Hi, friends!

I am a U.S. citizen, and have been living in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, for a few years, but I am now ready to get married here, too. July 28th, God willing.

As usual, there are lots of contradictions from one office to the next, regarding just what the government requirements are for the marriage license, and every now and then, the government changes its rules anyway.

The local government agencies say that I need a "carta de soltería" with a wet, rubber-stamp apostille from the U.S. embassy, and my original birth certificate with the same. Nevertheless, the U.S. embassy website seems to say that they do not offer this service. In fact, they direct me to a Venezuelan government site, which, as one might expect, does not provide the information either, and hast plenty of dead links; in fact, two of the links from the U.S. Embassy to those sites were also dead.

Some of the information online seems to suggest that I get the apostille done in the U.S., especially since my birth certificate originates in Louisiana. Does that mean that I could bypass the issue of the Embassy?

Time is of the essence for me, and, although money is usually an issue, I would just as soon pay any rush fee required to get this over with as soon as possible, and might even bribe someone, if I knew where and how.

My questions, then, are these:

1. Should I mail by birth certificate off to an agency in the U.S. that offers rush apostille service, and have him mail it back to me?

2. If the apostille is done on a separate sheet, how in the world am I supposed to get a rubber-stamp version? And how is it attached?

3. Back home in the U.S. I tried to get a "carta de soltería" from the courthouse, and was told that no such thing existed. So, if I get a lawyer friend in Barquisimeto to make me one for each of us, how am I supposed to get the apostille? The U.S. Embassy claims that they do not legalize any documents that do not originate in the U.S. for use there.

Thanks so much for your patience and for your suggestions!

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