If you are seeking information how to legalize a divorce certificate in Nigeria, then this article would provide all the guidance you need to carry out this procedure. To begin with, attestation or legalization of divorce certificate may be required for Nigerians living abroad who intend to remarry in their current or prospective country of residence.
For example, if you have been married in Nigeria, and declared your status as married (or separated) at the point of immigration abroad, it will be impossible to legally get married to another person in the country you relocated to – without first providing proof that you have divorced your previous spouse.
Typically, it is not enough to simply provide a divorce certificate or divorce decree as evidence that you have legally ended your marriage contracted in Nigeria. Rather, the immigration authorities of your country of residence would require you to authenticate, attest, apostille, or legalize your divorce certificate in order for it to be admissible – thus paving way for you to marry another person in that country.
In the context of this immigration requirement, the terms authentication, attestation, apostille, and legalization are essentially synonymous. They mean that you need to get your divorce certificate certified as authentic by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is the sole authority empowered to perform this function for divorce certificates and other documents originating from Nigeria.
The Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will liaise with the court which issued the divorce decree or divorce certificate to ascertain authenticity and thereafter authenticate the document with its official seals and signatures. Once the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed the authenticity of the divorce certificate by appending its official apostille seals and signatures at the back of the document, it can then be presented to the applicable immigration or other government authority of the country of current or intended residence where you hope to remarry. This process is not an easy one, as it is typically time consuming and stressful to follow up with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to begin and complete the procedure.
Subsequently, there may or may not be need for a further step entailing legalization of the divorce certificate at the applicable country’s embassy after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has authenticated it. For Nigerians living in the United States of America, Canada, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom (UK), it is often sufficient to only authenticate the divorce certificate at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – without need for further legalization by the respective embassies. The case is different for Nigerians resident in or planning to remarry in countries such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Spain, Italy, Portugal and a couple other European or Middle Eastern countries which would require the additional step of legalization of the divorce certificate at the respective embassy after authentication has been done by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
We are aware that many Nigerians in the diaspora hoping to remarry in their respective countries of residence across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia are encumbered by the problem of how to obtain and/or go about the legalization of divorce certificate in Nigeria. Antarch Consulting possesses extensive experience in this area, and leverages on its knowhow, resources and networks to provide guidance and support for Nigerians abroad who require assistance with this service.
For discussions on what you need and how we may assist you, kindly contact us.
