Is Certifying Documents Abroad Ok??

[Carre23d 2]

I'm wondering if USCIS will accept the copy of our marriage certificate certified in Morocco instead of the U.S.??

Did any of you certify your documents abroad and USCIS accept them? Any of you got an RFE because of it?

[Ian H. 207]

As long as the marriage was valid where it was performed, it will be valid for USCIS. Just make sure it is certified by the civil authorities in Morocco, and USCIS only needs a photocopy, but you should have the original with you just in case it's requested.

Edited October 22, 2014 by Ian H.

[Carre23d 2]

Thanks, Nil! I was especially worried that they wouldn't understand the French and ignore that it was certified at all.

[Ian H. 207]

Well that's why they require a translation. It's in the instructions. Here is a link with the I-130 form and instructions. Please read it carefully. I will also give you a link with a guide to prepare the paperwork.

http://www.uscis.gov/i-130

http://www.visajourney.com/content/i130guide1

[Carre23d 2]

Yes, of course it is translated, but the certification of the copy of the translation is in French because it's Morocco. I'm talking about just the seal itself that I was worried about.

[Abdou73 2]

Hi, if it is what i am thinking, it may not be right. By the certification stamp you mean you did a certification (legalization a l arrondissement), this may not be acceptable.

If you don't want to submit the original marriage certificate, you have to get a certified copy of the marriage act from the COURT archive ( Mahkamat l Oussra archive usually in the basement), it takes two to 3 days to process, and you need to submit a copy of the Moroccan ID and it cost 250DH for each certified copy.

I hope this helps.

[Carre23d 2]

Abdou73, I think that we might have a confusion.

I don't think the marriage certificate copies need to be certified at all. I was following guide2 instead of guide1.

Am I right?

On the visajourney.com I-130 instructions it states:

A copy of your marriage certificate (If not in English then again get a translation)

[Ian H. 207]

Ok, I will try to explain. Do not confuse certified copy with photocopy. A certified copy is essentially the same as an "original" it has all the same stamps and seals and all of that good stuff. A photocopy is just that, a photocopy.

For the I-130 you need a photocopy of the marriage cert that you already have, that's it. You don't get the photocopy certified. What I advised is that before you make the photocopy make sure that your marriage cert is certified by the civil authorities, it it's not already.

Some countries have a separate process for certifying the document. The reason I mention this is because even though it's not stated in the instructions, it is wise that the marriage cert has some sort of seal or stamp or certification, so that when you make the photocopy, this is visible since they may doubt the authenticity of the document and require to see the original.

I have seen some people receive RFE's here because of similar circumstances. In my country, for example you can get a civil doc without any stamp or seal, which costs much less, but you cannot use it for any official purpose, because since it's not certified in any way, it looks like you just printed it out from your computer.

If the document you have was already certified by the place that issued it, then you are fine. However, you need an English translation of the document. If the document is in Arabic, you need a translation from Arabic to English, not French. If the doc is in French, then you need a translation from French to English.

Therefore, to sum up you need to make a photocopy of the marriage cert and make sure that any official stamp or seal on it is visible in the photocopy. And you need a translation of the entire document.