Everyone !

We finally got married on July 21st at San Francisco City Hall. We received a souvenir marriage certificate on the same day. The original marriage certificate is to be sent to us in a few weeks. I just read in the instructions that we will need to file a certified copy of marriage certificate with I-485 package. Does this mean that I need to apply asap with SF City Hall ? I don't know how much time it will require to get a certified copy or is there a way to have it certified anywhere else once we receive the original form?

Thank you

Bimik

The one that is coming (in a few weeks) from city hall is the one you will use for AOS. You will make a regular photocopy of the "certified" certificate for your package.... The "souvenir" one is exactly that, a "souvenir" and is not acceptable for use for AOS.

[bimik 4]

Thank you for your replies ! That is actually good news for me. I just have a bit of hesitation as visa journey guide says "certified" copy of marriage certificate. Therefore, I am wondering a regular copy will work. Here is the link http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1k3aos

Thank you once again !

[payxibka 10,044]

Thank you for your replies ! That is actually good news for me. I just have a bit of hesitation as visa journey guide says "certified" copy of marriage certificate. Therefore, I am wondering a regular copy will work. Here is the link http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1k3aos

Thank you once again !

but if you look at the I-485 instructions they say the USCIS does NOT routinely ask for "original" documents and a regular photocopy of the original is sufficient UNLESS an original is specifically asked for. For AOS, the certified marriage license is the document but they do NOT ask for it to be original...

moving thread to AOS forum

[VanessaTony 3,567]

Thank you for your replies ! That is actually good news for me. I just have a bit of hesitation as visa journey guide says "certified" copy of marriage certificate. Therefore, I am wondering a regular copy will work. Here is the link http://www.visajourney.com/content/k1k3aos

The VJ guide is wrong and no-one's fixed it yet.

Please read the AOS thread in my signature which has the FORM instructions document list in it's entirety.

Good luck.

**Edit - REGULAR photocopy of your marriage certificate (the one you're waiting on) is sufficient.

[Martyshk 137]

When we were obtaining our marriage license we paid for 2 copies of the certified marriage license (or whatever it's really called - the one you receive in the mail couple of weeks later).

So I actually included one that is "original" along with the photocopy of that certificate.

What I'm kicking myself for right now is that I've only included one copy of it along with the AOS packet, and mistakenly put the copy of the "souvenir" one behind the I-765 form.

I hope it's not a big deal, maybe they'll be kind enough to look at the whole package together before separating I-131 and I-765 from it.

[prakashpcs 0]

The one that is coming (in a few weeks) from city hall is the one you will use for AOS. You will make a regular photocopy of the "certified" certificate for your package.... The "souvenir" one is exactly that, a "souvenir" and is not acceptable for use for AOS.

I am getting married in St Paul, MN. can i use souvenier copy of marriage certificate for AOS.

[tru_loves_journey 117]

One week after we were married I went to the courthouse and got a Certified Copy it cost $10 in my state. As for including a copy of it in the AOS package, No Way I was going to chance sending them a "Copy" so I sent the original. I couldn't accept the fact I would have to worry about it not being the original and possibly getting an RFE. That was the best $10 ever spent to ease my mind. Good Luck to you

[Pitaya 2,576]

I agree with tru-loves-journey. There have been numerous threads in the forums about submitting a certified marriage license copy (CMLC), or a photocopy of a certified marriage license (CML). The debate goes back and forth, ad nauseum... IMO, the bottom line often depends on the adjudicator's preference.

We got married a little over a month ago and had to wait 2 weeks for the marriage to be recorded by the county recorder. One day while my wife and step-son were getting their immigration physicals done, I stopped by the King County recorder's office and got ten (10) CMLC at a cost of $3@, for a total of $30. To me that was a bargain! That is particularly evident when I compared it to the fees charged by the civil surgeon!

It seems like everybody and their mother wants a copy of the CMLC. I didn't want to chance receiving a RFE just because of an adjudicator's whim or fancy. For my own piece of mind, I submitted a CMLC with the AOS applications. For me, the $3 cost of the CMLC pales in comparison to the $2140 AOS fees (wife and step-son), and the profusion of costs and expenses associated with this entire immigration processes.

YMMV,

Good luck on your immigration journey.

[didopage 337]

This is an old topic guys...

Prakashpcs, no, you cannot use a "souvenir" copy of mariage certificate for AOS, it needs to be the official one, and it can be a regular copy (if you have an interview, you will have to show the original though).

Edited September 10, 2012 by didopage

[KayDeeCee 4,891]

This is an old topic guys...

Prakashpcs, no, you cannot use a "souvenir" copy of mariage certificate for AOS, it needs to be the official one, and it can be a regular copy (if you have an interview, you will have to show the original though).