Hello,

My girlfriend and I (both US citizens, residing in NY state) were
married this past summer in Greece. Although we obtained our Greek
Certificate of Marriage and had a copy translated into English and
certified, it seems US agencies (DMV, Passport office, credit card
companies, etc) will not accept this foreign Marriage Certificate as
proof of our marriage.

My wife is trying to have her name changed on all her documentation
(passport, driver's license, etc) but is finding this impossible to do
due to the issue above. We are being told we need a New York
Certificate of Marriage, but NY seems to offer only Marriage Licenses,
not Marriage Certificates. We have been told to just get "re-married"
by a judge in the US to make this process easier, but we don't wish to
do that, especially because our offical date would be seven months off
from when we were actually wed.

Does a Marriage Certificate exist in New York City or NY State?

If so, how do US citizens with a Greek (or foreign) Certificate of
Marriage obtain a US (or New York) Certificate of Marriage?

Must US couples who reside in NY state be re-married in NY to have
their marriage recognized or to get the required documentation (the NY
Certificate of Mariage)

If not, what do we do to obtain vaild NY documentation of our marriage?

thank you,

Rob

I know it doesn't help you now, but ideally you should have applied
for a New York marriage license before leaving and used that document
in Greece. The Greek authorities would have recognized the US license
(provided that they do not contain restrictive statements; for
example, "THIS LICENSE IS VALID FOR COUNTY X" or "MARRIAGE WILL TAKE
PLACE IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK...) which in turn could have been
easily registered with the State of New York upon your return.

US EMBASSY - ATHENS
http://www.usembassy.gr/consular/ac_marriage.htm

tutuzdad-ga

Hi Rob,
I suggest that you try to start by changing her name on her passport. 
This might help:
http://travel.state.gov/passport/fri/faq/faq_1741.html

One hopes that the documents that you have will be adequate with the
US government or that someone at the passport office can advise if
anything additional is required.

If that is successful, then you can go on to SS:
http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/ssa.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=80

and take on the DMV:
http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/idlicense.htm

Here is what NYS says about marriage and name options:
http://www.health.state.ny.us/vital_records/married.htm 

I understand your desire to have the correct  - Greek -  wedding date
on your US documents, but will a US wedding change that?  Won?t the
documents just show a date if issuance?

The NY marriage may still be the easiest way to go.  Just bear the
situation with humor and joke about it in coming years.

Regards, Myoarin