California AOS certificate of marriage issues

[kemm360 144]

Hello fantastic people of VJ. We have some little problem here and we cannot get it straight after many searches, anyway here it goes.

 

I got here to the states on 25th of August 2018 and got married to my wife on 7th of September 2018 at The Los Angeles courthouse, by the airport. After our wedding at the spot, we were given a certificate like paper that states “License and certificate of marriage” on top and it has a customer copy written across it in the background, we were told a certificate will come in the mail to our house in 6 to 8 weeks (Umm)...

 

The court clerk said the one we have is as good as the certificate and we can do anything with it but searching online i saw mixed issues. Some said they were fine and some said they were RFE’d.

Los Angeles VJs or people who has an idea, please step in, how did y’all do yours? I want you guys to shine your lights as we are really confused right now. We need to get this things going as EAD is highly needed. Getting tired of sitting home all day while wife is working especially without having the feeling that EAD is coming yet. We have completed all the AOS paperworks and this is the only thing that is holding us down. We don’t want to mess it up. 

 

Thank You! 

[mushroomspore 3,044]

Fellow Los Angeleno here. My marriage cert took 6 weeks to get to us. Sorry I don't know if there is a way to get it sooner. It's better to wait, in my opinion, so you can avoid an RFE.

[geowrian 22,337]

Given the recent change in issuance of RFE vs denials that went into effect on 9/11 this year, I would not recommend submitting an I-485 with a missing marriage certificate. This is kinda the exact thing the new policy was designed to avoid - a "placeholder" application to get in line and then send required documentation later.

 

That said, the document you noted you already have may be sufficient by itself. I'll defer to others more familiar from your county, but in some states the license also acts as a marriage certificate once endorsed.

Edited September 16, 2018 by geowrian

[Sunnyland 639]

Usually a few days/weeks after you marry, they will mail you a certified copy of the marriage certificate with all the official county seals, etc. 

Please note that if it does not have the proper county seals (once recorded), you may get an RFE for it.

When I did my AOS (long time ago), I ordered 2 additional copies (and I paid extra $) of the marriage certificate so I would have one to mail with my AOS package.

 

This is an old post but talks about the same issue.

 

 

Edited September 16, 2018 by Sunnyland

[G Walters 136]

It is best to wait for the raised seal version of you marriage certificate. Order more than one copy you will need them in the future. They are looking for the one that is registered in your county. .