The Secretary of State to the British Ambassador.
Washington, October 29, 1907.
Excellency: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note No. 222, of the 10th instant, inclosing a copy of an act of Parliament cited as “The Marriage with Foreigners Act, 1906,” which enables His Majesty’s Government to conclude agreements with foreign countries by which persons subject to the marriage laws of those countries who propose to marry British subjects in the United Kingdom shall produce a certificate, issued by the proper officers of their country, stating that after proper notice has been given no impediment according to the laws of that country exists to the marriage.
You refer to an agreement concluded with the French Government in 1904 in regard to the form of the certificate which French consuls should issue in cases of marriages in the United Kingdom between British subjects and French citizens, and, transmitting a copy of the form then adopted, you inquire, in accordance with instructions received from His Majesty’s principal secretary of state for foreign affairs, whether the Government of the United States is willing to conclude an agreement with the Government of Great Britain similar to that concluded with the French Government fulfilling the requirements of article 2 of the act mentioned.
In reply I have the honor to state that the department has given the matter due consideration. So far as it is aware, however, there is no law of the Federal Government or of any of the States or Territories thereof providing for the issuance by any officer of any certificate stating that after proper notice has been given no impediment exists, according to the laws of the United States, to a specified marriage.
In view of this, I regret to say that it would seem to be practically impossible at this time for this Government to undertake to enter into an agreement of the kind contemplated by your note.
I have, etc.,