Divorce Decree vs Certificate

[masterpiece 2]

Here`s a little question i came across on a totally unrelated subject but which may apply here...

Do Embassies want to see divorce decree or a certified copy of the divorce decree?

My case is already at the embassy having gone through uscis and nvc. Will a divorce decree notarized by a notary public, as a true semblance of the original, be accepted rather than the certified document usually issued from the court where divorce was granted.

Comments are welcome..

Edited October 25, 2006 by masterpiece

[Tim&Poonam 0]

I was told my fiancee would need the certified copy for her interview from my lawyer.

[joone745 0]

I originally sent a copy of my divorce decree and received an RFE for the certified copy of final judgment of divorce.

[1HappyGuy 45]

You should always provide original documents or certified copies with all of your forms. Just make sure you have a good copy for your files. I have dealt with the government for over 30 years and I have always kept and advised my clients to keep copies of all documents, letters, etc. sent to any government agency. It's sometimes a pain in the butt, but with the number of fraudulent filings of all kinds you don't want to be held up for minor things. I've seen people that sent the birth certificate from their birth hospital only to have it rejected as not official.

Keep it official at all times!

[dougyceci 0]

Get a certified copy from the court or state agency that may handle them.

[rebeccajo 14]

That's not the service a notary is empowered to perform.

The notary swears to the live signature in his or her presence by individuals party to the document.

Will a divorce decree notarized by a notary public, as a true semblance of the original, be accepted rather than the certified document usually issued from the court where divorce was granted.

Comments are welcome..

Edited October 26, 2006 by rebeccajo

[masterpiece 2]

I guess i may have misunderstood the last comment. A copy of my divorce decree was notarized along with other documents as true replicas of the original documents. Are you saying notary publics are not meant to do that?

The copy of divorce decree currently in Nigeria with my fiancee is one that has been notarized. I guess i am wondering if that notarized document will suffice or if they will insist on a certified copy. Thus far, i guess i may have to do a last minute rush to try and obtain a certified copy. Gosh and i thought i was done with mailing of documents....oh bother!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rebeccajo 14]

I guess i may have misunderstood the last comment. A copy of my divorce decree was notarized along with other documents as true replicas of the original documents. Are you saying notary publics are not meant to do that?

No they aren't.

[Bunnyqr 0]

For the K1 application I submitted the copy of my final divorce decree, and they didn't give me an RFE. But they did give me an RFE for my fiance's final divorce decrees. In the waiting period I still went to the County Clerks office and requested a certified copy of mine. I gave this to my fiance for his future interview in case they ask for it.

We will see................

[masterpiece 2]

Well i must be missing something here. I approached at least 3 different Notary publics during the course of this process. All three (2 in NY and one in NJ) executed some variant of a certificate of acknowledgement (?)whereby they review the documents in question, verify my identity, before noting that document is "exact and true replica of the original" or some similar verbiage.

I have also had some documents notarized like that in the past. So these notary publics have all erred?

[Bunnyqr 0]

The Notaries did the right thing. I am a Notary and what we are stating is that you are the person that is presenting the documents with ID and we state that it is a true document.

If you are looking for a "Certified" copy you need to contact the County Clerks office that signed your final divorce decree. You call them or right a letter, find out what the fee is (mine was $5) and they will send you a "Certified Copy" and it states that it is a Certified Copy of the original divorce document.

I know it's confusing but I got this information when I spoke with a lawyer a couple of months ago and they explained this.

I am doing the same for my Birth Certificate.

B

[Dean iWait 0]

The Notaries did the right thing. I am a Notary and what we are stating is that you are the person that is presenting the documents with ID and we state that it is a true document.

If you are looking for a "Certified" copy you need to contact the County Clerks office that signed your final divorce decree. You call them or right a letter, find out what the fee is (mine was $5) and they will send you a "Certified Copy" and it states that it is a Certified Copy of the original divorce document.

I know it's confusing but I got this information when I spoke with a lawyer a couple of months ago and they explained this.

I am doing the same for my Birth Certificate.

B

I'm a notary too. Maybe they do it different in other states but there is no way we would state that any document is a true document. We only witness a signature and verify the identity of the person signing. It's not our job to determine anything about any of the documents being signed.

The OP needs to go get a copy from the court with a court seal on it certifying it's a true copy of the original.

[rebeccajo 14]

Notaries are not empowered to certify the authenticity of documents that are a vital record, a public record, or publicly recordable. Any who do so are acting outside the scope of their authority.

[Dean iWait 0]

Notaries are not empowered to certify the authenticity of documents that are a vital record, a public record, or publicly recordable. Any who do so are acting outside the scope of their authority.

Agreed. Well said.

[sleepless in OR 2]

I originally sent a copy of my divorce decree and received an RFE for the certified copy of final judgment of divorce.

Me too. They didn't ask to see the original certified final judgement during the interview at the embassy. I faxed the embassy ahead of time to see if the original certified doc would be needed at the interview.