DOCUMENTS FOR ANY IMMIGRATION PROCESS

For those living overseas, there may be nothing more crucial to a smooth stay of residence than having all of the necessary legal documents on hand. Still, it can be a challenge to navigate unforeseen emergencies. What should be done if you do not have access to the necessary documentation?

Let's start by addressing a common misconception: if you do not have any documents, it is not always necessary to go to your home country to access them. In this case, a power of attorney may be useful.

A POWER OF ATTORNEY

The law establishes that a power of attorney is a written authorization issued by one person to another person for representation on behalf of third parties. A power of attorney issued for making transactions requiring a notarial form, for filing applications for state registration of rights or transactions, as well as for disposing of rights registered in state registers, must be notarized. If the power of attorney is issued abroad in countries participating in the 1961 Hague Convention, the power of attorney must contain the certification of an apostille in addition to notarization.

The maximum term of a power of attorney is not limited by law. However, if the power of attorney has no validity period indicated, it remains in effect for a year from the date of its execution. A power of attorney that does not indicate the date of its execution is void.

The representative of the power of attorney must personally perform the actions for which they are authorized. They may transfer their powers if this is prescribed by the power of attorney. In case of the transfer of powers, the client should be fully informed about the new representative.

A power of attorney issued by way of transfer of powers should be notarized. The validity period of this power of attorney may not exceed the validity period of the original power of attorney. Unless otherwise specified in the original power of attorney, a representative who made the transfer of their powers retains their powers. The subsequent transfer of powers is not allowed.

The power of attorney may be terminated due to several circumstances:

Expiration of the validity term of the power of attorney;
Cancellation of the power of attorney;
Renouncement of the representative from powers;
Death of the client;
Death of the representative.

The representative may at any time refuse the powers, and the client may revoke the power of attorney at any time.

The client who canceled the power of attorney is obliged to notify his representative about his decision. He or she also should notify third parties for representation before which the power of attorney was issued. Upon termination of the power of attorney, the representative should immediately return the power of attorney.

Apostille is an important component of any power of attorney issued abroad. The apostille verifies the authenticity of the signature and seal on the document, without which a foreign power of attorney, in most cases, will not have legal force.

Many people consider the apostille as the perfect instrument for everything. They believe that if an apostille was issued, then this automatically makes the document valid and legitimate. I often will hear the question: “Will authorities accept your power of attorney? We have tried before and our document was not accepted by foreign authorities.”

This is possible, but not because of the apostille – most likely, your document was certified incorrectly. Please do not rely on Internet forms. If you want to avoid hassle, the power of attorney should be prepared by a professional lawyer. This requirement was proved by the official position of Russian Rosreestr: “In accordance with Paragraph 1 of Art. 185.1 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a Power of Attorney requires a notarial form. Legal actions for the performance of which a power of attorney was issued require a mandatory notarial form by virtue of the direct indication of Paragraph 1 of Article 16 of the Russian Law “On Registration”.

However, according to the requirements of American law, a “notary public” certifies only the signature and doesn’t bear any responsibility for the document. Only a professional attorney may perform a power of attorney to meet the requirements of the qualified form in Russia. Thus, for a power of attorney from the United States to be accepted in Russia, it must be prepared by a professional attorney, certified by a public notary, and then legalized with an apostille. Based on the foregoing facts, an apostille cannot compensate for the legal force of a power of attorney without violating the terms of Russian legislation. Therefore, although the documents are genuine, they do not provide for the desired legal consequences on the territory of the Russian Federation if produced by a non-lawyer.

Karina Duvall is a professional Russian attorney licensed in the United States as a foreign legal consultant and notary public. Our international documents are fully acceptable in any foreign country. We have proudly served our clients for over 30 years.

By having issued a power of attorney to your representative, you can resolve many issues remotely. Because this list of issues is exhaustive, it is easier to say what cannot be executed by a power of attorney:

You cannot marry by a power of attorney;
You cannot perform residency by a power of attorney;
You cannot cancel your residency by the power of attorney. The latter can be performed remotely, but not by power of attorney.

The accuracy of your documentation will depend upon how easily the transaction is made, how quickly you hear from the registry office, and other variables.

REGISTRY OFFICES

I will now explain the specific documents warranted by the civil registry office. There are some legal identification items that we may not usually need for day-to-day life but are necessary to have during the immigration process.

For example, if you do not have at least one civil status certificate– be it a birth, marriage, or divorce certificate– you will not pass an immigration interview. Therefore, you should have all of these documents readily available on your person. These documents can be re-ordered from the civil registry office:

The birth certificate is the most important document to have in this case. Without a birth certificate, you will not be able to start the immigration process. But what if your current last name is different from the one that was given to you at birth? For women, it is typical to take on a new surname when they get married. Change of last name, in this case, can be confirmed by:

Marriage certificate;
A certificate that the marriage was registered and subsequently terminated;
Divorce certificate, if the last name was changed upon divorce;
A certificate of name change, if the name change was carried out separately from registration or divorce;
A court order, if the name was changed by a court order

To obtain a birth certificate, you need to show the connection between your maiden and current name.

A duplicate of the birth certificate is not only needed in case you misplace it; it may be required in other cases as well. For example, the Costa Rica Immigration Service requires a new duplicate of the birth certificate to be issued no later than 6 months before the day you file documents with the immigration office.

Quite recently, I was contacted for a legal opinion by a woman who was trying to reunite with her parents from Ukraine. Her documents were prepared by an immigration lawyer with almost 40 years of experience in this field. Despite the fact that this is a fairly standard procedure, he did not take sufficient care with the process, missed something, and things went wrong.

The name of our heroine, born back in 1971, is Nadejda. Nadejda was always careful about her documents and never lost them. She held onto her original birth certificate and did not suspect that she needed to obtain a duplicate. But here's the problem: in 2005, Nadejda entered the United States with a Ukrainian passport in which her name was spelled as ‘Nadia’. It seems that everyone should understand that this is the Ukrainian version of the name Nadejda, but not everyone is aware of this. Nor was the U.S. Immigration Service, who did not see the connection between the names but provided the woman an opportunity to prove that these forms of identification were the same.

It was then that Nadejda reached out to get my legal opinion. Still, her problem could have been avoided much more simply. If Nadejda had obtained a duplicate birth certificate before starting immigration, it would have been issued to her in Ukrainian and matched with her other documents.

Our office can locate your birth certificate from any country, including former USSR states and all 50 states across the U.S.

In addition to your birth certificate, there are other documents that may be necessary to keep on file for immigration to some countries. For instance: when moving to Israel, it is often necessary to submit to the Immigration Service not only your birth certificate but also the birth certificate of your parents and grandparents.

Immigration to Israel, by the way, has now gained immense popularity (along with immigration to Costa Rica) for both citizens of the former USSR and Americans. For example, Nefesh B'Nefesh. Nefesh B'Nefesh, ‏נפש בנפש‏‎ — is a non-profit organization that assists Jews in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom who immigrate to Israel. I have also helped many people collect documents for this process, which may include: a birth certificate, marriage certificate, divorce certificate, police clearance certificate from the countries of the former USSR, birth certificates of the applicants’ U.S.-born children (if any), American marriage certificates, and American court decisions for divorce. It is well known that in order to determine the right to immigrate to Israel, you need to confirm your Jewish origins. It is also well known that during the Soviet period, many were forced to hide their origins. Some applicants may have to access the birth certificates of deceased relatives and other archives to confirm their eligibility to immigrate.

To obtain such documents, two conditions must be met:

It is necessary to prove the relationship, i.e. submit documents to the civil registry office confirming your interest;
It is necessary to prove that the person died, i.e. provide the death certificate.

Very commonly, documents of this nature will be retrieved from the United States. Many people get married in the United States (especially in Nevada, where you can get married in one day), and then leave the States wondering where to access their old marriage certificate. This is a wise impulse, since some people mistakenly believe that a marriage terminated abroad and without the knowledge of the state is essentially nullified. These people enter into new marriages without dissolving the previous ones, causing new problems.

Let it be known: no matter how secret a marriage is, and no matter where it is registered, it exists and generates standard legal consequences; in particular, the right to division of property in case of divorce, and the right to inheritance in case of death. Therefore, the marriage certificate must be restored. And if the marriage exists formally, such a marriage must be dissolved. Contrary to common misconceptions, you can dissolve a foreign marriage “at home”, that is, in Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, etc. Our legal office, Russian-divorce.ru, has specialized in international divorces for over 20 years.

Needless to say, it is very important to possess a birth certificate (and especially an American one) to obtain an American passport. I have seen many cases where especially cunning parents issued two birth certificates for their children– one American, one Russian. These children only lived in Russia, not suspecting that they were American citizens.

Death certificates are also crucial to have access to, and not only for purposes of inheritance. If a person died in America or somewhere else abroad, this can cause insurmountable difficulty for relatives who remain in Russia (and in other countries).

Divorce documents are of extreme importance in cases where a person is living in Russia but got divorced in a foreign country. I once had a case in my own practice where the spouses appeared to live in perfect harmony– a long and happy life. It was only after the death of his wife that the husband learned that he was not her first and only husband. Sorting through the papers of the deceased, he found an American marriage certificate. Years of litigation began to invalidate the marriage, which ended only after I found a divorce certificate in the American court archives.

Now, to address the problem of termination of residency. As I mentioned above, the power of attorney is not allowed for this purpose, but personal statements are acceptable. Such statements must be drawn up in the prescribed form, notarized, and apostilled. The validity of this application is limited to one month.

In conclusion, I would like to talk about the place of execution of the notarized translation. Translation and certification of documents should be executed in the country in which you intend to use them. That is, if you have a Russian document that you intend to use in the United States, then execute a translation in the United States. And vice versa, if you have an American document issued for use in Russia (proof of life certificate, power of attorney, vital records certificates, court orders), then these documents need to be translated in Russia.

There are many such examples. While this article cannot fully account for the variety of situations that our clients face every day, and which we have successfully resolved, I hope this guide can serve you as a useful overview of the documents needed for your immigration process, and help you navigate the system as easily and efficiently as possible.

Karina Duvall