Lawyers Manual - Unified Court System

318 Lori Cohen
Has the Victim Been Legally Married?
Certain forms of immigration relief require the victim to demonstrate that she
was legally married to her USC or LPR abuser. If the marriage occurred in the
United States, a certified copy of a state-issued marriage certificate constitutes
proof of marriage. If it occurred outside the United States, an official marriage
certificate from the country of marriage, along with a certified translation, is proof
of marriage.
If a marriage occurred abroad, the ability to obtain a certificate may be more
complicated. While a valid marriage certificate is obtainable in many countries,
some may have little or no record keeping due to war or natural disasters, while
others are notorious for issuing fraudulent documents. As a general rule, USCIS
requires that only primary evidence of marriage be submitted in support of
immigration applications and petitions, unless the applicant or petitioner can
demonstrate that the document is unavailable. In that case, secondary evidence,
such as church records, may be included. 30 However, the evidentiary standard is
relaxed for applications submitted by domestic violence victims, and USCIS will
consider “all credible evidence.” 31 While it is not necessary to demonstrate that
the preferred primary or secondary evidence is unavailable for certain domestic
violence related remedies, it is still advisable to do so whenever possible. Where
primary evidence is unavailable, the victim should submit witness affidavits, if
possible, to prove lawful marriage.
If the abuser was previously married, the victim must demonstrate she
believed that she had entered into a legally valid marriage with him. Although
the statute protects a domestic violence victim who may also be the innocent
victim of bigamy, she nevertheless must submit proof of termination of any of
her own prior marriages. 32
Was the Marriage Entered in “Good Faith”?
In addition to evidence of a legal marriage, some applications require that
the marriage be entered in “good faith” and not merely to obtain an immigration
benefit. There is no single list of required documents used to prove good faith
marriage. Acceptable evidence includes: birth certificates showing children born
into the marriage, health records indicating any miscarriages that occurred during
the marriage, leases, titles, receipts, bills, and other correspondence showing a
shared address, joint tax returns, insurance policies, credit cards, bank statements,
even grocery or video club cards listing both spouse’s names.