It seems the biggest hassle to getting married in Russia is the need to go to Moscow to get the "Marriage Letter" affidavit filled out and notarized at the US Embassy and then going to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to have the Marriage Letter "authenticated" (apostile stamp).

I'm wondering why I can not handle this whole Marriage Letter process here in Washington, DC. Is it possible to prepare the Marriage Letter and get it notarized at the US State Dept or Immigration office in Washington, DC, and then have the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC authenticate it (apostilize). My fiancee asked her local ZAGS office and it seems this might be possible. This would eliminate my need to go to Moscow prior to going to my fiancee's city to get married.

Has anyone tried or heard of this approach?

Thanks again!

Did you even read what Sat posted last week?
http://vladivostok.usconsulate.gov/wwwhacsmarryrus.html

specifically:

3. OBTAIN CERTIFIED OFFICIAL TRANSLATIONS: You will need official translations of your passport and visa for the registration of your marriage at ZAGS. The U.S. Consulate General can neither translate nor legalize U.S. documents and translations for use in Russia.

4. OBTAIN PROOF OF YOUR ELIGIBILITY TO MARRY:
... obtain an apostille on documents notarized in the U.S. (including civil records), you must apply to the Secretary of State of the state in which the document was notarized. The Secretary of State's office will verify the notary public's or other notarizing official's signature by placing an apostille on the document.
...If such a document is requested, you need to prepare an affidavit with basic biographical information about you and your fiancé. The information should be in both English and Russian. It is important that the Russian transliteration of your name be identical to that on your Russian visa and that all information pertaining to your Russian fiancé be correct and accurate. Your affidavit should be apostilled in the U.S. .


You need to prepare these documents yourself, translate them yourself, and have them apostilled yourself (in the United States is the easiest way, and what they recommend). Further, they state clearly that foreign consulates will not help you with this.

This does vary country-by-country - the US Consulate in Holland did provide me with a "certificate of non-marriage," that the Dutch legalized for me. This wasn't for the purpose of getting married though.

Yes, I read it but if you go to the Moscow Embassy site, it describes a different scenario: See http://moscow.usembassy.gov/consular/acs.p..._id=acsmarriage

I am confused as to whehter I need only to present my divorce papers with the apostile stamp or do i also need the "Marriage Letter" and have it authenticated at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as described here:

2. Prepare a Marriage Letter at the U.S. Embassy
U.S. citizens who intend to marry in Russia must complete the standard affidavit form (svidetel'stvo) in which they state their current marital status. The form must be completed in Russian and notarized at the Embassy. The transliteration of your name should be identical to that on your Russian visa. The American Citizen Services Unit of the Embassy offers notarial services Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.; the cost is $30.00 or the equivalent in rubles. Russian authorities consider the document valid for only three months after a U.S. Embassy consul or vice consul notarizes it. Due to Russian government regulations this service is available only at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow and not at the U.S. Consulates General in St. Petersburg, Vladivostok or Yekaterinburg. Legal Permanent Residents are not entitled to this service.

3. Have the Marriage Letter Authenticated at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
This service is performed by the Department of Legalization of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at 1st Neopalimovskiy pereulok, dom 12a, approximately a twelve minute walk from Smolenskaya Metro (on the dark blue line). The hours of operation are from 10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. (until 4:30 p.m. on Friday). Monday through Friday; telephone 244-3797. The procedure costs about 100 rubles with a five-day turnaround. There is no next-day or expeditious service available. All fees can be paid at the Sberkassa located in the waiting room of the Department of Legalization.

I married my wife in her city of Rostov-on-Don in one trip of 14 days. The information on the embassy site seems to apply more to people who are already in Russia and need to do everything there instead of preparing some stuff in the US. Here's what we did:

1) I prepared an affidavit in the US before my trip with the same information as the "Marriage Letter" and had it notarized.
2) I went to my state's (Nevada) records office at the capital to do a records search to show that there is no record of me being married in the state.
3) I took both these documents to the Nevada Seceretary of State to get Apostille stamps.
4) Before my trip, I emailed copies of these documents to my fiancee so she could have translations prepared in advance. She got these translations and had them notarized.
5) I came to Rostov and registered my visa
6) We went to the central Palace of Weddings, presented the documents and got an approval stamp to take to the Palace of Weddings in her district.
7) To avoid the 30 day waiting period, we prepared a statement that my visa was good only for 14 days and gave them a copy of my visa and plane tickets. They scheduled our wedding for the day before I left.

That's it! It seemed like a lot at the time while we were trying to figure it all out, but if we knew exactly what to do ahead of time it would have been prety simple.

Feel free to ask about any of the specifics.

Edit: I imagine if I had been married and needed a copy of the divorce decree, I would have just got that from my county records office, taken it with the other documents to the Seceretary of State to get an Apostille, and brought that along with the other two documents. The "Marriage Letter" is still required.

Thank you very much for this very clear and helpful post! Now I have confirmation of the correct steps to take. My fiancee and I appreciate your help!