Any licensed notary public in the United States can notarize a single status affidavit, and U.S. citizens abroad can have the notarization done at a U.S. embassy or consulate for $50 per seal. The federal government does not issue a certificate of marital status, so foreign authorities instead accept this sworn, notarized statement that you are legally free to marry.1Travel.State.Gov. Marriage – Section: Affidavit of Eligibility to Marry
Using a Notary Public in the United States
If you are in the U.S., take the affidavit to any licensed notary. Banks, shipping stores, law offices, and county courthouses commonly keep notaries on staff, and many public libraries do as well. Bring valid government-issued photo identification, such as a passport or driver’s license. The notary watches you sign, applies their official seal, and signs the document themselves.
State-regulated fees for a standard in-person notarization generally run between $2 and $25, depending on the state. A handful of states do not cap the fee at all, so ask before you sit down.
One rule matters more than any other: do not sign the affidavit before you get there. A notary can only notarize a signature made in their physical presence, and signing in advance invalidates the notarization.2NYCOURTS.GOV. Notary
Using a U.S. Embassy or Consulate Abroad
U.S. citizens living or traveling overseas can have a consular officer notarize the affidavit. Book a consular services appointment through the embassy or consulate’s website, and bring the unsigned affidavit along with your U.S. passport. The consular officer witnesses your signature the same way a domestic notary would.1Travel.State.Gov. Marriage – Section: Affidavit of Eligibility to Marry
The fee is $50 per notarial seal under the federal Schedule of Fees for Consular Services.3eCFR. 22 CFR 22.1 – Schedule of Fees If you need multiple sealed originals, each one is charged separately.
Prepare the Affidavit Before You Go
Fill in every detail of the affidavit in advance, leaving only the signature line blank. At a minimum, include your full legal name, date and place of birth, current address, and passport number. If you were married before, include the date and place that marriage ended, whether by divorce or death of a spouse.
Some foreign authorities also require the full legal name of your intended spouse, so check the destination country’s embassy or consulate for its specific requirements before drafting. Templates circulate online and through some embassies; any form is fine as long as it captures everything the receiving authority wants to see.
What You Will Need After Notarization
Notarization alone is rarely enough for a foreign government. The affidavit almost always needs further authentication, and the right path depends on the destination country.
For countries that belong to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, you request an apostille. If a domestic notary handled the signature, the apostille comes from the Secretary of State’s office in the state where the notarization occurred. If a U.S. consular officer notarized the document abroad, the apostille must come from the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Authentications, because a consular officer is a federal official.4U.S. Department of State. Preparing a Document for an Apostille Certificate The federal apostille fee is $20 per document.5U.S. Department of State. Requesting Authentication Services You can confirm whether a country is a member at hcch.net.
For countries outside the Hague Convention, you follow a longer legalization chain: state certification (for domestically notarized documents) or federal authentication (for consular-notarized documents), then submission to the destination country’s embassy or consulate in the United States for final legalization.5U.S. Department of State. Requesting Authentication Services Each step may carry its own fee.
Mail requests to the federal Office of Authentications take about five weeks from receipt, and walk-in drop-off requests take about seven business days.5U.S. Department of State. Requesting Authentication Services State apostille offices run on their own timelines.
Timing Your Notarization
Do not notarize the affidavit too far in advance. These documents expire, and the window is set by the foreign authority receiving them. Six months from the date of notarization is a common benchmark, but some countries allow only 90 or even 30 days.6City Clerk. Certificate of Non-Impediment
If the affidavit lapses before the foreign authority accepts it, you start over, re-notarization and re-legalization included. Work backward from your wedding or filing date and build in time for mail processing and any snag at the apostille or authentication stage.