Divorce certificate

[JamalNTam 1]

Hi all! Can someone tell me the difference between a notorized copy of an original divorce certificate and a certified one? Im so worred as it took a long time and a lot of money to get my decree from my ex husband in Tanzania and I just got a copy of that notorized in the states. Now Im seeing people getting RFEs for certified ones! Thanks!

[aj1 1]

Hi all! Can someone tell me the difference between a notorized copy of an original divorce certificate and a certified one? Im so worred as it took a long time and a lot of money to get my decree from my ex husband in Tanzania and I just got a copy of that notorized in the states. Now Im seeing people getting RFEs for certified ones! Thanks!

Maybe someone else can shed light on this for you but from my experiece i got my divorce decree authenticated with a gold seal from my state and i went to the courthouse and got it notarized. That is all i used when i sent my I129F petition in and our petition was still approved. If you have that i think that is good enough to use to send in with your petition. I did. Maybe you will get different advice but that is what i did. I wish you both the best on your journey.

AJ1

[JamalNTam 1]

Thanks for the response. The trouble is that the Tanzanian divorce certificate doesnt have a gold seal. It was stamped with the Tanzaninan government stamp thing - but its an imprint in the paper and doesnt show on the copy (aparentley alot of the countries and courts now use stamps that show up but Tanzania isnt as advanced).

[Yodrak 7]

Tamzyn,

What you've got is a certified copy. Don't know how to overcome the fact that the stamp won't photocopy. Maybe try playing with the darkness and contrast (if any) adjustments on the copier. Or go to someplace that has a very fancy copier that might be able to bring out an image of the seal.

How did you get a notarized copy of the divorce certificate? What person, of any relevant authority, signed the certificate in the presence of the notary here in the USA?

Yodrak

Thanks for the response. The trouble is that the Tanzanian divorce certificate doesnt have a gold seal. It was stamped with the Tanzaninan government stamp thing - but its an imprint in the paper and doesnt show on the copy (aparentley alot of the countries and courts now use stamps that show up but Tanzania isnt as advanced).

Edited December 6, 2006 by Yodrak

[JamalNTam 1]

Tamzyn,

What you've got is a certified copy. Don't know how to overcome the fact that the stamp won't photocopy. Maybe try playing with the darkness and contrast (if any) adjustments on the copier. Or go to someplace that has a very fancy copier that might be able to bring out an image of the seal.

How did you get a notarized copy of the divorce certificate? What person, of any relevant authority, signed the certificate in the presence of the notary here in the USA?

Yodrak

Thanks for the response. The trouble is that the Tanzanian divorce certificate doesnt have a gold seal. It was stamped with the Tanzaninan government stamp thing - but its an imprint in the paper and doesnt show on the copy (aparentley alot of the countries and courts now use stamps that show up but Tanzania isnt as advanced).

Ok i got the notarized one by going to a notary in AZ. They photocopied the original one and notarized it. Inm guessing that was notarizing it! I really have no idea! lol

[edsperfect 25]

Tamzyn,

What you've got is a certified copy. Don't know how to overcome the fact that the stamp won't photocopy. Maybe try playing with the darkness and contrast (if any) adjustments on the copier. Or go to someplace that has a very fancy copier that might be able to bring out an image of the seal.

How did you get a notarized copy of the divorce certificate? What person, of any relevant authority, signed the certificate in the presence of the notary here in the USA?

Yodrak

Thanks for the response. The trouble is that the Tanzanian divorce certificate doesnt have a gold seal. It was stamped with the Tanzaninan government stamp thing - but its an imprint in the paper and doesnt show on the copy (aparentley alot of the countries and courts now use stamps that show up but Tanzania isnt as advanced).

First off I don't think they need a notarized copy, what they require is a decree absolute or fnal decree. I don't know what they givein your country but in the sates ou get it from the court in which you wre divorced. NO gold seal doesn't make much difference. You can shade it with black dust for the copy machine.

I would agre with the prior poster. Who would notorize something without the erson being in front of hm? That is a criminal offense in my state

[JamalNTam 1]

Tamzyn,

What you've got is a certified copy. Don't know how to overcome the fact that the stamp won't photocopy. Maybe try playing with the darkness and contrast (if any) adjustments on the copier. Or go to someplace that has a very fancy copier that might be able to bring out an image of the seal.

How did you get a notarized copy of the divorce certificate? What person, of any relevant authority, signed the certificate in the presence of the notary here in the USA?

Yodrak

Thanks for the response. The trouble is that the Tanzanian divorce certificate doesnt have a gold seal. It was stamped with the Tanzaninan government stamp thing - but its an imprint in the paper and doesnt show on the copy (aparentley alot of the countries and courts now use stamps that show up but Tanzania isnt as advanced).

First off I don't think they need a notarized copy, what they require is a decree absolute or fnal decree. I don't know what they givein your country but in the sates ou get it from the court in which you wre divorced. NO gold seal doesn't make much difference. You can shade it with black dust for the copy machine.

I would agre with the prior poster. Who would notorize something without the erson being in front of hm? That is a criminal offense in my state

But its my divorce certificate and i was the one who took it for notarizing. Isnt that legal?

[Ashleigh-Au 0]

you cannot have a notarized copy........a notary witnesses a signature.

What you have is a true copy (maybe that is also a certified copy)....someone signed that it was a true copy of the original

[payxibka 10,048]

Tamzyn,

What you've got is a certified copy. Don't know how to overcome the fact that the stamp won't photocopy. Maybe try playing with the darkness and contrast (if any) adjustments on the copier. Or go to someplace that has a very fancy copier that might be able to bring out an image of the seal.

How did you get a notarized copy of the divorce certificate? What person, of any relevant authority, signed the certificate in the presence of the notary here in the USA?

Yodrak

Thanks for the response. The trouble is that the Tanzanian divorce certificate doesnt have a gold seal. It was stamped with the Tanzaninan government stamp thing - but its an imprint in the paper and doesnt show on the copy (aparentley alot of the countries and courts now use stamps that show up but Tanzania isnt as advanced).

First off I don't think they need a notarized copy, what they require is a decree absolute or fnal decree. I don't know what they givein your country but in the sates ou get it from the court in which you wre divorced. NO gold seal doesn't make much difference. You can shade it with black dust for the copy machine.

I would agre with the prior poster. Who would notorize something without the erson being in front of hm? That is a criminal offense in my state

But its my divorce certificate and i was the one who took it for notarizing. Isnt that legal?

I assume the only one who has the ability to certify a divorce decree would be the Clerk of Court (or its equivalent). What value does notarizing your signature to the document add... I think that is the question.

[MissStacey 1]

My husband is a Notary. I know he would never Notarize anything that isn't legal. He wouldn't put his Commission on the line. If you got it notarized, I'm sure the Notary would have known if he was allowed to do so or not. As far as if you can use it in your case, I don't know. I'm still learning here.

Edited December 7, 2006 by Wilhelmina

[featherB 1]

Oh dear... this is now making me worry that we're going to get an RFE for this too. We sent in a photocopy of a certified copy of my fiance's divorce decree, but it had a kind of 'embossed' stamp on the last page of it. I just checked, and you can't see that on the photocopied versions at all. There *is* a stamp from the county clerk's office (or something like that) over the same area, that's been signed to confirm that it's a certified copy, etc... never occurred to us that the embossed bit would need to be visible because, well, it's not visible on the certified copy anyway!

Ugh. Was hoping not to get any RFEs... am worried now.

Anyway... good luck, Tamzyn - hope you two don't get an RFE, and I hope we don't get one either!

Edited December 7, 2006 by featherB

[Ashleigh-Au 0]

Photocopies are fine for sending in....you will need the originals at the time of the interview tho.

Edited December 7, 2006 by Ashleigh-Au

[JamalNTam 1]

Tamzyn,

What you've got is a certified copy. Don't know how to overcome the fact that the stamp won't photocopy. Maybe try playing with the darkness and contrast (if any) adjustments on the copier. Or go to someplace that has a very fancy copier that might be able to bring out an image of the seal.

How did you get a notarized copy of the divorce certificate? What person, of any relevant authority, signed the certificate in the presence of the notary here in the USA?

Yodrak

Thanks for the response. The trouble is that the Tanzanian divorce certificate doesnt have a gold seal. It was stamped with the Tanzaninan government stamp thing - but its an imprint in the paper and doesnt show on the copy (aparentley alot of the countries and courts now use stamps that show up but Tanzania isnt as advanced).

I think im getting confused. What I did was take the original, certified copy of the certificate to a notary in the US - he made a copy of it and then notarized a copy of it confirming that it was an exact copy of the original document. Is that acceptable?

First off I don't think they need a notarized copy, what they require is a decree absolute or fnal decree. I don't know what they givein your country but in the sates ou get it from the court in which you wre divorced. NO gold seal doesn't make much difference. You can shade it with black dust for the copy machine.

I would agre with the prior poster. Who would notorize something without the erson being in front of hm? That is a criminal offense in my state

But its my divorce certificate and i was the one who took it for notarizing. Isnt that legal?

I assume the only one who has the ability to certify a divorce decree would be the Clerk of Court (or its equivalent). What value does notarizing your signature to the document add... I think that is the question.

[JamalNTam 1]

ooops .. it seems that I didnt actually reply anything in my last post and it seems that Im confusing everyone! Sorry bout that. What I meant was that I have a certified copy and I took it to a notary, who made a copy of the certified one and notarized the copy he made saying that it was an exact copy of the original document. Thats ok right?

[payxibka 10,048]

ooops .. it seems that I didnt actually reply anything in my last post and it seems that Im confusing everyone! Sorry bout that. What I meant was that I have a certified copy and I took it to a notary, who made a copy of the certified one and notarized the copy he made saying that it was an exact copy of the original document. Thats ok right?

Is it Ok.. I am sure sure it is... Did you do something that may have been unecessary? Possibly....

Edited December 7, 2006 by fwaguy