Can anyone help direct me as to where I can get a legal/certified copy of my passport. I was directed by the Passport Info center to the US authentication office (206-647-5002), but can't get through to them.
Also Germany wants a certified statement of my income, is a copy of a W-2 enough.
Also, is it recommended that I get additional copies of a birth cert. w/apostille (i.e. will I need more during the visa process)?
Full Version: Legalized copy of passport and Income certificate
VisaJourney.com > Marriage Based Immigration (K1, K2, K3, etc) to the USA > IR-1 / CR-1 Spouse Visa General Discussion
I suggest that you try to see if you can get married in Denmark... you could be tied up for months trying to get through the German bureaucracy... it's so bad even the Germans get married in Denmark... 
But to answer your question, for Germany, you'll need a BC issued within the last 6 months with an Apostille on it. The Apostille is given by the Secretary of State of the State in which the document was issued.
I haven't heard about the finances before... you'll need a certificate of freedom to marry. This is given at the US Consulate.
You need to talk with the officials who will be doing the wedding to see what they will need in terms of an income statement and how it is to be certified.
But to answer your question, for Germany, you'll need a BC issued within the last 6 months with an Apostille on it. The Apostille is given by the Secretary of State of the State in which the document was issued.
I haven't heard about the finances before... you'll need a certificate of freedom to marry. This is given at the US Consulate.
You need to talk with the officials who will be doing the wedding to see what they will need in terms of an income statement and how it is to be certified.
I believe I used a copy of my W-2 as my income statement, as well as a letter from my job that my husband translated for the officials at the Standesamt. I was unable to get an apostille for my passport-- was told by the passport office that you can't appostile a passport, because it is already considered an official document.
I ended up going to the German Consulate in NY and filling out the paperwork my then fiance had gotten from the Standesamt there, so the officer there was able to see that I had a genuine passport. The most complicated thing was getting the certificate that I was free to marry, as the US doesn't have such a document. I belive (trying to remember--I'll ahve to ask my husband) that he was able to get a waiver for this, and then I made a written statement somewhere on the paperwork when I was at the German consulate.
It was very easy to get the apostille for the birth certificate, and it only took a week or so for me to get it back from the state where I had to send it.
Anyway, the process of getting married in Germany was complicated, but I have to say that once we had all the paperwork in to them, we were given approval very quickly and had made an appointment at the location we wanted to have our civil ceremony on the same day our paperwork was approved.
If you have any questions, feel free to PM me. My husband knows the process better than I do, so I can ask him questions too.
~Sarah
I ended up going to the German Consulate in NY and filling out the paperwork my then fiance had gotten from the Standesamt there, so the officer there was able to see that I had a genuine passport. The most complicated thing was getting the certificate that I was free to marry, as the US doesn't have such a document. I belive (trying to remember--I'll ahve to ask my husband) that he was able to get a waiver for this, and then I made a written statement somewhere on the paperwork when I was at the German consulate.
It was very easy to get the apostille for the birth certificate, and it only took a week or so for me to get it back from the state where I had to send it.
Anyway, the process of getting married in Germany was complicated, but I have to say that once we had all the paperwork in to them, we were given approval very quickly and had made an appointment at the location we wanted to have our civil ceremony on the same day our paperwork was approved.
If you have any questions, feel free to PM me. My husband knows the process better than I do, so I can ask him questions too.
~Sarah
I'm German and my husband USC and we ended up getting married in Denmark.
I met with a very friendly lady from the Standesamt of the city where we used to live and she told me the following:
My husband would have needed:
- birth certificate with notarized translation
- proof of income (no translation necessary because he worked in Germany at the time)
- certificate of freedom to marry from the consulate (notarized translation)
the Standesamt would have sent all this to the "Oberlandesgericht" (Higher Regional Court) to check all the papers, the lady said this could take anything from 4 to 12 weeks and would have cost a certain percentage of his monthly income- she wasn't sure how much exactly (something like 7%).
Only after the approval of the Oberlandesgericht is when you can actually set a date with the Standesamt.
Keep in mind- this is only one experience from one Standesamt in Germany, I don't know if it's the same everywhere.
Long story short- we decided to get married in Denmark.
All that was needed for Denmark were copies of our passports (his showing his Visa for Germany) and a confirmation of residency (Meldebestätigung) from the city we lived in.
And a document from the Danish office with our biographical data and that we intend to marry, that we're not related
All that was sent to the Danish office together with 500DK (about 80€) and after 4 days I could call to make an appointment!
They were very helpful and friendly, spoke both German and English fluently.
It was a great experience!
I met with a very friendly lady from the Standesamt of the city where we used to live and she told me the following:
My husband would have needed:
- birth certificate with notarized translation
- proof of income (no translation necessary because he worked in Germany at the time)
- certificate of freedom to marry from the consulate (notarized translation)
the Standesamt would have sent all this to the "Oberlandesgericht" (Higher Regional Court) to check all the papers, the lady said this could take anything from 4 to 12 weeks and would have cost a certain percentage of his monthly income- she wasn't sure how much exactly (something like 7%).
Only after the approval of the Oberlandesgericht is when you can actually set a date with the Standesamt.
Keep in mind- this is only one experience from one Standesamt in Germany, I don't know if it's the same everywhere.
Long story short- we decided to get married in Denmark.
All that was needed for Denmark were copies of our passports (his showing his Visa for Germany) and a confirmation of residency (Meldebestätigung) from the city we lived in.
And a document from the Danish office with our biographical data and that we intend to marry, that we're not related
All that was sent to the Danish office together with 500DK (about 80€) and after 4 days I could call to make an appointment!
They were very helpful and friendly, spoke both German and English fluently.
It was a great experience!
See thread:
Regional Forum
Looks like others found the process not too difficult.
It is going to take me about a week to get all the necessary paper work, then I must meet with the German consulate.
I am a little scared by the "4-12 weeks." We were hoping to be able to this be Christmas. Another VJ'er said the court process took a week... I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Note this is in Bavaria.
Regional Forum
Looks like others found the process not too difficult.
It is going to take me about a week to get all the necessary paper work, then I must meet with the German consulate.
I am a little scared by the "4-12 weeks." We were hoping to be able to this be Christmas. Another VJ'er said the court process took a week... I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Note this is in Bavaria.
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