Interview Day, Marriage Certificate

[austinh89 0]

So my wife finally had her interview January 17. But we ran into a problem, the interviewer in the end said we needed a copy of our marriage certificate, once received the embassy will contact her with their decision. She had a marriage record, as you would get walking into a courthouse and asked for a copy, notarized by the county clerk. This is the same proof of marriage that was accepted by the NVC. Is the embassy looking for the diploma like paper which would be signed by the performer of the ceremony? Is this something I would get threw the Department of State Vital Records, Court House if so? We recieved a simple copy of a marriage certificate in diploma like form, and it says bottom right corner, this is not a legal document, it seems that it would only be for display and not be what they are looking for, I am confused...

[TBoneTX 47,649]

*** Duplicate thread removed. ***

[nyali 0]

Hi,

We also got an RFE at the USCIS level, and I am thinking you went with the marriage certificate from the Church and not the document that shows that your marriage was registered at the county clerk. The document I believe they want is the one that usually states "Republic of Kenya" as the header, where the marriage was solemnized, what district and province. So when you get married, you sign the one from the church and then there is one from the county. It also has a record number on the top left hand side. That one normally comes from Sheria house (I believe), so if you lost that copy you can always request another one.

[austinh89 0]

Hi,

We also got an RFE at the USCIS level, and I am thinking you went with the marriage certificate from the Church and not the document that shows that your marriage was registered at the county clerk. The document I believe they want is the one that usually states "Republic of Kenya" as the header, where the marriage was solemnized, what district and province. So when you get married, you sign the one from the church and then there is one from the county. It also has a record number on the top left hand side. That one normally comes from Sheria house (I believe), so if you lost that copy you can always request another one.

Hey, This was her final interview for her visa. We was married back here in the united states. The record given to her as I said was a notarized record of marriage from our local court house, not the Church...I'm guessing from the few responses that no one is really sure how to handle this...but I emailed 6 diffrent departments. Even though only 2 really mattered to the level of the process we are at. Tuesday, they called my wife and told her they needed to complete her paperwork to continue her visa process, I'm not completely sure what that means, if my emails had reached them, or what. And bad for me my wife is a bit intiminated by the embassy people so she didnt take the time to ask to many questions to figure out what exactly is going on = /. Though I could see how, I called them once and customer service isn't 5 star...But my wife mailed them her voluntary department judgment papers, her planed ticket records, her agian marriage record, and her passport. Hopefully well find something out soon. I also drove 2 1/2 hours yesterday to get a State Department record of our marriage. Its a lil more fancy/ official looking. I fed-ex priority mailed it to the embassy with the needed information with it, hopefully they will find it as a suitable record if our local court house record wasn't good enough..

[Ms Hogan 296]

I was also married in the US. The only marriage certificate I have also came from the clerk's office. I don't know what else they would be looking for. Perhaps consider calling the clerk's office to see if there is a different version of what they provide? It sounds very confusing to me.

[The Mean Lady 604]

I can't tell you what is WRONG with yours, but I'll tell you what is RIGHT about mine, and maybe you compare and see if something is off?

1- It has on it, a copy of the marriage license signed by my witnesses and the reverend.

2- It states CERTIFICATION OF VITAL RECORD

3- There's a disclaimer about how Gary A. King is the county clerk and keeper of files

4- signed by mister Gary A. King (obviously your county clerk is different)

5- Most importantly, the imprint seal/stamp from the office. It MUST have this stamp on it.

6- It also has several VOID watermarks all over it.

7- They have to be ordered and paid for (whether you can pick up, i'm not sure, but you do have to pay for them)

Edited January 23, 2013 by KDH

[The Mean Lady 604]

Also, if it helps, mine can be ordered after filing out a pdf and mailing in.

The information is all online here for my county-

http://www.dupageco.org/countyclerk/1862/

Perhaps your county has the same?

[austinh89 0]

I was also married in the US. The only marriage certificate I have also came from the clerk's office. I don't know what else they would be looking for. Perhaps consider calling the clerk's office to see if there is a different version of what they provide? It sounds very confusing to me.

Yes it is very confusing, my only thought was to get a record of marriage from the department of state, for sake of maybe our courts version wasn't offical looking enough? thank for the reply

[austinh89 0]

Also, if it helps, mine can be ordered after filing out a pdf and mailing in.

The information is all online here for my county-

http://www.dupageco.org/countyclerk/1862/

Perhaps your county has the same?

Hey, yea the one from our court house is pretty plane jane... yea i just made that up, dunno if thats a thing or not =p. It has the obvious record of our marriage, license and certificate, who married us, etc. Its notarized by a seal of our county clerk ,which is basicly just a fancy paper crimper that puts a neat design somewhere at the bottom of the paper, and is signed and dated by the deputy of the clerk of court working whatever day you go in to get it. My thought on this was maybe it didn't look legit enough to them, so i got a record from the Department of State of vital records here in VA. It is of course much more fancied up, With crazy rainbow background designs over the whole thing, outlined in a design im sure only special printers can duplicate. And im sure it has some kind of watermark or other methods of security on it preventing a normal copy of being made. I hope all its fanciness is enough to ohh and ahh them into accepting it. You would think if the NVC accepted my court version the Embassy would as well. Also...you'd think confirming our marriage would be a quick computer look or phone call away for them...

[The Mean Lady 604]

Hey, yea the one from our court house is pretty plane jane... yea i just made that up, dunno if thats a thing or not =p. It has the obvious record of our marriage, license and certificate, who married us, etc. Its notarized by a seal of our county clerk ,which is basicly just a fancy paper crimper that puts a neat design somewhere at the bottom of the paper, and is signed and dated by the deputy of the clerk of court working whatever day you go in to get it. My thought on this was maybe it didn't look legit enough to them, so i got a record from the Department of State of vital records here in VA. It is of course much more fancied up, With crazy rainbow background designs over the whole thing, outlined in a design im sure only special printers can duplicate. And im sure it has some kind of watermark or other methods of security on it preventing a normal copy of being made. I hope all its fanciness is enough to ohh and ahh them into accepting it. You would think if the NVC accepted my court version the Embassy would as well. Also...you'd think confirming our marriage would be a quick computer look or phone call away for them...

It's the fancy crimper stamp (lol) that actually is what makes it legit, so I'm surprised!

Of course, I'll be the first to admit, I was looking at my stamp and you can't even read it.

It could say 'certified by joe schmo' for all I know.

I could barely make out the word 'illinois' on it lol

[austinh89 0]

It's the fancy crimper stamp (lol) that actually is what makes it legit, so I'm surprised!

Of course, I'll be the first to admit, I was looking at my stamp and you can't even read it.

It could say 'certified by joe schmo' for all I know.

I could barely make out the word 'illinois' on it lol

Lol, yea to be honest, I feel confident I could counterfeit their little crimp stamp if I felt the need to in a few days with just some material from a local lowes =p. So im hoping for the best in that, hoping maybe the woman who interviewed her was a kenyan lady who maybe didn't know entirely what she was looking at ( no offense to them) and they figured that out after my emails which is why they asked for my wife to just mail them everything. Or they looked at it with my same mind thought like, a printer and a little effort from someone who is slightly handy could have made this up.. and they want something a little more well done as in the State Dept Record. But these are just hopes

[The Mean Lady 604]

Lol, yea to be honest, I feel confident I could counterfeit their little crimp stamp if I felt the need to in a few days with just some material from a local lowes =p. So im hoping for the best in that, hoping maybe the woman who interviewed her was a kenyan lady who maybe didn't know entirely what she was looking at ( no offense to them) and they figured that out after my emails which is why they asked for my wife to just mail them everything. Or they looked at it with my same mind thought like, a printer and a little effort from someone who is slightly handy could have made this up.. and they want something a little more well done as in the State Dept Record. But these are just hopes

im curious now to look at the other four i have but theyre in my car and its 5 degrees out.

neg eleven w the wind.

Edited January 24, 2013 by KDH