# Apostille (potential issue)



## dedicated1 (May 28, 2011)

Hello,

I am currently in the process of my Portuguese residency application; I am American and not an EU citizen, but my husband and children are (easy for them, not for me!). I've had one appointment with the SEF office already and the only issue that arose was that they would not accept my marriage certificate! They advised me to contact the US Embassy to 'validate' my license - which I went there and was told they do not provide this service! They even drafted an official notice for me to take to my appointment about this issue for them to stop the practice; it's the Setubal office that I'm clsoe to. (For anyone else in this predicament, you need to contact the Secretary of State where the marriage took place and apply for an Apostille. Mine was in Las Vegas and they have this option available on their website, cost me $115.00 - just Google the Secretary of State for your state). The Apostille is now en-route to me in Portugal (another crazy process) and my next appointment is on March 19th. The US Embassy cautioned me that I need to order 2 Apostilles and make sure I send one to the Portuguese Embassy to be translated.* HOW DO I DO THIS...? *And can it be done in time for my March 19th appointment. By the way, this application process started for me in early Nov. 2011 and is still going on.

As always, this site as a wealth of knowledge so, I'm hoping someone can help guide me!


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

I don't think you need 2 but it has to be translated by an official translator the (US Embassy should have a list) the Portuguese Embassy won't do it.
As your the spouse of a EU Citizen? then think you should really read this link as it can be done via your Camra rather than SEF, you would still probably require your marriage certificate translated and notarized as a true copy, and he should accompany you with his documentation

http://www.sef.pt/portal/V10/EN/aspx/apoiocliente/detalheApoio.aspx?fromIndex=0&id_Linha=4351
This is the SEF form
http://www.sef.pt/documentos/57/DR0012.2a.pdf


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## dedicated1 (May 28, 2011)

Thanks, Canoeman...you're always a gem! 

If it's worth noting: my first appointment with the Setubal SEF office, was also for my children - who are dual citizens of the UK and US. They advised we could simply take all our docs to the Camra Municipal in Palmela (our region) and the kids would be issued a permit straight away. But not the same for me. We went to the Camra right after the SEF appointment and within an hour, my children had their Portuguese residency permits.

However, based upon what you're indicating - as we never asked about me when we were at the Camra - I may just pop in and see if they in fact, can do anything for me!

It sure is a run around with the mis-information about what Embassy can and cannot do....and their websites aren't always forthcoming with detail either. 

I'll update the post with my outcome.


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## canoeman (Mar 3, 2011)

Suggest you print off the information from the SEF site in Portuguese and English and take with you, just in case


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