You have the Mexican divorce decree, but they keep asking for the certificate. What's the difference?

The decree (sentencia) is what the judge signs and it is what dissolves the marriage. The divorce certificate (acta de divorcio) is issued by the civil registry once the divorce has been recorded in its books. Almost every everyday filing — bank, employer, remarriage, immigration — asks for the certificate, not the decree.

We quote it in writing after the consultation. The cost moves with which civil registry office holds your record — one outside the Monterrey metro area means travel — and with whether the court order still has to be obtained. We confirm the full figure before starting anything.

This is the most common version of this case. There is no single national registry of Mexican divorces — each state's civil registry and court holds its own records — so the first job is identifying the state, the court, and the approximate date. Tell us what you remember and we search from there.

For most USCIS filings, no. USCIS asks for the original or a certified copy plus a full certified English translation. An apostille is generally needed when the document goes into another Hague country's government process. Ask your immigration attorney what your specific filing requires, and we handle the apostille if it does.

Mexico has been part of the Hague Apostille Convention since 1995, so an apostille issued in Mexico generally replaces the old consular legalization chain that many websites still describe. Some U.S. courts also want a certified translation. Confirm the requirement with the court or agency asking, then we obtain it.

Recognition of a foreign divorce is decided by each U.S. state under the doctrine of comity, and generally turns on jurisdiction, proper notice to both spouses, and public policy. A complete, properly recorded record — decree, service, certificate — is what makes a decree usable abroad. Confirm the effect in your state with a local attorney.

No. There is no deadline that shuts you out. We see this constantly: someone was handed the decree and nobody told them a second step existed. It can be done now, and the process is the same as if the divorce were recent.

A Mexican civil registry will ask that your civil status be current in its records. Until the divorce is recorded, as far as that office is concerned you are still married. This is the filing to do before you plan a wedding, in Mexico or abroad.

It is the note the civil registry writes in the margin of your marriage certificate saying that the marriage was dissolved by divorce, with the date and the details of the decree. It is the proof that the divorce is actually on the record and not just on paper in your drawer.

We do the filing. What we need from you is the documents and your signature where it is required, which for a U.S.-based client usually means a power of attorney or a letter of authorization signed at a Mexican consulate. If your presence becomes necessary, we tell you well in advance.

Nuevo León is what we handle directly. If your marriage was recorded in another state, write to us and we review it: we tell you whether we can handle it and what it would cost, before you commit to anything.