Consulate of Houston issued Marriage Certificate is USELESS
magic_mail said:
3) I checked from Consulate General of India(Huston), they issue marriage certificate. I would like to know if any of you have used this services...
4) My wife is in India....she had a talk with the officials there, they say both(husband/wife) presence is required to get certificate
Yes, I have a direct experience with Consulate of Houston regarding this issue for my closest buddy who had to get this for her husband's AoS. They got married under the Hindu Marriage Act, for which no marriage certificate or registration is mandatory in India. However, during the interview, this was the precise document the officer asked. When she gave the Consulate of Houston's letter, which merely says to the effect that "these people claim to have been married on such and such date," the officer said that it lacked the burden of proof requirement as the document clearly needs to be from the civic authorities. Since, she did not file for her hubby's Advance Parole, they could not go in person to India to get the same. So she was stuck after the interview for her husband.
If document from civic authorities could not be given, she was asked to provided an affidavit to that effect with clear proof as to why such a document is unavailable. This affidavit should meet the burden of proof requirement too.
Luckily, in order to get this letter from Houston, she had letters from the priests who had presided their marriage as well as letters of witness from her witnesses in India. Together with that when she went back to the Jacksonville Office to submit to the officer, the officer accepted that and approved her husband's petition right there.
So, my direct experience with Consulate of Houston's "marriage certificate" is hopeless. They do not give the actual civic certificate as you may think they do.
So this is what I would suggest:
Since your wife is in India, try to get the following done.
1) She can go and probably try to "talk" to some officials in the registrar office in an "appropriate" manner and try to get them in writing that they cannot issue a marriage certificate, even though she claims that she got married to you on such and such date at such and such place.
2) Get the letters from the priests, elders, and other witnesses to your marriage to the effect that you got married. (HINDU and MUSLIM). If you are a CHRISTIAN, then go and get the "Extract of Certificate of Marriage" from the church you got married and together with that certificate start getting ready the affidavit.
3) Even if 1 and 2 fails, your wife can take your parents and her parents and approach a NOTARY and with a Rs. 100 stamp paper, can get the facts notarized and get it submitted to the court as a notarized document. This document will definitely help further your case here at USCIS when you claim that you have other proof of marriage including an affidavit sworn and notarized before a court of law in India, but do not have the "civic certificate" from the authorities.
Hope this helps.