Marriage and divorce records Informational Copies?

N

n400apper

New Member
If someone is applying for citizenship not based on marriage (has been permanent resident for over 5 years) and is now divorced, are they still required to send in copies of marriage and divorce records? She is no longer married to anyone, but her green card is printed with the married last name from a previous marriage which is neither her current last name, nor her maiden name.
If so, if it‘s a California marriage, will “informational copies” of the marriage records suffice so that the applicant doesn’t have the expense and additional hassle of being required to get their request for the records notarized?
I assume any records ordered online from VitalChek are considered informational copies since the request can’t be notarized online.
 
I’m not sure what vitalcheck is, but copies (not notarized) of originals should be submitted and the original brought to interview.
Per the instructions :

Under documents to be submitted with application:
Photocopy of your Current Legal Marital Status Document. Provide a photocopy of your current marriage certificate, divorce, annulment decree, or death certificate of former spouse.

Under documents to be brought to interview:
Evidence of Your Current Legal Marital Status. Bring the original of all marriage certificates, divorce or annulment decrees, death certificates, and other official records to confirm your marital history and your current legal marital status.
 
SusieQQQ said:
I’m not sure what vitalcheck is, but copies (not notarized) of originals should be submitted and the original brought to interview.
Per the instructions :

Under documents to be submitted with application:
Photocopy of your Current Legal Marital Status Document. Provide a photocopy of your current marriage certificate, divorce, annulment decree, or death certificate of former spouse.

Under documents to be brought to interview:
Evidence of Your Current Legal Marital Status. Bring the original of all marriage certificates, divorce or annulment decrees, death certificates, and other official records to confirm your marital history and your current legal marital status.
Click to expand...

She has lost all originals of all records and will order new copies.
In California, they have two types of marriage records you can order. One is called certified informational and the other is called authorized certified. They are both marked as certified, but the certified informational has some things redacted like social security numbers and signatures. Informational Certified Copies have the words "INFORMATIONAL, NOT A VALID DOCUMENT TO ESTABLISH IDENTITY" imprinted across the face of the copy.
I can’t post a link with details on the forum because it gets rejected as look like spam, but you can Google it.

Ordering an authorized certified copy of the marriage license requires a sworn statement that you are authorized to receive it which must also be notarized. I want to verify that version of the record is not required.

VitalChek is a third party service some government agencies use to provide online ordering of records so that you don’t have to request records by mailing in a paper application. If you order records online, you clearly can’t submit a notarized sworn statement. So, California records ordered online must be certified informational copies then.
 
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OK, thanks. Hopefully someone else here has seen this before and can reply later.
It’s surprising that this is the first time anyone has asked this question.
Unfortunately, the records offices are still closed to the public due to covid-19, so she cannot walk into the office to request the records in person.
To request the authorized certified copy of marriage records by mail requires notarization and ordering online gets you the certified informational version.
 
I had a look at the vitalcheck website. On the home page under all the listings for informational copies it says “This document is primarily used for genealogy and cannot be used for legal purposes”
https://www.vitalchek.com/vital-records/california/california-vital-statistics
Doesn’t sound like that would be acceptable for N400 imo but hopefully someone who has actually had to replace an original through this method will be able to contribute.
 
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