Get your documents ready for an overseas move. Learn what we did before moving from the US to Portugal.
Before I jump into what documents we brought to Portugal, let’s define two terms/processes that you’ll need to become familiar with: notary and apostille.
What is Notarization?
According to DocuSign:
Notarization is an identity-based, anti-fraud measure performed by a government-authorized person called a notary public. A notary public’s role is to verify a document signer’s identity, to witness the signing of a legal document and to provide an independent check on the mental capacity of the signer.
source
Notaries are fantastic. We had a lot of documents to obtain and process before our move to Portugal. I found a fabulous notary who helped us notarize multiple documents at our home and at our school district office. Then she took our notarized documents to the capital building to have everything apostilled. She did all this in 5 business days.
We did have to do a last minute apostille on our own and it was quite easy. We showed up at the government office when they opened and we are in and out in under ten minutes. I recommend reading the instructions on your state’s website about payment options and other requirements before showing up with your documents.
What is an Apostille?
According to the Washington State Secretary of State website:
An “apostille” is a form of authentication issued to documents for use in countries that participate in the Hague Convention of 1961. If the country of intended use does not participate in the Hague Convention , documents being sent to that country can obtain a Certificate of Authentication.
source
Basically, the government of other countries have no way to know if your marriage certificate is legit, so an apostille is proof of validity in the country of origin.
What Documents Did We Bring?
What you need to bring on an international move may vary. That is why I recommend everyone work with an experienced visa and relocation specialist for your target country. Here’s a list of documents that we brought in hardcopy and digital formats. Not everything needs to be notarized and/or apostilled but I’ve put an asterisk (*) by those that are advisable.
- Birth certificates*
- Marriage certificate*
- School records* for our school aged child (attendance, grades, etc.)
- Driving records*
- Social Security cards
- Other citizenship documents
- Passports – When we arrived in Portugal, I got a notarized copy of each passport to carry instead of the actual booklet
- Insurance policies
- Living trust and/or wills*
- Medical records
- Vaccination records
- Prescription medicine records
Documents we didn’t bring that might be required if it suits your situation:
- Death certificates
- Divorce certificates
- Custody records
- Consent to travel with minors
- International driver’s license
Secure Your Documents
My default anxiety level is a six out of ten at all times. I was worried about documents getting damaged or misplaced so I invested in a good document organizer. Each person had their own section to secure their application documents, passports, etc.
Here are a few that I recommend and if you decide to purchase one Amazon will show me a little love through their Amazon Affiliate program.
What documents did you need when you moved abroad? Have a questions about documents? Reach out here.
