Outland Spousal Sponsorship for US Citizen - Marriage Certificate Request

[Mars2023]

Hi everyone,

I hope someone can give some advice and/or share their experience. A little background, I (canadian citizen) am sponsoring my wife (american citizen). We submitted an outland application back in October 2023, she is now in Canada under visitor status. So far, she's done her biometrics and medical. The issue we've run into is they requested a copy of our marriage certificate 2x now, on top of the copy we submitted with the original application. They just said that the copy we submitted was not acceptable, but they don't specify why. We got married in Texas, the marriage license and certificate is one and the same. It's signed and registered. I'm just at a lost to why they kept asking for a copy and saying the one we submitted previously is not acceptable. It's a clear scan, as clear as a scanner can be.

If there's any advice, suggestion, or similar stories, I'm all ears. TIA

 

[armoured]

My guess is that they are confused that the license is the certificate , and probably also that it's issued by the county and not a state registrar. You should include a letter to explain this and if you can some attachment that spells this out (like a legal article ).

This comes up from time to time, a unique problem for a handful of states.

 

[armoured]

For a bit more information, you might provide info like this for Texas:
https://www.dshs.texas.gov/vital-statistics/record-types
And draw attention to the text: "Marriage Verification
...
Verification letters are not considered legal substitutes for certified copies of marriage licenses. Vital Statistics strongly recommends that applicants ensure a verification will satisfy its intended use. Certified copies of marriage licenses are only available from the county clerk in the county or district in which they were originally filed."

The point being that in Texas, originals or certified copies of marriage licenses ARE the final proof of marriage.

You could also provide a link to the County Registrar's website for the county, like this one:
https://dallascountytxvitals.permitium.com/rod

Now they've complicated things on this site by referring to a marriage record but you'll have to work out to how to communicate that the county Marriage License (which I think is signed and possibly stamped by the country registrar AFTER the marriage?) IS the final record/proof of marriage.

I like the way Wikipedia puts it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_certificate
"In parts of the United States, the certificate of marriage is recorded on the same document as the marriage license or application for marriage."

Repeat: the marriage license (duly completed after ceremony) IS the document that certifies marriage.

 

[Mars2023]

For a bit more information, you might provide info like this for Texas:
https://www.dshs.texas.gov/vital-statistics/record-types
And draw attention to the text: "Marriage Verification
...
Verification letters are not considered legal substitutes for certified copies of marriage licenses. Vital Statistics strongly recommends that applicants ensure a verification will satisfy its intended use. Certified copies of marriage licenses are only available from the county clerk in the county or district in which they were originally filed."

The point being that in Texas, originals or certified copies of marriage licenses ARE the final proof of marriage.

You could also provide a link to the County Registrar's website for the county, like this one:
https://dallascountytxvitals.permitium.com/rod

Now they've complicated things on this site by referring to a marriage record but you'll have to work out to how to communicate that the county Marriage License (which I think is signed and possibly stamped by the country registrar AFTER the marriage?) IS the final record/proof of marriage.

I like the way Wikipedia puts it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_certificate
"In parts of the United States, the certificate of marriage is recorded on the same document as the marriage license or application for marriage."

Repeat: the marriage license (duly completed after ceremony) IS the document that certifies marriage.

thank you so much for the advice. we did end up adding an explanation letter as per your suggestion. hopefully they accept it this time around.