Hi guys, another question came up to my mind: do the official documents like marriage certificate or birth certificate need the Hague Apostille? I read somewhere that in order to make an official document valid in the US you need this apostille.

thanks

Yes, mariage certificate, birth certificates needs to be apostilled and translated by an sworn translator

Keep asking.. I used to think the Apostille was required, now I am not so sure.
First: we went through the efforts (not small) to get our marriage certificate Apostilled. AND to have the Apostille translated. Neither was accepted with the I-130 filing (original or translation). The (then) INS worker did not want it, even when offered.

Second: I have read others' experiences that are the same.. no one wanted it when it had been got, and many, many people never heard of it and so never got it. Their cases proceeded as normal.

Finally: I do not find ANY recent mention of the Apostille. If this were a major requirement, I believe that one or more of the European US Embassy sites would make more of a mention of it.

I'm not willing to say definitively that you do NOT need to get an Apostille, and if it's easy to get, go for it. But I'm not willing to say you MUST have it either. I'd be happy to see some new research on this topic posted (obviously my need for the info has faded).

We did DCF and submitted the international version of marriage certificate only (without apostille). It was accepted without a problem.

I'm 99% sure you don't need apostilled documents for immigration. What I'm curious about is whether or not I need to have my Ukrainian wife's documents apostilled for use in the USA for other reasons (Things like her school and medical records for example). Anyone know?

It hasn't come up for us with anything else, what, 4 or 5 years down the road now?

I am going to keep giving the same advise, 90% of the people who end up with RFE or rejected paper work, or failed interviews is because they did not bring or do what is required. OVERKILL is the best way to make your process smooth. IF IN DOUBT - DO IT ANYWAY!!!!!! If one person says no, and other says yes, or you might think thye need, or written anywhere, THEN DO IT. You will need the papers apostilled for use in the USA anyway, it only adds small amount of time to get papers completed, so why risk a RFE or rejection???????????????????????????

OVERKILL!!!!!!!!! My wife and I saw so many people turned away for silly non completion of paper work, and the worst of all of it, they trusted peoples comments on what is needed and not needed from people on here or a woman who works behind a desk at the consulate. There is ample info out there of what is needed from the government, as well as posting on here of what people were told they needed. Combine it all and do it all and you cant go wrong!

You will need to get birth certificates apostilled, marriage certificates apostilled in USA, if you do any legal transaction, its a must, however, some people do get away with not having apostilled because the person looking at the paper work may not even know what it is. But legally, Ukrainian documents are not excepted in the USA without being certified under the Hague act of being apostilled. Its $5 and one more day of processing. So GET APOSTILLED. Its better to do now then fly back to Ukraine when you need it?

Hey John! I think that's good advice and I plan to get everything apostilled just to be safe for the future also. If you don't mind me asking, can you tell me what you had to do to get apostilled in Ukraine? I looked up a few things and it looked more difficult than the process here in the USA.

Sonya gave the documents to the translators who sent it to Kyiv to be apostilled. I am looking at her documents, and it was apostilled at:

Ministry of Justice of Ukraine - Department of Citizens Civil Status Affairs

Here is info from Ukraine embassy:

The present Convention shall not apply:
a) to documents executed by diplomatic or consular agents;
to administrative documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations.
According to the Instruction of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine of 18/01/2003 # 61 “On Authorization for Apostille certification for public documents� an apostille for the documents issued in Ukraine is placed by:

the Ministry of Science and Education of Ukraine – for public documents issued by the educational institutions, state bodies, enterprises, offices and organizations in the field of education and science.

the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine – for documents issued by the judicial bodies and courts and also for the documents issued by the public notaries in Ukraine.

the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – for all other types of documents.

In accordance with Article 2 an apostille is placed to:
documents issued by a state court of Ukraine;
for the documents issued by the prosecutors’ offices, judicial bodies of Ukraine;
administrative documents; for the documents on education and academic status;
documents executed before a notary public; official certificates which are placed on documents signed by persons in their private capacity, such as official certificates recording the registration of a document or the fact that it was in existence on a certain date and official and notarial authentications of signatures.

Addresses:
Please apply for the information on apostille certification to:

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine:
Postal address: Velyka Zhitomirska st., 2, Kyiv, 01018
Phone: (+38-044) – 238-16-69
E-mail: cons_vld@mfa.gov.ua, cons_sld@mfa.gov.ua
Web: www.mfa.gov.ua



The Ministry of Justice of Ukraine:
Postal address: M.Kotsiubinsky st., 12 (“University� Metro Station) Kyiv, 01000
Phone: (+38-044) – 235-40-83
Web: www.minjust.gov.ua



The Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine:
Postal address: Pobedy Av., 10, Kyiv, 01135
Phone: (+38-044) – 216-22-35
Web: www.mon.gov.ua

Thanks, John! Yeah I was trying to see if we do this ourselves whether I need to go to the same place where we got our LONITM authenticated/legalized.

No, you donot got to same place - thats the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They legalize documents, not apostille them. But its near the same place and they can direct you to thte right place, but I gave you the addresses. If she attended college, it will be important to apostille them as well if you wish to transfer her degree or credits. But you cannot get them translated, the University in the USA require that you use there translators.

Ah. Very good information. Thanks again!