Church-issued marriage certificate only

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jwazevedo
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Church-issued marriage certificate only

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I've run into a glitch with the citizenship process. It seems that my parents don't have a state-issued marriage certificate. What they have is the record of marriage issued by the church (Catholic). It's a nice enough piece of paper, with the seal of the church, but there's no way the state would ever give this an apostille. The county recorder says that they can't certify it since it never went through the civil bureaucracy. Has anyone else had this situation? Any thoughts on whether the un-apostille'd Catholic record will be acceptable as the marriage certificate?

Thanks,
Jerry
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VaDeb
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Re: Church-issued marriage certificate only

Post by VaDeb »

Hi Jerry,

Are you parents/parent still living?

Debbie
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Steverino3006
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Re: Church-issued marriage certificate only

Post by Steverino3006 »

you might create a cover letter to be signed and notarized by somebody (preferably from the church) and then have the notary stamp apostilled.

just a thought.
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teddi
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Re: Church-issued marriage certificate only

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jwazevedo wrote:I've run into a glitch with the citizenship process. It seems that my parents don't have a state-issued marriage certificate. What they have is the record of marriage issued by the church (Catholic). It's a nice enough piece of paper, with the seal of the church, but there's no way the state would ever give this an apostille. The county recorder says that they can't certify it since it never went through the civil bureaucracy. Has anyone else had this situation? Any thoughts on whether the un-apostille'd Catholic record will be acceptable as the marriage certificate?

Thanks,
Jerry
Ask the archivist of the archdiocese for a notarized copy. The Secretary of State will have the notary's signature on file and will apostille it.
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jwazevedo
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Re: Church-issued marriage certificate only

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Thanks for the suggestions!

Debbie, One parent (not the Italian one) is still living. Are you thinking a sworn statement of some sort??

Steve and Teddi, I can try to prevail on the church to help with the notarized signature. They have been willing to hand over the record, but having them arrange for a notary may be more than they can handle. I'll ask. If I were not 900 miles away, it might be easier. We'll see.

Jerry
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teddi
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Re: Church-issued marriage certificate only

Post by teddi »

The archdiocese should have an archivist on site who can notarize- check with them.
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Re: Church-issued marriage certificate only

Post by VaDeb »

Hi Jerry,

Laws do vary by state, but as long as one of the parties to the record is still alive, and you have the church record, you should be able to have a delayed marriage record created. You will have to check with vital records in your state.

Debbie
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Re: Church-issued marriage certificate only

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Thanks, Teddi and Debbie. I'll pursue both options and see what I can find out for my particular situation. I appreciate your ideas.

Jerry
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Re: Church-issued marriage certificate only

Post by jwazevedo »

The issue has been resolved. Here's what happened.

I called the Sonoma County (CA) Clerk, and they told me that if both parties are still alive, they could file for a delayed registration of marriage. In my case, though, I would need to get a court order for a delayed registration. But then she reminded me of something I should have thought of earlier: The certificate of marriage in California is filed in the county where the original license was issued. So while my parents were married in Sonoma County, the license was issued in Stanislaus County. I called Stanislaus, and they found the certificate. It's coming in the mail.

Thanks for the advice and support.

Jerry
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