ch0ccyra1n

Leaving the United States: Apostille

I finally got my birth certificate apostilled! Let’s talk about how I did that and how you can do the same in preparation for your move.

What is an apostille and how did I get one?

An apostille is quite similar to a notarization, but for international use. In-general, an immigration office in a member country of the Apostille Convention of 5 October 1961 will expect you to provide not just a birth certificate, but one which has been apostilled. As covered in a previous article, I had already changed my name and gender marker on my birth certificate. This is important to do beforehand because otherwise, you will end up providing your deadname to your new country of residence, thus getting your new ID card in it as well. Why do that if you don’t have to? I opted to go in-person since I was visiting family anyways, and could take a short train ride to the Chicago Secretary of State key office to get that done, since it is much faster due to not having to wait for mail.

How can you get one?

So, this is where it varies by state. In-general, you will want to find information on how to get an apostille from your state government’s Secretary of State website. In the case of Illinois where I’m from, you can find that information here (If you get an “Access denied” message, you will unfortunately have to turn off your VPN).

The (Updated) List

Finished

  • Change my name and gender via court order (2 weeks)
  • Update my name and gender in birth certificate (6 weeks)
  • Update my name with Social Security (6 days)
  • Update my ID Card
  • Get a Passport
  • Get my birth certificate apostilled.

To-do

  • Take a “holiday” to Amsterdam
  • Fill out the application and mail it to Dutch immigration service
  • Find a place to live
  • Make an appointment with the city of Amsterdam to get my citizen social service number
  • Book a biometrics appointment with the Dutch immigration service
  • Register a business with the chamber of commerce
  • Get a business bank account
  • Deposit my initial investment
  • Get my opening balance sheet reviewed by an external expert
  • Submit all supporting documentation to the immigration service
  • Wait for my application to be processed
Tags: