Hi everyone, I need a US “certificate of residency” for Portugal. The letter I got from my local board of elections was not accepted. The Portuguese consulate says I should get the certificate from the IRS…
I found that if I send the IRS form 8802, they will send me form 6166 that can be used for Portugal. Has anyone done this?
How do I then get that certificate Apostilled? (Or do I even need to?)
Thanks in advance for any insight / advice.
Are you already accepted to the GV program and you are renewing, or are you not yet accepted?
Where are you in the process?
It’s not the GV program, but naturalization through heritage… I have all the documents I need except for this “certificate of residency”
You should check about the need for an apostille with the office in Portugal that asked for that document.
In the US, apostilles are issued in each state by a state government office, usually the Office of the Secretary of State. For example, for Washington State see: https://www.sos.wa.gov/corps/apostilles/howtoobtainanapostilleorcertification.aspx .
Please note that the document must have been notarized first by a notary public: in fact, the apostille is just a certification that the underlying notarization is valid. There are US notarial companies on the web that can take care of the whole process. Some can handle electronic copies of documents, but please note that in that case any stamps on them should be inked, not embossed, or else they will be unreadable by a scanner (I know someone who had this problem).
I am not as worried about the Apostille… How about the IRS form? Is that the standard “certificate of residency” in the US? I had hoped to use a local letter / document, but the Consulate said the IRS form is the way to go…