Marriage Certificate?

[foobaz123]

So, we just got married about an hour ago and we're very happy about it. I did have a couple of questions about the marriage certificate.

 

The first: they don't mean the little red book, do they? They mean the certification that is issued by another office, yes?

The second: what is meant by a copy of the marriage certificate? We're being told we won'get the other certification for nearly a week. Which is long after I must go back to the states. Can I have the wife scan it and email me the scanned copy?

[chengkai]

A precursor: I applied DCF and went to Guangzhou directly by myself.

 

After you get married, your wife should go to the ¹«Ö¤´¦ (gong zheng chu) where she lives. There, she will ask for three "white books" - marriage certificate, criminal history record, and birth notary (like a birth certificate, but China doesn't have these). It took us over a week to receive ours, but when we did, we got three copies each (a total of 9 white books). When you submit your i-130, you need to only include the marriage certificate (white book), and not the others. The other two books will be used during the next step AFTER you submit your i-130 and get your P3 packet. Our white books were quite expensive in Shenzhen - over 700 RMB. After we received them, we made copies of the marriage certificate (white book, not the red books you got already) and included those copies in the i-130 petition. Our white book included copies (terrible copies at that) of every page from our red books with written translations in English and Chinese. When I went to Guangzhou, I brought the original white book with me along with my red marriage license. I asked the officer if a copy of the white book was acceptable or if he wanted the original white book. He accepted the copy and just asked to see my red book to verify that the info was correct.

 

You can try to have your wife scan the white book and send it to you that way, but I'm not sure if they will need the original white book in the States or not. Hope this helps.

[dnoblett]

If doing in states, a photo copy of it is fine for USCIS and for NVC if doing optional electronic processing a scan is fine, bring original to interview if not doing electronic then mail original to NVC, it should be returned at interview .

 

DCF bring original to interview.

[Ryan H]

So, we just got married about an hour ago and we're very happy about it. I did have a couple of questions about the marriage certificate.

 

 

Congratulations on getting married!!

 

When your wife goes to the Notary Office to obtain the white book that will contain your marriage certificate, she might as well obtain her birth certificate white book also, even though that will not be needed until later.

 

Since police certificates are only valid for a year and Embassies/Consulates have the discretion of asking for a police certificate that has been issued within the last 6 months, my opinion is she should wait until you receive your NOA2 from USCIS before obtaining the police certificate.

[foobaz123]

So, we just got married about an hour ago and we're very happy about it. I did have a couple of questions about the marriage certificate.

 

 

Congratulations on getting married!!

 

When your wife goes to the Notary Office to obtain the white book that will contain your marriage certificate, she might as well obtain her birth certificate white book also, even though that will not be needed until later.

 

Since police certificates are only valid for a year and Embassies/Consulates have the discretion of asking for a police certificate that has been issued within the last 6 months, my opinion is she should wait until you receive your NOA2 from USCIS before obtaining the police certificate.

 

 

 

Thanks

 

Now we play with the .gov.. fun, no? Haha

 

We ordered the marriage white book but they told us we would have to go back to her parent's town to get the birth and police report books. Since we don't seem to need them until P3 we decided to wait on it.

[foobaz123]

If doing in states, a photo copy of it is fine for USCIS and for NVC if doing optional electronic processing a scan is fine, bring original to interview if not doing electronic then mail original to NVC, it should be returned at interview .

 

DCF bring original to interview.

 

 

Oh how I wish we were doing DCF...

 

If a photocopy is good for the initial application to USCIS, can you or anyone else think of a reason she couldn't scan it and then I send in a printed copy?

[dnoblett]

If doing in states, a photo copy of it is fine for USCIS and for NVC if doing optional electronic processing a scan is fine, bring original to interview if not doing electronic then mail original to NVC, it should be returned at interview .

 

DCF bring original to interview.

 

 

Oh how I wish we were doing DCF...

 

If a photocopy is good for the initial application to USCIS, can you or anyone else think of a reason she couldn't scan it and then I send in a printed copy?

 

That would be fine, a scan and print is the same quality that USCIS will accept. NVC will also accept this when opting in to electronic process. Note scans need to be PDF for NVC.

[david_dawei]

this may vary around China, but at the marriage office in Shenyang, one can have them take care of the marriage certificate "white books" and get them fairly fast.

[foobaz123]

If doing in states, a photo copy of it is fine for USCIS and for NVC if doing optional electronic processing a scan is fine, bring original to interview if not doing electronic then mail original to NVC, it should be returned at interview .

 

DCF bring original to interview.

 

 

Oh how I wish we were doing DCF...

 

If a photocopy is good for the initial application to USCIS, can you or anyone else think of a reason she couldn't scan it and then I send in a printed copy?

 

That would be fine, a scan and print is the same quality that USCIS will accept. NVC will also accept this when opting in to electronic process. Note scans need to be PDF for NVC.

 

 

It turns out the trip got extended due to illness. So I get to go back with the actual white book.