Original Divorce papers

[Ahmed Ramzy 0]

My wife had her interview on the American embassy in cairo for CR1 visa , every thing went fine, but they requested my Original divorce papers from my previouse marriage to mail with her passport to complete the CR1 process ,, since i did not have an orginal i contacted the court house to get an original, they replay that they only can give me a certified copy with seal,

and that the best they can give me.

Any one can help to find out if the embassy will accept this certified sealed copy as original . or what i can do if the embassy will not accepted

thanks

[OBX 51]

My wife had her interview on the American embassy in cairo for CR1 visa , every thing went fine, but they requested my Original divorce papers from my previouse marriage to mail with her passport to complete the CR1 process ,, since i did not have an orginal i contacted the court house to get an original, they replay that they only can give me a certified copy with seal,

and that the best they can give me.

Any one can help to find out if the embassy will accept this certified sealed copy as original . or what i can do if the embassy will not accepted

thanks

I'm not sure if your consulate has particular requirements but we submitted a certified copy with seal to NVC for our divorce certificate and it was fine. Good luck.

[Scott and Mhay 57]

I know for me i had to submit a copy with the original stamp from the court stating it was a true copy that was filed with the court.

[Ahmed Ramzy 0]

I'm not sure if your consulate has particular requirements but we submitted a certified copy with seal to NVC for our divorce certificate and it was fine. Good luck.

The court house did not send me the copy yet I am still waiting , but according to them the copy is Congressional Certified copy with court sealed, and that is the best i can get from them..

Tolday, i called the Visa Center 202-663-1225 , I explained to them the matter and they told me to send the copy to the embassy and write them a letter explainning that the best i can get from the court house.

I just checked the US embassy in Cairo web site , the only thing i found there related to this subject was , if US Citizen live in egypt and he/she wants to file I-130 there with the embassy (see the attached copy for their instruction) according to this instruction they can accept original or certifed copy), but again who knows what they can accept in my case especially they stated that they want the original!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

cairo.usembassy.gov_consular_form35a.pdf

[Scott and Mhay 57]

I take it you are not in the state that you filed for the divorce? Do you know someone that still lives in the same town? They can go to the courthouse and get a certified copy as it is public record. That is all I did for mine. Dont know if your state is the same??

[Darnell 8,478]

certified copy with seal IS AS GOOD AS the Original. Everywhere. To All US Embassies/Consulates Worldwide. I'd bet my 3rd favorite goat on it, too. (His name is Aqwal, he is dear to me).

As long as the 'certification' is from the 'original issuing authority' - in this case, the courthouse that originally 'issued' the divorce. Yer Good !!

to anyone else reading this:

1. initial I-130 submittal - photocopies of divorce docs on US Citizen are OK.

2. NVC Processing Time (for a I-130) - submit foreign spouse's original/certified divorce docs

3. Interview Day - USC Original/Certified divorce docs.

[Scott and Mhay 57]

certified copy with seal IS AS GOOD AS the Original. Everywhere. To All US Embassies/Consulates Worldwide. I'd bet my 3rd favorite goat on it, too. (His name is Aqwal, he is dear to me).

As long as the 'certification' is from the 'original issuing authority' - in this case, the courthouse that originally 'issued' the divorce. Yer Good !!

to anyone else reading this:

1. initial I-130 submittal - photocopies of divorce docs on US Citizen are OK.

2. NVC Processing Time (for a I-130) - submit foreign spouse's original/certified divorce docs

3. Interview Day - USC Original/Certified divorce docs.

A photocopy of the divorce decree WAS NOT good for me. I dont know if it was because I didnt photocopy the stamp on the backside or they really wanted to see an original stamp. When in doubt, send the original especially when they are easy to get. That mistake cost us 1 month delay...we could have been preparing for the interview now instead of just sending the packages to the NVC.

I also had other issues in our case that they may have wanted to see proof it was filed with the court..I dont know for sure though.

Edited February 24, 2010 by Scott and Mhay

[Atencio 43]

I never received the original divorce decree, only a copy. The original is kept in the court records.

According to the I-130 check list you need a court certified copy. In my case I went to the Superior Court where my divorce was processed and they made photo copies of original added a stamp that says original on front sheet

and stamped back of last sheet with number of pages that should be present, date, and signature of the Clerk of the Court.

[disconnection 4]

My wife had her interview on the American embassy in cairo for CR1 visa , every thing went fine, but they requested my Original divorce papers from my previouse marriage to mail with her passport to complete the CR1 process ,, since i did not have an orginal i contacted the court house to get an original, they replay that they only can give me a certified copy with seal,

and that the best they can give me.

Any one can help to find out if the embassy will accept this certified sealed copy as original . or what i can do if the embassy will not accepted

thanks

just get that certified copy from the court and send it to them right away , they will accept it and it's no problem at all .

you are welcome to join us in cairo's final review club

[Ahmed Ramzy 0]

I take it you are not in the state that you filed for the divorce? Do you know someone that still lives in the same town? They can go to the courthouse and get a certified copy as it is public record. That is all I did for mine. Dont know if your state is the same??

Unfortunately, I live in another state this year will be 10 years since i moved here from the other state accordingly i do not know any one in the other state because i lost contact with alot people there over the past 10 years , so i called the court house and according to them, they have 3 types of copy ,, regular and certified and congressional certified, and i picked up the congressional certified, because it is the closest one to the original.

I even asked them to write a letter to explain to the embassy that the best they can give me ,, they answered that they are not allowed to do this.

So, I am still waiting to find out how this congressional certified looks like ,, according to them it should takes a week to get it ,, so i am still waiting and count the days , hopefully i will get it by the end of this week.

[Ahmed Ramzy 0]

just get that certified copy from the court and send it to them right away , they will accept it and it's no problem at all .

you are welcome to join us in cairo's final review club

Once i will get it, i will send it and pray that every thing will be fine and they will understand that i can not get better than that,

then what ever is next, i will take it step by step,, hopefully they can give her the Visa in short time , especially they asked her to send her passport with my divorce papers

[And_Sam 44]

Just the certified copy will be good enough. They just want to make sure you have it. I had to get a certified copy of my divorce papers when we got married here in Cairo. What I ended up doing was getting a copy from the state that I was divorced in, then submit it into the state for certification, then I got it certified on the government level.

You will not need to do that much. Just getting the copy with the seal of the state will suffice.

Good luck!!

[Darnell 8,478]

A photocopy of the divorce decree WAS NOT good for me. I dont know if it was because I didnt photocopy the stamp on the backside or they really wanted to see an original stamp. When in doubt, send the original especially when they are easy to get. That mistake cost us 1 month delay...we could have been preparing for the interview now instead of just sending the packages to the NVC.

I also had other issues in our case that they may have wanted to see proof it was filed with the court..I dont know for sure though.

sorry. you had photocopy, but not of the 'right thing'

it's supposed to be a COPY of the STAMPED/Sealed divorce decree - a photo copy of that is acceptable on initial I-130 submittal. 'Copy of' is right there in the instructions - NOTHING about 'original' or 'certified copy'.

without that stamp, anywhere, you got hosed (I'm guessing an RFE? )

Sorry. (we're about to go into thread-hijaak, btw )

[Bernie C 24]

Original Decrees reside at the Courthouse forever and ever. You may never have the Original.

Original Certified Copies are issued when you are divorced and or request a new one (for a nominal fee) (This would be the copy with the seal affixed to it) If I remember correct I was charged a whopping 25 cents for the "Original Certified Copies" I requested.

Photocopies of certified copies are typically accepted at the petition stage and at the interview level they typically want to see the Original Certified Copy (the one with the gold seal affixed).

Its easy to get confused about "copies". An Original Certified Copy is in fact a photo copy provided by the courthouse but in addition it is "certified" by affixing the gold seal and stamping the official impression onto it.

[pgbeau1 2]

Original Decrees reside at the Courthouse forever and ever. You may never have the Original.

Original Certified Copies are issued when you are divorced and or request a new one (for a nominal fee) (This would be the copy with the seal affixed to it) If I remember correct I was charged a whopping 25 cents for the "Original Certified Copies" I requested.

Photocopies of certified copies are typically accepted at the petition stage and at the interview level they typically want to see the Original Certified Copy (the one with the gold seal affixed).

Its easy to get confused about "copies". An Original Certified Copy is in fact a photo copy provided by the courthouse but in addition it is "certified" by affixing the gold seal and stamping the official impression onto it.

Yeah, I am in the process of filing my initial 129F and when my atty reviewed my package he warned me that my divorce doc photocopy wasn't likely going to pass muster. Glad to know that, I also live states away from there and many moons, so am anxiously awaiting a copy in the mail from the county clerk in the court/city where it was filed.

So at least I'll have my proper divorce docs and that won't hold us up later.