Marriage certificates and government opinions
The Marriage Certificate Story: Applying for our visas was more exciting than we expected since we were required to furnish certified copies of our marriage certificate. The excitement came from a collision of three government viewpoints. The UK simply wanted a certified copy. Most US notaries are unwilling to certify marriage license copies because under US law you cannot use a copy, you are required to get a new 'copy' of your US marriage certificate from the government, which is fast and easy, so notaries are unwilling to certify copies of any marriage certificate. The South African government also has a voice in this story. We were legally married there and they also issue new copies, You can simply get the forms from their website and apply. The catch is that their website claims it takes six months. Those with local SA experience claim this is optimistic and an argument/negotiation/bribe may also be required. Anyway, we hopefully downloaded copies of the applic