Recently, if you are divorced and dealing with foreign authorities (courts, city clerk offices, civil registries, immigration bodies etc.), in addition to the certified apostilled copy of the Judgement of Divorce, you may be asked to present a “certificate of non-appeal,” apostilled (or legalized by a consulate of destination country). In plain English, it is a “Final Divorce Decree” or a “Final Judgment.” The entire purpose of recognition of foreign divorces is to prevent limping marriages. These are marriages in which divorce has been granted but the decree is not recognized by the courts of other countries.

Among the countries which require the No Appeal Certificate are Italy, France, Canada, Turkey and some Nordic States.

What is Certificate of Non- Appeal

“Certificate of Non-Appeal” is simply a document issued by the clerk of the Court and certified by the County Clerk which states that as of a particular date, there is no pending action in the matter of the divorce and that the divorce is considered final and closed. In other words, the No Appeal Certificate is issued in confirmation that the decision on marriage dissolution has not been appealed by the defendant, the time for filing an appeal has expired and the court decision is considered final and irrevocable.

 Who might need the certificate of No Appeal

• divorced U.S. citizens who are to re-marry in a foreign country where the law requires to register previous divorce (s) to be eligible for the registration next marriage
• people with dual citizenship – citizens of the US and  other country who need to register divorce with the court or other competent authorities of the country of their second citizenship (for legal, taxation or personal purposes)
• bride and groom,  previously divorced, who are foreign citizens intending to marry in the country other than the country of their citizenship

No Appeal Certificates Issues

Chances are you have to make few  attempts to retrieve it

First of all, the document in question is not something that American courts usually issue. Thus, depending of the state and county, where divorce was filed, type of the court which made the decision to terminate the marriage, a case or index number, date the decision was made, etc., you can obtain the certificate at the first attempt or you have to come back again and again to the court, court archives, county clerk office or archives (especially if you were divorced decades ago) to get one. For example, if your divorce is dated 1976 the clerk of the court shall physically search the court archives (it is now we have computerized courts systems and data is easily accessible; few decades ago, the court records were manually managed) to find the confirmation that the defendant was properly served and given a chance to appeal the decision. If he/she finds the affidavit of service then you’ll be given the certificate in a week or so.

In some U.S. states the No Appeal Certificate is unavailable

It is because such a document simply does not exist. If so what do you do in the situation such as this? If in your state this document is not available, pay the visit to the clerk of court in your particular county. They may be able to produce certified copies of the “Register of Actions” and the Decree from the clerk, then a copy of the rules of appellate procedure (NAR 4) that define the time in which an appeal may be taken.

The defendant has never been served

If the divorce approved, the Judge signs the Judgment of Divorce. In the U.S. the Defendant must be given a copy of the signed Judgment. The Defendant must be served with a copy of the Judgment and another “Affidavit of Service” must be completed and filed with the County Clerk Office.

If you or your attorney failed to serve the defendant, you will never be able to receive the Certificate of Non – Appeal until you complete the divorce procedure. And this is the most serious issue you might have to deal with especially if you was divorced long ago and do not have contact with your ex-spouse for years.

Assistance with the Certificate of Non-Appeal for foreign country

When you choose to hire the Apoling Solutions, Inc.  to assist you with No Appeal Certificate, you can be confident knowing you are working with knowledgeable experts who know how to obtain, translate and apostille or legalize your document in accordance with the requirements of your particular country.

1. Retrieving Certificate of Non-Appeal

If your divorce is done in one of the NYC counties – Manhattan, Richmond, Kings, Queens or Bronx, we can obtain a Certificate of Non-Appeal on your behalf. We’ll go to the office of the clerk of the court as many time as it might be necessary, search archives and court databases. No matter “how old” your Judgement of Divorce is.

If the divorce originates  from another state, call us for details. We’ll provide you with more information.

2. Obtaining Apostille on the No Appeal Certificate

If the No Appeal Certificate (or document substituting it), is meant for a foreign country you shall obtain an apostille on it or get it legalized in the embassy/consulate if the destination country is not a party to Apostille Convention (such as Canada).

3. Translating No Appeal Certificate

We’ll provide you with the certified translation of your No Appeal document into Italian, French, Turkish, Spanish or any other language of the country for which it is meant.

Apoling Solutions serves clients nationwide. The procedures may vary from state to state though.

Contact us via phone or email if you have questions. We’ll provide you with the detailed answers and assistance.