Authentication Certificate Requirements (United States of America)
Documents issued in the United States must be apostilled (apostila de haia) in order to be used in Portugal. Therefore, you don’t need to use any other type of authentication. In fact, Portugal does not accept any authentication other than the Hague Apostille.
However, if you are going to use the document issued in the United States in a country that is not part of the Hague Convention, then you must have it authenticated as explained below.
Before submitting documents to us, you must:
1) Get a notary public to notarize each document:
Using a county notary? Go to the clerk of court first and then a state office, such as a secretary of state.
Using a state notary? Go to a state office, such as a secretary of state.
2) Make sure seals and signatures are originals
Get a certified copy from a notary public. A certified copy is a copy of a primary document with a certificate on it that it is the true copy.
Get records, court documents, and federally-issued documents certified at the state level.
3) Get any documents in a foreign language translated into English. Get the translation notarized.
4) After you get your document(s) notarized, mail your Form DS-4194 and documents to us.
Requirements for Each Type of Document
State and Local Documents
Examples:
- Birth certificates
- Marriage certificates
- Death certificates
- Divorce decrees
- Probate wills
- Judgments
Your state and local documents must:
- Be an original or certified document
- Include the raised or stamped seal of the court or department of vital records
- Be certified by the state which issued the documents. The secretary of state will certify to the official signing the document under the seal of the state.
Federally-Issued Documents
Other Documents
Adriano Martins Pinheiro | Lawyer in Portugal
tags: portugal, us, usa, apostille .
