Certificate of Non-Impediment of Marriage...wait...what?!

Yes, you read that correctly "Certificate of Non-Impediment of Marriage." Not only is it a mouthful but, for a few weeks, it was also a mystery!

For now, it will remain a mystery as I think I should start at the beginning...

We had spent a day in Oslo prior to my leaving Norway to visit the immigration office (UDI) to ask what we should do about visas, work permits etc. It was incredibly daunting. Here were my options:

A) Find an employer to sponsor me and give me a job. Easy, right? Well, the job HAD to be in my field of study. Finding theatrical design jobs near the town I'll be living was very difficult.

B) Move over there on my passport visa and get married within three months. You can be in Norway for up to three months on just the stamp in your passport. This is also the amount of time a work permit supposedly takes to receive.

I'm not in a financial situation (with student loans, medical bills etc) to not work for the three month hiatus which both options presented me. Trying to figure out the best way to approach this was getting depressing!


When I returned home from Norway this summer I was really sick. Surrounded by tissues, cough drops, gallons of water and Thera-flu, I laid in bed for an entire week with not even enough energy to watch TV. Between naps I would lay there staring at the ceiling trying to figure out what to do.

BAM!

It hit me!

What if we just got married when I visited in December for Christmas and I would come back to the states and wait for the immigration to go through!? Once we are married I can get a job in any field. I could work at the grocery store until I find something more permanent for heaven's sake!

I presented this idea to Svein Arild. (It honestly almost felt like I was proposing to him!) I was worried what he would say because it's not traditionally done and we had just spend so much time finding the ceremony and reception locations while I was there. But he quickly agreed and we decided we would get married December 21, 2012 and then have the church ceremony as planned on August 17, 2013.

SURPRISE!!

Many of our friends and family will just now be hearing about this. It's not that it was a big secret, we just didn't advertise it. I think we were worried that people would think the magic of the church ceremony would be cheapened somehow by getting legally married 8 months before. Well, we have been calling December 21st "Paper Day" as in that's the day the paperwork is going to be filled out. Yes, we will be legally husband and wife but we won't be considering ourselves as such until we "put a ring on it" so-to-speak.

Now, it was very important to me that we get the approval of our parents for this...and they all approved enthusiastically!

Okay, so now to the whole "Mystery of the Non-Impediment" situation.

A friend of mine has contacts at the Norwegian Embassy here in Washington DC so I was given a phone number to call to see what documents would be needed in order to get married in a civil ceremony. There was also information online and Svein Arild was calling various agencies to ask them. All of the answers we received were either very different from one another or conflicting. Finally, we got confirmation on one called the "Certificate of Non-Impediment of Marriage."

Yay! Just print, fill out and send, right?!

Oh so very wrong...

The federal government of the United States does not regulate marriage so they do not have such a certificate. Most other countries do. So the hunt began to find this mysterious document. And we were on a deadline, mind you. We knew the paperwork would take at least a month to process and it had to be done before I left for Christmas vacation. I'll spare you exactly the trials and tribulations this hunt caused and will just provide the outcome...trust me, it's less painful for you this way!

Anndi's Marriage Packet Contents:

* Copy of passport.

* Statement from Matron of Honor that I am not married nor related to Svein Arild.
      - This document was provided us by the agency in Norway.

* Copies of my state and federal tax returns from 2011 (because I filed as single)
      - This wasn't requested but I figured it couldn't hurt.

* Certificate of Non-Impediment of Marriage
      - I found one online somewhere that contained very poor grammar so I re-worded it to suit my needs. Basically, I wrote out a statement saying I am single, place of birth, etc etc etc. Giving way more information than they really needed.

Here is an internet-safe version (personal info removed) copy of the Certificate I wrote:

Okay, now, put your moon shoes on because you're going to jump through some hoops with me! Ready?

Hoop 1: Get packet notarized at the bank. 
It's free at your own banking institution. I signed the Certificate, he signed it, he stamped it and I was on my way. He didn't even read it.

The bottom half of the Certificate of Non-Impediment

Hoop 2: Get in line at the License Bureau to get the notary's signature authenticated.
Basically it's someone saying, "Yeah, that notary dude is a real notary. Here's a gold sticker." She didn't even read it.

A half-sheet of paper  with a gold seal stapled to the front of the certificate.

Hoop 3: Drive up to Annapolis to the Secretary of State's Office.
This is to authenticate the authentication of the notary you got at the license bureau. Basically it's someone saying, "Yeah, that license lady that authenticated the notary is a real license lady. Here's a gold sticker." (Honestly, I was in and out of there in 3 minutes. Signed in at 3:15pm signed out at 3:18pm) The clerk didn't even read it.

Please note the second sentence, "This Apostille does not certify the content of the document for which it is issued."

Hoop 4: Go to the shipping store around the corner from the Secretary of State's Office.
This is to pay out the wazoo ($70) to ship it to Norway. I could have sent it via USPS but I really wanted to be able to track this special hoopdy-loop package in case it got lost.

Whew!

Okay, I'm not complaining about the process because I do appreciate the measures Norway takes to make sure everything is done right. I just wish the documents were a little easier to come by. My friend, John said it well, "It's like you're innocent until proven guilty - married until proven single."

So the paperwork arrived at Svein Arild's house safe and sound, he appended the packet with his own packet and took it to the tax office. They, in turn, sent it off to the next agency and within a week (not the three we were told) our paperwork was approved!! One step closer to being together!

This is where we stand now: We will be driving to Førde on the 21st to be legally married. Standing with us will be Svein Arild's sisters and his parents. It is going to be a simple civil ceremony and we are going to try to use their WiFi to do a Google Hangout with my family in the states so they can watch. Don't worry, I'll post pictures!

As for the next step in the immigration process I have started to collect the appropriate documents - birth certificate, passport etc. - and we'll be back to wearing the moon shoes again, I'm sure. But this time we'll be jumping as a legally married couple.