Legalisation of marriage certificate by FCO?

Here's the deal:

DH and I were married at Middlesbrough register office in January 2007.  I obtained a new passport in early February, applied in person for FLR later that month, then used the new passport+visa and marriage certificate to change over my British documents - bank card, credit card, etc. 

Our (US) wedding in March wasn't a legal one - our friend John "officiated" - since we were already legally married in the UK.  Prior to the wedding, I visited my US bank and changed my name using my new passport and our marriage certificate; no problems there.  I then went to the Social Security office to obtain a new card...only to be told that my marriage certificate wasn't genuine and my foreign marriage wasn't legal in the US.

I know damn well that my marriage is legal, and I'd used the same marriage certificate to change other legal documents in the US - including my passport! - so I pointed this out to the woman.  If my marriage certificate was good enough for the US Department of State to issue me a new passport, shouldn't it be good enough for Social Security?

Long story short, she didn't agree - and she told me not to waste my time going out to the DMV, because they wouldn't accept it either.  After a bit of poking around online, I found this website:

http://www.fco.gov.uk/servlet/Front?pagename=OpenMarket/Xcelerate/ShowPage&c=Page&cid=1007029391458

which if I'm reading it correctly, is for a government agency that will certify our marriage certificate as legal in such a way that the US has to accept it as such. 

Does anyone have any experience with this?  Am I looking at the right service? 

I'm heading back to the US next Tuesday (flying from London, so I can apply at the Public Counter if necessary) and I'd like to get my license and SS card taken care of on this trip.

Thanks!

If it was me, I wouldn't bother.  Change your social security card through the Embassy in London who will happily do it for you with your UK marriage certificate....it might mean that you'd have to delay changing your name on your driver's license though.

See, that's the thing.  I'm having all sorts of problems with my license being in one name and my credit cards and passport being in another, especially when I try to rent cars.  I'd really like to get this taken care of once and for all, so that I don't have to carry around fifteen different versions of ID and funding all. the. freaking. time. 

See, that's the thing.  I'm having all sorts of problems with my license being in one name and my credit cards and passport being in another, especially when I try to rent cars.  I'd really like to get this taken care of once and for all, so that I don't have to carry around fifteen different versions of ID and funding all. the. freaking. time. 

Go to another Social Security office?  Your marriage is obviously valid in the US and I'm sure that not everybody who has a destination wedding overseas has to go through this rigamarole to get their social security card changed.

I'm sure that not everybody who has a destination wedding overseas has to go through this rigamarole to get their social security card changed.

I should hope not! 

Anyone out there have experience (positive OR negative) using a UK marriage certificate to change US legal documents?

Does this help?

"The validity of marriages abroad is not dependent upon the presence of an American diplomatic or consular officer, but upon adherence to the laws of the country where the marriage is performed. Consular officers may authenticate foreign marriage documents. The fee for authentication of a document is $32.00.

Validity of Marriages Abroad

In general, marriages which are legally performed and valid abroad are also legally valid in the United States. Inquiries regarding the validity of a marriage abroad should be directed to the attorney general of the state in the United States where the parties to the marriage live."

http://travel.state.gov/family/family_issues/marriage/marria ge_589.html

So, while the lady might have had some grounds to tell you that she couldn't accept your marriage document 'as is,' she had no reason to tell you your marriage wasn't legal in the United States.

Does this help?

"The validity of marriages abroad is not dependent upon the presence of an American diplomatic or consular officer, but upon adherence to the laws of the country where the marriage is performed. Consular officers may authenticate foreign marriage documents. The fee for authentication of a document is $32.00.

Validity of Marriages Abroad

In general, marriages which are legally performed and valid abroad are also legally valid in the United States. Inquiries regarding the validity of a marriage abroad should be directed to the attorney general of the state in the United States where the parties to the marriage live."

http://travel.state.gov/family/family_issues/marriage/marria ge_589.html

So, while the lady might have had some grounds to tell you that she couldn't accept your marriage document 'as is,' she had no reason to tell you your marriage wasn't legal in the United States.

Yeah, I saw that earlier.  I wasn't sure if it meant I could go to the US Embassy in London and have them certify it - in which case it'd be just as easy to go to the UK FCO, if they provide the same service! - or if it needed to be "legalised" by a UK agency rather than a US one - after all, if it's so "questionable" then wouldn't a UK official be better equipped to declare it "legal" than a US one?   

Basically I want to know before I fly to the US that my certificate's going to make the grade this time around.  I'm just not sure what I need to do to make that happen!

If you were going to go to the Embassy anyway, why not just do the SS card there?  It'd be much easier and they have a clue.

If you were going to go to the Embassy anyway, why not just do the SS card there?  It'd be much easier and they have a clue.

I will, if I wind up going to the Embassy after all!

Sending an application off to London was actually more work than I was expecting to have to do - I didn't expect the SS office to question the marriage in the first place, so taking care of it in the US when I was there in March was just one of a list of errands.  Now that I'm going to be in London after all, I'll bypass the SS office at home and take care of it there.

I'm actually less worried about getting a new SS card (it's not like I use it over here!) and more concerned about getting some sort of seal or stamp so that the same thing doesn't happen at the DMV, as I need to take care of changing my license ASAP and the Embassy unfortunately can't help with that!   I'm just not sure whether the UK should be issuing the stamp/seal/legalisation, since it's a UK document, or if the US should be doing it, since it's going to be used in the US.  I think I'm just going to head down to London earlier on Tuesday that I had originally planned, stop by the FCO office, and see what they think.  I'll go early enough so that if I have to hit up the Embassy instead, I can do that as well.

But if you do work and get paid, then you want your name on your SS card to be similar - or later on you'll miss out on your benefits! 

But if you do work and get paid, then you want your name on your SS card to be similar - or later on you'll miss out on your benefits! 

True, true.  I'll get it taken care of one way or another, definitely.