Friend is a legally ordained minister with Universal Life Church - can he marry us?

[mirrortraveler 1]

My apologies if this is in the wrong part of the forum. I didn't know where else to post this.

Okay, so I finally have a traveling date (leaving on the 23rd of January on my brand-new K-1 visa - yay! ) and my fiance and I have finally decided on how we want to marry. We want to get a marriage license and then have the ceremony on the beautiful patio of our friends' house.

Another one of our friends is a legally ordained minister with Universal Life Church. I know this is something a lot of people can simply sign up for online. I guess the concept of average members of the public being able to do that is just very new to me. I'm from Germany. We do everything in such a (boring) regulated way.

So I guess I have to ask: This really works, right? Our friend has married several couples already so he has some experience but I'm still not sure it's all as legal and by-the-book as USCIS always wants things to be. What does a legally ordained minister like our friend usually have to do to prove that he has the authority to marry us (in the state of Florida) and how does he sign off on the paperwork?

If anyone could explain that to me, that would be of great help!

Thank you so much in advance!

mirrortraveler

[Jo Së 200]

If he is legally ordained and has married couples before, than he knows what needs to be done to legally marry you and your fiance. He has to submit paperwork to the state, and you get your marriage certificate from the state, not him. At least thats how it is done in WA.

I would ask the friend to better explain the process, since he is the one with the experience.

[Vicky&Fritz 33]

My sister went and got herself ordained in the same way, so she could be a part of our ceremony. Ours is in Florida too.

She even called our county office to make sure she had the correct procedure, so we have no issues. Basically, as long as he has the credentials, from the Church, (which he would have had to pay for) in Florida he is legally allowed to perform ceremonies. But like the above poster stated, you can talk to him for clarification.

Best of luck to you!

[Cheryl-Hossein 25]

Yep, our friend married us and he's with Universal Life. USCIS doesn't care who marries you as long as you have a legit marriage certificate.