I believe the reason they wanted the marriage license was to "connect the dots" between the birth certificate (which has an earlier name) and the current name shown on everything else. The reason the connection is necessary is to prove you are present in the US lawfully. One way to show you are here lawfully is to show you are a citizen, and the birth certificate shows that.
If you have a US passport card or US passport, that also proves US citizenship and legal presence, so no birth certificate would be required. Without any need to connect the dots between the birth certificate and other documents, there would be no need for a marriage license either. |
