marriage license witnesses and another name change thing

Two questions this time!

1. Anyone know if it matters in the US if the people who are witnesses and sign the marriage license (I know it's typically the best man and the MOH) are British? We're getting married in the US, and I'm not sure if this will affect the legality of anything. Obviously we'll ask other folks to be witnesses if need be, I'm just trying to get all these niggling questions in order so I can let people know what they need to do.

2. So, that whole name change thing. I'm doing it, please respect my decision to do so; I've thought it through and it's important to me that I take my fiance's surname. I'm guessing there's no easy way to avoid traveling with our marriage license, save applying for a new passport and coughing up ANOTHER grand to get the visa put in with my married name? It's just that I'm such a nervy person and I have nightmares of us losing our marriage license if our bags/passports somehow get lost or stolen. I get the impression that changing one's name in the UK is much easier than in the States, but what I'm primarily concerned about is the travel issue. I've looked into getting my name changed BEFORE the marriage just to make things easier, but in my county, it's just as much of a bureaucratic headache and isn't cheap, either.

OR, am I being totally dense, and traveling on my passport in my maiden name with the visa in it is enough and doesn't require the marriage license, so long as I don't legally change my name in the US? If that's the case, I may just hold off on legally changing my name here in the US until I'm eligible for a British passport.

Thanks in advance, folks!

1. My mother-in-law (British) and mother signed the marriage license. No problem with having a Brit sign it.

2. I never travel with my marriage license...I travel with a copy of it. It's really hasn't been a big deal (just have it folded up in the back, so it doesn't take up any space). Haven't had any trouble with it yet.

I am going to get a new US passport sometime after I get UK citizenship. I would like to avoid carrying two passports (the one with my married name, and the one with my ILR) so won't get it before that. It doesn't expire until 2012, but I'll probably get it sorted out a couple of years early.

Nobody even looks at who your witnesses are and where they come from.  I wouldn't be in the least worried!

If you are worried about losing your marriage certificates, do like we did and get an extra copy or two when you go to get the certified copy.  I was able to apply in person to get my copy--just went to the court registrar's office, and asked them for a couple of extra copies.  They only charged me a couple bucks per copy, so I was able to carry them and not worry if I lost one.  It's been a big help.

I don't think you'll have to travel with your marriage license at all, actually, even if you change your name.  If your passport's in your maiden name, just book your travel in that name and you should be fine. At least according to the anecdotal evidence of several UK-Y members who have done just that!

Also, definitely order more than one copy of your marriage certificate (which are basically all 'copies' anyway, as the county clerk will always have the original!)  Having more than one will save on the hassle of having to order another if you lose it for whatever reason.

It only costs about £160 to get your visa transferred into a new passport, btw.

It only costs about £160 to get your visa transferred into a new passport, btw.

It's not required that you transfer the visa, though -- you can always travel with the old passport containing the visa along with your new one.   

It's not required that you transfer the visa, though -- you can always travel with the old passport containing the visa along with your new one.   

I can't speak for everyone, but I have been doing that because I am too cheap to spend money to transfer an old (student) visa with my maiden name into my new passport. I just make sure I have the relevant pages facing up and the process has been pretty quick in the past two trips.

Thanks for your responses, everyone! I guess I'm just so used to everything being a bureaucratic nightmare that I always assume the worst.    I had no idea you could get multiple copies of your license, so that's awesome!

So from what I'm understanding, it's not another $1000 to get the visa put in a new passport? 160 pounds is much more reasonable, I could start budgeting to set that aside now, even. If that's the case, I may as well go ahead and legally change my name here.

Always a good idea to get multiple official copies (whether you're getting married in the US or the UK).  We got two extra done and it cost a whopping £3.50 each I think it was.  Made it very handy for sending one off with my FLR application and using the others to change my name on various things.

We didn't need anyone to sign the license, they didn't require us to have anyone sign it, I think the JP just did it.