August 14, 1998
The Honorable Katherine Lee Payne Guilford County Register of Deeds Guilford County Courthouse 201 South Eugene Street Greensboro, North Carolina 27401
RE: Advisory Opinion: Marriage License; Eligibility of an Alien to Obtain a Marriage License where the Alien is Prohibited by Federal Law from Obtaining a Social Security Number; Register of Deeds; N.C.G.S. § 51-8
Dear Ms. Payne:
You ask our opinion whether it would be lawful for a register of deeds to issue a marriage license to an alien who otherwise meets all of the requirements for the license but is ineligible to secure a social security number. Your question is precipitated by the language in N.C.G.S. § 51-8 (1998) which states, in pertinent part, "(e)ach applicant for a marriage license shall provide on the application the applicant’s social security number."
For reasons which follow, where an alien meets all of the other requirements for a marriage license but is prohibited by federal law from receiving a social security number, a register of deeds should issue the alien a marriage license.
One must first secure a marriage license from the appropriate register of deeds to marry in North Carolina. N.C.G.S. §§ 51-6 and 51-8. The eligibility requirements for marriage are set forth in
- N.C.G.S.
- §§ 51-2 and 51-3. These requirements deal with the age of the unmarried person, when the consent of a parent is required because of the individual’s age, and the kinship of those who marry.
- N.C.G.S.
- § 51-8 addresses the license for marriage which is issued by the appropriate register of deeds. The General Assembly in 1997 amended § 51-8 mandating: "Each applicant for a marriage license shall provide on the application the applicant’s social security number. The register of deeds shall not issue a marriage license unless all of the requirements of this section have been met." Session Laws 1997-433, s. 4.5; Sessions Laws 1998-17.
Social security numbers are mandated by federal law of every citizen or national of the United States who is employed or who earns income from self-employment. The individual’s name and social security number identifies the individual’s record so that wages or self-employment income reported can be properly posted to the individual’s record. The social security number is also used when determining entitlement to benefits. See, 42 U.S.C. §§ 405 and 408; 20 CFR §§ 422.103 and 422.107; 70A Am. Jur. 2d, Social Security and Medicare, §§ 184-205 (1987). Aliens are not eligible to receive a social security number unless admitted "for permanent residence or under other authority of law permitting them to engage in employment in the United States. . . ." 42
U.S.C. § 405 (c)(3)(B)(ii) and 20 CFR §§ 422.204 and 422.107.
The General Assembly amended § 51-8 to comply with federal law requiring stricter and more efficient means of enforcement of child support laws. See, 42 U.S.C. § 666 (a)(13)(A), which requires that the social security number of "any applicant for a professional license, driver’s license, occupational license, recreational license, or marriage license be recorded on the application." Obviously, where a citizen or national of the United States marries, has children, and fails to lawfully provide support, if the defaulting parent is a wage earner, he or she is required to have a social security number and can be more readily located through access to the social security number.
As earlier noted, aliens may not lawfully receive a social security number unless admitted "for permanent residence or under other authority of law permitting them to engage in employment in the United States . . . ." 42 U.S.C. § 405 (c)(2)(B)(i)(I) and 20 CFR §§ 422.104 and 422.107. To read § 51-8 in such a way that would deny an alien a marriage license because he cannot provide a social security number which he may not legally obtain would make a mockery of the law. Certainly, that was not the intent of Congress or the General Assembly.
In conclusion, where the register of deeds is satisfied that the applicant is an alien who has not come to the United States for the purpose of establishing a permanent residence or for the purpose of engaging in employment, and who otherwise meets the lawful requirements for a marriage license, the register of deeds should issue the license. We suggest that the applicant provide the register of deeds with proof of citizenship of a foreign country and a sworn affidavit setting forth the necessary facts whereby the Register is satisfied that the individual would be ineligible to receive a social security number, i.e., that the applicant is a citizen of a foreign country, is not a citizen or national of the United States, and that the purpose for being in the United States is neither to establish a permanent residence nor to engage in employment, but to get married.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
signed by:
Andrew A. Vanore, Jr. General Counsel