Statement of free to marry from US while abroad

[rahill 28]

I am currently in my fiance's home country (Ethiopia) and we plan to marry here and apply for a spouse visa. In order to marry we must get a "statement of free to marry." I am originally from California, USA and I'm wondering if anyone has any experience getting this while abroad. I am going to be in Ethiopia for 6 months and we do not want to wait until I return to start the whole process. I know there is an application from the California department of health to get a marriage record and it requires that it be notarized. But on the consular website here in Ethiopia, I found this:

Marriage information: Statement of free-to-marry status for
U.S. Citizens or legal permanent residents, who wishes to be
married in Ethiopia, can be obtained from the consular section.
The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs should authenticate
the document so that local municipality offices will accept the
document.

I am confused as to whether or not this is a form that I can obtain directly from them or if they are only willing to notarize an existing form in order to get a copy of one's marriage record. Furthermore, I have never been married at all so I'm unsure if the application for marriage record is even the way to go. I would especially love to hear from anyone from California who has knowledge and experience with this byzantine process. I went ahead and scheduled an appointment at the embassy anyways but eager to hear from you all knowledgable folks. Thank you!

[mallafri76 1,012]

I think it means you go to the US embassy in Ethiopia, get the "free to marry cert", bring it to Ethiopian foreign ministry to get it authenticated and then you can use it to get married

[ryna 132]

The problem is that that type of certificate does not exist in the United States.

We didn't get married in Colombia but they require something similar and the best a US citizen can do is get a sworn, notarized (in that country) declaration that you are free to marry.

I somehow missed the most important part. The consulate looks like they will provide that for you with your sworn statement.

Edited July 1, 2016 by ryna

[rahill 28]

Thanks all! Yes I was confused on this because we do not have any such nationally recognized certificate. We have, of course, county clerk's offices but even those will only provide you with a record saying there is no record of marriage in that particular county. In any case, I'm hoping that, as you all suggest and as far as my understanding of the embassy's website goes, that I can indeed get this through the consulate services. Thanks again!

[Adil & Jeanne 296]

Yes, had to get it in Morocco

i took all the proof (certificate of death of late husband)

they did not look at anything

just fill out a paper (Eligibility to Marry), asked me to take an oath saying it was the truth

stamped it and i paid $60

that paper had to go to Office of Foreign Minister and there received another paper to go along with all the applicaiton docments

[Ryan H 3,812]

​Moved from IR-1/CR-1 Process & Procedures to Africa: Sub-Saharan regional forum; topic is Ethiopia specific.

[Gretch 11]

Yes, same here in Rwanda. I got the certificate from the US embassy and then took it to the local Ministry of Foreign Affairs to get an official stamp. Word of warning, the problem I ran into is that the local office where we were married wouldn't accept my birth certificate unless it was also approved by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; they wouldn't approve it unless it was authenticated at the embassy; and the embassy doesn't authenticate birth certificates because they are state-issued and not federal! Lots of time, trips back and forth, and tears later, I had the embassy write a letter explaining that they don't "do" birth certificates and the local marriage office finally accepted our paperwork. Hopefully you won't run into the same problems, but be ready to explain.

[rahill 28]

Hello all,

Just an update: in case anyone is reading this and needs such a document while in Ethiopia, you can indeed get this document from the US consular services at the embassy in Addis Ababa and then take it to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to get it authenticated. I successfully managed the above and now... Am free to marry!