So many questions...

[sapphire1202]

Good Evening~

Im looking for some answers and hoping someone can help. I have been over this site many times and have gotten some information, but not enough, as nothing seems to pertain to my situation.
I met the most amazing man from Algeria several months ago and we have been chatting online and by phone. In October, I traveled to Algeria for the 1st time and had the most wonderful week with him and his family. After leaving there i knew i wanted to be with him permanently. We have decided to get married. We will be married in Algeria and then he will move to the US. I am a US citizen and am seeking answers as to what specific documents i will need to take with me when i return in January. He has checked with the sheriff in his area and given him a list of items. Some i understand, others i dont. I need to have 15 copies of everything, ranging from birth certificates to passport copies and photos, work information, plus some medical documentation, i think, in addition to my divorce papers.
Can someone please help??? I want to be sure i have everthing in order prior to my departure as i dont want anything to delay our marriage and his ability to move to the US. Thank you in advance for any information that you can provide.

[AMRWM]

The problem is that every area is different. For example, I certainly did not need 15 copies of everything, I did not need work documentation or medical documentation, but I did need a certificate of no impediment to say I was free to get married in addition to my divorce papers.

One of the key things is that all documentation is a recent copy. The Algerian authorities do not like anything that is more than 3 months old. Also, do not get anything translated into Arabic outside of Algeria. Either scan it in and email so your fiance can get it translated before you arrive to file your application, or do it when you get there. It does not take long and it is much cheaper too.

Finally, take all the originals with you and get everything copied out there too. Then you will be able to get it stamped by the town hall which is also very important. My advice would be for your fiance to try and find someone who has married a foriegner in that area as they would probably be able to give some really good advice. We certainly found that helpful.

Hope this helps a bit. Good luck.

[AMRWM]

Just re-read your post again and thought I would check. Sorry if this seems an obvious question to ask and you will probably know this already!! You do realise you have to file an application to get married which gets sent to Algiers where they give you the authority to actually get married? You cannot just go and get married , it is a 2 step process. I am sorry again if this sounds patronising, I really don't mean it to.

I went out in August and we filed our application to get married then. I had to create a file in the main city in the province and also have a police interview. After both of these things are done, your file is sent to Algiers for approval. I was only out there for 2 weeks to do this and it all went very smoothly. mainly because my husband had seen the man who was creating the file many times before we applied and taken him out for lunch etc. I then came back to the UK.

We got our authority to get married at the end of September, but it is possible that ours took longer to come through as we applied when it was Ramadan. We know some people who got approval in a few weeks and others who had to wait a few months, so you cannot be sure.

I then went back out at the end of October and we got married. I had to have a blood test done and a letter from a doctor to say I was not riddled with disease! Both of these things were done in Algeria. I had new copies of all my documents which again had been translated, copied and stamped in Algeria. The whole process for us went very smoothly from start to finish. However, my husband certainly 'lunched' a lot of people and also spent a lot of time getting advice from other men who had recently got married in the same area.

Just one thing you might also want to check out. I did not have to stay in the country while our authority was being approved, which was lucky as I would not have been able to. However, my husband knows someone in his area whose application to get married was recently rejected (in the last couple of weeks) as the woman he was marrying was not in the country whilst approval was going through in Algiers. I do not know how much of this is true, but it might be something which is worth looking into. Getting married in Algeria is not something you can do quickly, but apparently patience is a virtue!!

[sapphire1202]

I thank you for your help. Im staying in Algeria for a month, to be with my fiance and hopefully get married. I have seen many posts from UK residence, but very few from US citizens. One of the items im confused about is the personal testimony of civil status. Do you know if prior marriages/divorces will have an impact on marriage application? And regarding my birth certificate, are photo copies acceptable? I was thinking of getting a new one reissued to take with me. And i would wait to have all items translated once there. i just dont want to get there and be missing a crucial element to the process. Obviously taking this amount of time off from work isnt something i can do all the time. We are hoping the marriage process is relatively quick as we need to then work on his visa for the US. If you can think of anything else that would be of use, i'd be most grateful.

[AMRWM]

To be painfully honest with you, I doubt very much if you will be able to get the whole thing done in a month. It usually takes at least a week to do the initial work with the local town hall and the police, that is before it gets sent to Algiers. My husband said that it may be possible if your fiance knows people who deal with the applications in Algiers. Definitely be prepared to grease a few palms. We spent quite a lot of money doing that in the summer. Is your fiance living in Algiers anyway? That might make it easier.


As for the documents, get new ones issued of everything you need so that it has a recent date on it. Make sure your fiance goes and speaks to the person who will make the file for you to go to Algiers. It will make things easier for you if have a realtionship with him. I was not sure what you meant about the other stuff! I will go and re-read it and see if I was just being dense!

[sapphire1202]

I just got back from my month long stay in Algeria with my fiance. It was a wonderful trip, but as previously advised..i couldnt get everything done in the month i was there. We went to Biskra filed our paperwork there and then had our police interview in El Kantara. My fiance told me today that our papers have been forwarded to Algiers already, so we should hear something soon. Im looking forward to my trip back as i miss him so much already and his family begged me to stay. We got to spend some quality time together and visited some really nice places. I met more of his family and we became formally engaged as he presented me with a ring and had a small party with some family members. I am grateful for the advice i received and will keep you posted. Thank you!

[sapphire1202]

It is finally official, we received our approval to marry on Monday
June 6th, so i will be heading back to Algeria very soon. For those going through the process, hang in there. It may take time, but it will be so worth it. More to come..