Questions about self united marriage in PA

[VNMH 1]

Hi everyone, 

I and my fiancée are planning to obtain our marriage certificate through self united marriage (marrying without a ceremony and an officiant). I would like to know if this special marrying process will affect my AOS process negatively, since there will be no officiant and ceremony. We went to the marriage licensing office today, we were told we only to return the license with our signatures and two witnesses signatures, then we will receive the official marriage certificate. Is this marriage certificate any different from the one with a ceremony and an officiant? Thank you

[Crazy Cat 45,244]

Looks legal, but why are you doing this?  Why not just get an official court house marriage which would be 100% solid?  Never leave room for USCIS to question anything.

Edited Thursday at 09:45 PM by Crazy Cat

[Fr8dog 468]

In theory the USCIS only looks at the following, Are they legally married, do they reside together and was the marriage entered as a "real" marriage.

The "average" person in a country has a certain "view" of what is considered the "norm" for these points. Deviating from the "Norm" does not equal denial but it opens you up to more scrutiny and more questions. 

 

If you have a reason to go that route (and not the court house wedding route), it's totally fine and legal for you to do that, just as it is totally fine and legal for the USCIS to ask more questions about it.

 

There was a time that courthouse weddings were frowned upon and a church weddings were the norm. People had reasons to go courthouse (for instance cheaper, faster) and then had to explain why they did that vs church wedding.

[smilingstone 734]

4 hours ago, Crazy Cat said:

Looks legal, but why are you doing this?  Why not just get an official court house marriage which would be 100% solid?  Never leave room for USCIS to question anything.

 

1 hour ago, Fr8dog said:

In theory the USCIS only looks at the following, Are they legally married, do they reside together and was the marriage entered as a "real" marriage.

The "average" person in a country has a certain "view" of what is considered the "norm" for these points. Deviating from the "Norm" does not equal denial but it opens you up to more scrutiny and more questions. 

 

If you have a reason to go that route (and not the court house wedding route), it's totally fine and legal for you to do that, just as it is totally fine and legal for the USCIS to ask more questions about it.

 

There was a time that courthouse weddings were frowned upon and a church weddings were the norm. People had reasons to go courthouse (for instance cheaper, faster) and then had to explain why they did that vs church wedding.

 

Going K1 route is already not the norm. Hell, even going spousal route is not the norm. The norm is to meet someone in your vicinity, plan a wedding for 1+ years, spend 10s of 1000s of $ to hold the event. In our situation, you have to do what time and means allow. Time and money is a huge factor. Nothing wrong with a UPS marriage and worrying about the celebrations later. 

 

To OP, you are fine to do this. A marriage cert is a marriage cert. If your relationship is genuine, there will be nothing to worry about. But it would help your case if you do something that includes both side of your families and can document it for AOS purposes. Also, bona fide marriage is not evidence through a typical wedding ceremony, or lack there of, you need to think about everything, normal life, beyond the legalities of marriage. 

[Sam Burns 212]

6 hours ago, VNMH said:

Hi everyone, 

I and my fiancée are planning to obtain our marriage certificate through self united marriage (marrying without a ceremony and an officiant). I would like to know if this special marrying process will affect my AOS process negatively, since there will be no officiant and ceremony. We went to the marriage licensing office today, we were told we only to return the license with our signatures and two witnesses signatures, then we will receive the official marriage certificate. Is this marriage certificate any different from the one with a ceremony and an officiant? Thank you

This is absolutely fine, it’s the same as any other marriage license, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. I used that approach myself.

[bakphx1 801]

In the end it’s only the certificate that matters.

[JeanneAdil 7,234]

9 hours ago, Sam Burns said:

This is absolutely fine, it’s the same as any other marriage license, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. I used that approach myself.

. yes  it's perfectly legal in PA as you stated with the signatures of 2 witnesses