Marriage records for green card application.

[Martobain 1]

Hello, you guys.

Me and my wife got married on the tenth of january 2014, and I'm waiting for them to process the marriage certificate in order to start my application for my greencard and work permit. On the day of the marriage I asked the people at the probate court about some sort of marriage record I could use for the application, but they didn't say they could provide me with anything. When I send them a letter in the mail asking for the marriage records, and recieve them in the mail (however long that takes), do you think I can use those for my application? Instead of having to wait for my marriage certificate and paying for the copy (which probably also takes a while to get processed)?

Thanks in advance!

[baron555 934]

Wait, you NEED the stamped certificate. It should only take about a week or two.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

When you get married you get a marriage certificate. Everyone gets this, it is an important legal record. There isn't a different thing for immigration. So I suspect if you asked them about something special for immigration they said they don't have anything. Because they don't. They just have the marriage certificate. A normal copy of that is needed for AOS.

[marriott574 13]

We asked for two copies and they did it at the same time, it took about a week for it to arrive, we were married in North Carolina so timings may vary.

[Pitaya 2,577]

~Moved from K-1 Process to Family-based AOS Forum~

~inquiry about AOS process, not K-1~

[HK12 273]

As other have said, you need to wait for your marriage certificate to come in the mail. Ours did not cost anything; maybe that is different at different courts.

We then sent a regular b/w copy of the certified marriage certificate with our AOS application and got approved without any hassle. The marriage certificate took about 10 days to come in by mail.

Edited January 28, 2014 by HK12

[Martobain 1]

Alright thanks a lot! I'll just wait. It's been 19 days so far though, so I'm getting restless!

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

Alright thanks a lot! I'll just wait. It's been 19 days so far though, so I'm getting restless!

Follow up with the clerk and see what's going on. it's perfectly normal to want your marriage certificate after a marriage. It's an important document for life.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Harpa Timsah

[Martobain 1]

When you get married you get a marriage certificate. Everyone gets this, it is an important legal record. There isn't a different thing for immigration. So I suspect if you asked them about something special for immigration they said they don't have anything. Because they don't. They just have the marriage certificate. A normal copy of that is needed for AOS.

When you say normal copy, do you mean I can just copy it with my printer at home? I don't have to get a 20 dollar copy?

[BabyFaceWife 11]

It has to be a certified copy. I'm not sure where your ceremony was but we were able to get our certified copy the day of our wedding at the county clerk's office (we got married at the JP so it was next door, just had to wait 10 minutes). You have to pay, of course, but it is a legal document that will be accepted for your application. Your real certificate can take up to 3-4 months to arrive depending on how backlogged your priest/justice of the peace/county clerk is so you might not want to wait for it!

[KayDeeCee 4,892]

When you say normal copy, do you mean I can just copy it with my printer at home? I don't have to get a 20 dollar copy?

No. No one can print their own marriage certificate. You get a certified copy of your marriage certificate from your county clerk's office. You can then make a copy of it to send off with your AOS paperwork.

I am not sure what county you are in. Your profile says your local USCIS is Atlanta. Here is the info for Fulton County. It states you could have provided $10 a copy and a self-addressed, stamped envelope to have copies of your marriage certificate mailed directly to you after your marriage was registered with the court. You should also be able to walk into your county clerk's records office and purchase copies there in person. http://www.fultoncountyga.gov/fcprobate-marriage-license

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

When you say normal copy, do you mean I can just copy it with my printer at home? I don't have to get a 20 dollar copy?

A normal black and white photo copy is fine. If you have a scanner/printer, then yes.

No. No one can print their own marriage certificate. You get a certified copy of your marriage certificate from your county clerk's office. You can then make a copy of it to send off with your AOS paperwork.

I am not sure what county you are in. Your profile says your local USCIS is Atlanta. Here is the info for Fulton County. It states you could have provided $10 a copy and a self-addressed, stamped envelope to have copies of your marriage certificate mailed directly to you after your marriage was registered with the court. You should also be able to walk into your county clerk's records office and purchase copies there in person. http://www.fultoncountyga.gov/fcprobate-marriage-license

A certified copy is not required, per the I-485 instructions.

It has to be a certified copy. I'm not sure where your ceremony was but we were able to get our certified copy the day of our wedding at the county clerk's office (we got married at the JP so it was next door, just had to wait 10 minutes). You have to pay, of course, but it is a legal document that will be accepted for your application. Your real certificate can take up to 3-4 months to arrive depending on how backlogged your priest/justice of the peace/county clerk is so you might not want to wait for it!

It does not have to be a certified copy per the I-485 instructions. The VJ guide is wrong on this.

[Martobain 1]

Alright. I really appreciate the research you guys are doing on my behalf. I've been going through this thing without a lawyer, just this website, and so far so good. Seeing as there are different answers, I'm going to have to call the probate court again this monday and ask if I can go by and get a copy there.

And yes, Jay-kay, we got married at the probate court in Fulton county, and we brought the envelope on the day we got our marriage-license. Even though I read and prepared on these forums about the fastest way to get the copies or certificate, on the marriage day itself it was all a bit too much for me to remember! I asked the clerk there but they didn't really gave me any information. So I suppose all is left is to try and go there and get my hands on a copy for my AOS and work permit application.

Thanks again for looking everything up for me! So far you've been a lot more helpful than the US goverment, but I'll get there eventually.

[QueenOfBlades 224]

In South Carolina, our marriage certificate was the same thing as the marriage license. We had our bride/groom copy and the officiant sent the other two back to the Probate Court. We went back a week later and picked up 3 certified copies of our marriage certificate. They looked much different (more official), and had the gold seal and stamp of the Probate Court.

[KayDeeCee 4,892]

A normal black and white photo copy is fine. If you have a scanner/printer, then yes.

A certified copy is not required, per the I-485 instructions.

It does not have to be a certified copy per the I-485 instructions. The VJ guide is wrong on this.

Not sure what you mean by this. You send the USCIS a copy of the certified marriage certificate you get from the court. It is certified by having the stamp/signature from the court/clerk. That is why the term 'certified marriage certificate' is used. You need a copy of the one you get back from the court after the marriage is registered. You cannot use a copy of the license or a copy of the souvenir marriage certificate a lot of people receive. It has to be a copy of the one certified by and received from the court records. No one was suggesting going out and somehow trying to make a copy certified on your own, which is not something that can really be done anyway, or that you have to send the exact one you receive from the court. Though I guess the using the word certified might be confusing at times, if people think they need to get something special or make it certified somehow..