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Lawyers Manual - Unified Court System

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318 Lori Cohen<br />

Has the Victim Been Legally Married?<br />

Certain forms of immigration relief require the victim to demonstrate that she<br />

was legally married to her USC or LPR abuser. If the marriage occurred in the<br />

United States, a certified copy of a state-issued marriage certificate constitutes<br />

proof of marriage. If it occurred outside the United States, an official marriage<br />

certificate from the country of marriage, along with a certified translation, is proof<br />

of marriage.<br />

If a marriage occurred abroad, the ability to obtain a certificate may be more<br />

complicated. While a valid marriage certificate is obtainable in many countries,<br />

some may have little or no record keeping due to war or natural disasters, while<br />

others are notorious for issuing fraudulent documents. As a general rule, USCIS<br />

requires that only primary evidence of marriage be submitted in support of<br />

immigration applications and petitions, unless the applicant or petitioner can<br />

demonstrate that the document is unavailable. In that case, secondary evidence,<br />

such as church records, may be included. 30 However, the evidentiary standard is<br />

relaxed for applications submitted by domestic violence victims, and USCIS will<br />

consider “all credible evidence.” 31 While it is not necessary to demonstrate that<br />

the preferred primary or secondary evidence is unavailable for certain domestic<br />

violence related remedies, it is still advisable to do so whenever possible. Where<br />

primary evidence is unavailable, the victim should submit witness affidavits, if<br />

possible, to prove lawful marriage.<br />

If the abuser was previously married, the victim must demonstrate she<br />

believed that she had entered into a legally valid marriage with him. Although<br />

the statute protects a domestic violence victim who may also be the innocent<br />

victim of bigamy, she nevertheless must submit proof of termination of any of<br />

her own prior marriages. 32<br />

Was the Marriage Entered in “Good Faith”?<br />

In addition to evidence of a legal marriage, some applications require that<br />

the marriage be entered in “good faith” and not merely to obtain an immigration<br />

benefit. There is no single list of required documents used to prove good faith<br />

marriage. Acceptable evidence includes: birth certificates showing children born<br />

into the marriage, health records indicating any miscarriages that occurred during<br />

the marriage, leases, titles, receipts, bills, and other correspondence showing a<br />

shared address, joint tax returns, insurance policies, credit cards, bank statements,<br />

even grocery or video club cards listing both spouse’s names.

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