Marriage certificate in case of marriage abroad

Q

qwain76

New Member
I am filing for naturalization thru marriage of a US citizen.

The only question I have is about our marriage certificate. Since we married abroad (Italy), we have an Italian certificate.

Should we send the Italian certificate or should we have it translated and cerified by an official authority? Who should this authority be here in the US, in this case?

Thanks
 
You should submit the Italian certificate AND a certified translation in English. Send copies with the application, bring the originals to the interview.

There are many companies that do certified translations of documents. Or you can have it done by an individual who is competent in both Italian and English (preferably an individual not closely related to either of you). The individual's contact information should be provided with the certified translation, and they must understand that they can be held accountable for discrepancies.

Didn't you already have to provide a certified translation when you applied for the green card? Or is it that your green card is based on something other than marriage, and you got married after obtaining your green card? How many years have you had the green card?
 
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I have had the GC and lived in the US for 3 yrs and 3 months.

When applying for the GC, the marriage certificate was translated when we were still in Italy and the translator made a declaration in Italian.

Now, getting the certificate from Italy might take some time, because we are not phisically there. But I have a copy of the marriage certificate. Can I send over a copy of it with a translator declaration from the US?

I am asking this because they should already have this certificate from when I filed for the GC.
 
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qwain76 said:
I have had the GC and lived in the US for 3 yrs and 3 months.

When applying for the GC, the marriage certificate was translated when we were still in Italy and the translator made a declaration in Italian.

Now, getting the certificate from Italy might take some time, because we are not phisically there. But I have a copy of the marriage certificate. Can I send over a copy of it with a translator declaration from the US?

I am asking this because they should already have this certificate from when I filed for the GC.
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Was the declaration in Italian an "Apostille"? In that case, that declaration, together with a translation or a multi-language marriage document, which many EU countries provide, should be sufficient. In the worst case, you should be able to get such a document from an Italian consulate in the US.
 
My husband and I were married abroad (Israel) and we sent in a copy of our Israeli marriage certificate that was translated and certified by a notary public (which was done in Israel in order for him to obtain his GC). We'll be bringing in the original copies for the interview (next Monday, yay!).

I'll let you know how it goes.

I would think that you'd be able to get a certified translated copy here in the US; maybe a notary public at the consulate or contact them to see if they can put you in touch with someone. It's a good thing to have on hand in any event.
 
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