Belgium City Hall asks for "registered" marriage certificate

[john&jo 0]

I am a US citizen, my wife of 6 months is Belgian. We married in my hometown of Lancaster, PA, and are now in Belgium (Advance Parole) with her family. We want to register our marriage here in Belgium, but the city hall says "you need to take your marriage certificate to a "register" in the States, get it "registered", get an apostille that original "registered" document, and then bring it here to be translated and registered in our system.

Question is, What is "register"? I have the signature of the Register of Wills on the certificate itself, what else is there?

Anybody help?

Thanks

john

[Laure&Colin 558]

I am a US citizen, my wife of 6 months is Belgian. We married in my hometown of Lancaster, PA, and are now in Belgium (Advance Parole) with her family. We want to register our marriage here in Belgium, but the city hall says "you need to take your marriage certificate to a "register" in the States, get it "registered", get an apostille that original "registered" document, and then bring it here to be translated and registered in our system.

Question is, What is "register"? I have the signature of the Register of Wills on the certificate itself, what else is there?

Anybody help?

Thanks

john

They want an apostille, see that link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostille_convention

That's a kind of authentication specifically delivered for use of the document abraod, in another country part of the Hague convention.

Assuming you got married in Pennsylvania, you should contact your State authorities to know the procedure for PA.

Here's what I found on their website: http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/certifications,_apostilles,_and_the_authentication_of_documents/12630

We had it done on Colin's birth certificate in CA to be able to get married in France.

Edited January 19, 2012 by Laure&Colin