US document apostilled?

[nledec]

I need to have a Marriage Certificate from the US apostilled in order to apply for my infant son's DNI. Where can I get an American document apostilled here in Buenos Aires?

 

[steveinbsas]

I believe you will have to have the Apostille done by the Secretary of State in the state where you were married. Was the license that you have "certified" by the county clerk, or is it just your copy that was signed by the person performing the ceremony?

Rather than sending it back for the Apostille, it might be better to order an "official" copy from the county clerk where you were married that "certifies" that the wedding actually took place. I have a copy of my marriage license that was signed by the minister, but there was no official "proof" the marriage really happened. After the wedding the minister took his copy to the county clerk. This (identical copy) is the one that is in the official county records.

At this momenmt I am waiting for a friend in Chicago to take the recently issued copy (with the signature of the county clerk and a raised seal) to the Secretary of State's office for the Apostille. My brother was able to get the newly issued certificate for me just by providing the two names and the date of the wedding. It was also cheaper to get the new certificate ($12 US) than send my (perhaps unaceptable) copy back to the US for the Apostille.

I still have one reservation. The marriage certificate only has my middle initial and I know that can cause problems here in Argentina. My divorce decree also only has my middle initial, even though all of the court documents bear my full name. I need these docs to apply for a passport and to make a will in Argentina. Hopefully, the Federal Police and Juzgada Federal aren't as picky as migraciones when it comes to middle initials.

 

[nikad]

You can do this at the US embassy. Check their website for notarial services.

 

[steveinbsas]

You can do this at the US embassy. Check their website for notarial services.

From the website: http://argentina.usembassy.gov/other-services.html

Services that are NOT PERFORMED at the U.S. Embassy.
Authentication of U.S. state-issued documents (e.g. birth, marriage, death certificates)
​

 

[nikad]

From the website: http://argentina.usembassy.gov/other-services.html

Services that are NOT PERFORMED at the U.S. Embassy.
Authentication of U.S. state-issued documents (e.g. birth, marriage, death certificates)
​

I found the exact opposite here http://spanish.argentina.usembassy.gov/apostilla_para_documentos_de_eeuu.html

 

[steveinbsas]

I found the exact opposite here http://spanish.argentina.usembassy.gov/apostilla_para_documentos_de_eeuu.html

I think this page explains what an Apostille is and what documents may recieve it, but I don't think it says that the US Embassy in Argentina will do it. It gives instructions on how and where to have the Apostille performed in the US, providing the web addresses for the individual secretaries of state (or other state office that performs the Apostille) and the street address for US State Department in Washington, D.C.

Of course I could be wrong. I cannot read Spanish as well as you.

 

[steveinbsas]

Isn't the way things are work here...you find something and then the exact opposite somewhere else...thus continuing the confusion.

Business as usual.

That may be true in Argentina (especially at migraciones when you ask a question on the phone and receive one answer and later are given a different answer at their office), but I don't think the Spanish version of the US Embassy website contradicts the satement on the "other services" page in English. It specifically states that the embassy does not authenticate state issued documents.

If the Apostille was available at the embassy I think they would give instructions for making an appointment for that service, just like they do for getting a document notarized.

 

[nikad]

I think this page explains what an Apostille is and what documents may recieve it, but I don't think it says that the US Embassy in Argentina will do it. It gives instructions on how and where to have the Apostille performed in the US, providing the web addresses for the individual secretaries of state (or other state office that performs the Apostille) and the street address for US State Department in Washington, D.C.

Of course I could be wrong. I cannot read Spanish as well as you.

As far as I understand, state, notarized and legal documents have to be sent to different places in order to be apostilled, however when it refers to documents issued by a US federal agency I infer it can be done here... it really is not clear at all in this last case, it would be worth contacting the embassy about it.