evidence: For a divorce to be recognized, you must provide the divorce decree and a special certificate obtained from a court or authority in the Member State where the divorce was obtained. This certificate must take a certain form (see Articles 37 and 39 in conjunction with Annex 1 to the EU Regulation). [...] If the divorce was decreed by a court or authority of the state whose sole nationality the parties had at that date, and neither of them was subject to an alternative civil status regime (e.g. as a stateless alien, asylum seeker or foreign refugee), then formal recognition is unnecessary. Insofar as there is a particular legal interest in having a divorce recognized, formal recognition may be applied for. A legal interest is given if for example they need to submit a binding declaration of their civil status for a case arising from the divorce or for registration or taxation purposes. [...] Please note that the foreign divorce decree must be submitted as a complete copy or as a certified copy with a "certificate of no appeal", stating the facts and reasons for the decision. You can either have the copy certified by a U.S. notary public (please see information lealfet), by the German mission abroad responsible for you or by an honorary consul. Other necessary documents do not need to be certified.