Does anyone know of a company in Doha that can get my marriage license attested in the USA. My wife and I are both americans and she needs to get a family visa/RP. I am not able to go to Washington DC to get this done.
I had to do the same thing for my documents, and as I was living in Egypt, I found a similar company in Australia who did the entire lot for me. Be aware, it is a very very expensive process :)
Mariposa you are very correct in the procedure. Per the web sights, these steps are correct. My problem is to get someone to take all these steps for me. A lawyer in Houston might be the best bet. There is nothing money won't fix. One person suggested I get a divorce. After 40 years of marriage, she would take it all, so no chance I kind of still like her.
After many replys and ideas, I have concluded that there is not a company in Doha that will do this for me. Imagine that, a void exist for a small business. Does a light go off for someone?
I thank everyone for their comments and I appriciate them very much.
and basically it seems you need the State of Texas to authenticate it for you..
Authentication of U.S. Documents
We cannot authenticate a U.S. document. Nearly all U.S. documents are issued by local authorities in the U.S. and need to go through a several step authentication process.
First step: A document must first be authenticated by the local authority that issued it, such as a city, town or county. For academic credentials and degrees, the school registrar should execute an affidavit attesting to the validity of the document before a notary public in the registrar's office or elsewhere at the university.
Second step: The document must then be authenticated by the respective Secretary of State from the state in which the document was issued. Please visit the website for the Secretary of State of your state to learn how obtain the appropriate state level authentication.
Third step: Once a U.S. document has been authenticated by the state in which it was issued, you must then send the document to the U.S. Department of State's Authentications Office.
Fourth step: After the U.S. Department of State has authenticated a document, the document must be forwarded to the Embassy of Qatar in Washington, D.C.
Final step: You must take the document to the Consular Affairs Section of Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs as listed above. Once the MFA Consular Affairs Section authenticates the Embassy of Qatar's seal and signature, your document is ready for use in Qatar.
So.. basically the problem lies with the fact that Qatar is not a member of the Hague Convention. If they were, then the simple Apostille would work.
I stand corrected per the website I refereed you to, they state different procedures apply to countries which are not members of the Hague.
Regardless you do NOT need to send your original documents.
Lets play devils advocate, if your original was stolen during a robbery of your safe, would it mean you are SOL? I think not! A certified copy would have to suffice.
You are correct. The Minestry of Foreign Affairs is part of the State Dept. They will attest the document for a small fee. But, there are a few forms to fill out and I will have to mail the original to them. I really dont want to loose my original document if they cant find it later. Once the Foreign Affairs attests the license, then it has to be mailed to the Qatar Embassy. They will require the person to be there and show ID that it is their license. I tried to get my license attested in Houston, but they said no, I must go to the State Dept in Washington DC first.
Bottom line is, I am working and I cant take off work to do this. I need some help. I will try the American Embassy for help.
Please do not send your original marriage certificate.
Here is the information for the state of Texas. I have had an apostille for my marriage license from them. I think it took a week.. use your relatives or your best friend at home to do the US leg work.
You can also send the State of Texas an email and ask about the process that involves the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Washington DC and getting it attested there. Texas State government workers are pretty nice and helpful (in my experience).
Let them get the copies from the courthouse, send off for the apostille and do all the mailing back and forth in the US and then send the final documents to you in Qatar. (at least that is what I would do).
http://www.sos.state.tx.us/authinfo.shtml
Lawyers (in my humble opinion) are not needed for this.
I do not know how they do it in TX. But for my experience in VA you can request for certified true copy of your marriage license online which is already authenticated then that document should go to the Department of State for further authentication since the document will be use outside the USA. And make sure you include a prepaid envelope with your return address (in your case you should use your Doha address) so you can receive the document. US State Department accepts money order or personal (US) checks. You can use FED EX or DHL as your courier. Goodluck.
As per my experience ? you better hire a lawyer in USA who can do all your jobs without any headache.... sending documents to ministry of foreign affairs it will take lot of times and then to qatar embassy and your documents may get lost as well trust me we sent documents and we didnt get it we tried to follow up and nothing yet after 6 months we hired lawyer that she done everything in less than a month now theres one more document shes doing it for us then all the documents together will be sent to us.
if you go to the US embassy here in doha, they will give you a list of trusted agencies based in the US where you can contact and send them your documents, they will complete them and send them back to you. this porccess normally takes around 1 to 1.5 months to complete.
i had to do this for my daughters birth certificate, and like i said the embassy here in doha gave me a list of trusted agencies in the US that do this service for a charge. sorry i dont have that list on me now!
The process as I understand it is to get my marriage license attested in the state where I was married. This is done by getting a certified copy with an embossed stamp and an attested. I got this in Houston.
Now I need to send it to the Minestry of Foregin Affairs in Washington DC to get it attested. Then I need to send it to the Qatar Embassy in Washinton DC and get it attested. Then it must come back to Qatar and get the Qatar embassy in Doha to attest it again. Then I can apply for a family visit visa or RP. I find it hard to believe these agency's will do this without the person to be there. Do they really just stamp documents that come in the mail? I have been on the Minestry of Foregin Affairs web site and all they want is $8 to stamp a document. I think the attested copy from Texas will be their qualification for attesting. The Qatar embassy will stamp anything from the Foregin Affiars office in Wahsington.
I am not real sure if my original document will ever make it back to me in Doha. Has any american completed this task?
What do you mean by attested? Your original marriage license has a seal and is stamped and signed.
Copies that you get in the states from the county where you were married will also have a stamp, seal and be signed by the county clerk.
So are you showing a copy that you made by yourself? and if so, I am not sure how a foreign entity can certify a US document to be valid. I don't even think the embassy will validate a document (other than your passport). But, you can try them based on the fact that (hopefully) your wife has your last name) and they might write something along the lines of to the best of their knowledge.. etc.
What you need to do is an internet search for where in the state you were married is responsible for certifying your marriage license (Apostilles/Authentication of Documents) and go from there.
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I had to do the same thing for my documents, and as I was living in Egypt, I found a similar company in Australia who did the entire lot for me. Be aware, it is a very very expensive process :)
America:
Apostille US
40 Rector Street
Suite 1502
New York
NY 1006
Tel: + 1 212 233 7061
Email: [email protected]
www.apostille.us
Mariposa you are very correct in the procedure. Per the web sights, these steps are correct. My problem is to get someone to take all these steps for me. A lawyer in Houston might be the best bet. There is nothing money won't fix. One person suggested I get a divorce. After 40 years of marriage, she would take it all, so no chance I kind of still like her.
After many replys and ideas, I have concluded that there is not a company in Doha that will do this for me. Imagine that, a void exist for a small business. Does a light go off for someone?
I thank everyone for their comments and I appriciate them very much.
Let me save you a trip to the Embassy as I have spent a lot of time in various ones in various countries and they all say the same thing.
'We do not offer advice'. We can not tell you what to do.
So the following is a link from their webpage:
http://qatar.usembassy.gov/document_authentications.html
and basically it seems you need the State of Texas to authenticate it for you..
Authentication of U.S. Documents
We cannot authenticate a U.S. document. Nearly all U.S. documents are issued by local authorities in the U.S. and need to go through a several step authentication process.
First step: A document must first be authenticated by the local authority that issued it, such as a city, town or county. For academic credentials and degrees, the school registrar should execute an affidavit attesting to the validity of the document before a notary public in the registrar's office or elsewhere at the university.
Second step: The document must then be authenticated by the respective Secretary of State from the state in which the document was issued. Please visit the website for the Secretary of State of your state to learn how obtain the appropriate state level authentication.
Third step: Once a U.S. document has been authenticated by the state in which it was issued, you must then send the document to the U.S. Department of State's Authentications Office.
Fourth step: After the U.S. Department of State has authenticated a document, the document must be forwarded to the Embassy of Qatar in Washington, D.C.
Final step: You must take the document to the Consular Affairs Section of Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs as listed above. Once the MFA Consular Affairs Section authenticates the Embassy of Qatar's seal and signature, your document is ready for use in Qatar.
So.. basically the problem lies with the fact that Qatar is not a member of the Hague Convention. If they were, then the simple Apostille would work.
I stand corrected per the website I refereed you to, they state different procedures apply to countries which are not members of the Hague.
Regardless you do NOT need to send your original documents.
Lets play devils advocate, if your original was stolen during a robbery of your safe, would it mean you are SOL? I think not! A certified copy would have to suffice.
Good luck with the Embassy.
Maybe it's easier to get a divorce?
You are correct. The Minestry of Foreign Affairs is part of the State Dept. They will attest the document for a small fee. But, there are a few forms to fill out and I will have to mail the original to them. I really dont want to loose my original document if they cant find it later. Once the Foreign Affairs attests the license, then it has to be mailed to the Qatar Embassy. They will require the person to be there and show ID that it is their license. I tried to get my license attested in Houston, but they said no, I must go to the State Dept in Washington DC first.
Bottom line is, I am working and I cant take off work to do this. I need some help. I will try the American Embassy for help.
Please do not send your original marriage certificate.
Here is the information for the state of Texas. I have had an apostille for my marriage license from them. I think it took a week.. use your relatives or your best friend at home to do the US leg work.
You can also send the State of Texas an email and ask about the process that involves the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Washington DC and getting it attested there. Texas State government workers are pretty nice and helpful (in my experience).
Let them get the copies from the courthouse, send off for the apostille and do all the mailing back and forth in the US and then send the final documents to you in Qatar. (at least that is what I would do).
http://www.sos.state.tx.us/authinfo.shtml
Lawyers (in my humble opinion) are not needed for this.
I do not know how they do it in TX. But for my experience in VA you can request for certified true copy of your marriage license online which is already authenticated then that document should go to the Department of State for further authentication since the document will be use outside the USA. And make sure you include a prepaid envelope with your return address (in your case you should use your Doha address) so you can receive the document. US State Department accepts money order or personal (US) checks. You can use FED EX or DHL as your courier. Goodluck.
As per my experience ? you better hire a lawyer in USA who can do all your jobs without any headache.... sending documents to ministry of foreign affairs it will take lot of times and then to qatar embassy and your documents may get lost as well trust me we sent documents and we didnt get it we tried to follow up and nothing yet after 6 months we hired lawyer that she done everything in less than a month now theres one more document shes doing it for us then all the documents together will be sent to us.
if you go to the US embassy here in doha, they will give you a list of trusted agencies based in the US where you can contact and send them your documents, they will complete them and send them back to you. this porccess normally takes around 1 to 1.5 months to complete.
i had to do this for my daughters birth certificate, and like i said the embassy here in doha gave me a list of trusted agencies in the US that do this service for a charge. sorry i dont have that list on me now!
The process as I understand it is to get my marriage license attested in the state where I was married. This is done by getting a certified copy with an embossed stamp and an attested. I got this in Houston.
Now I need to send it to the Minestry of Foregin Affairs in Washington DC to get it attested. Then I need to send it to the Qatar Embassy in Washinton DC and get it attested. Then it must come back to Qatar and get the Qatar embassy in Doha to attest it again. Then I can apply for a family visit visa or RP. I find it hard to believe these agency's will do this without the person to be there. Do they really just stamp documents that come in the mail? I have been on the Minestry of Foregin Affairs web site and all they want is $8 to stamp a document. I think the attested copy from Texas will be their qualification for attesting. The Qatar embassy will stamp anything from the Foregin Affiars office in Wahsington.
I am not real sure if my original document will ever make it back to me in Doha. Has any american completed this task?
What do you mean by attested? Your original marriage license has a seal and is stamped and signed.
Copies that you get in the states from the county where you were married will also have a stamp, seal and be signed by the county clerk.
So are you showing a copy that you made by yourself? and if so, I am not sure how a foreign entity can certify a US document to be valid. I don't even think the embassy will validate a document (other than your passport). But, you can try them based on the fact that (hopefully) your wife has your last name) and they might write something along the lines of to the best of their knowledge.. etc.
What you need to do is an internet search for where in the state you were married is responsible for certifying your marriage license (Apostilles/Authentication of Documents) and go from there.