(Attached image is a Florida birth certificate, but it resembles my marriage certificate with the official seal, color, and border).

Background to my question: I mailed an application to the *Urząd Stany Cywilnego* to transcribe my Florida Marriage Certficate and the office sent me a response saying *w związku z wnioskiem, w sprawie transkrypcji Pana zagranicznego aktu małzeństwa, w celu załatwienia sprawy proszę o przesłanie: oryginału zagranicznego aktu małżeństwa, opatrzonego klauzulą Apostille.*

It is my understanding that they are looking for an original foreign marriage certificate bearing an apostille. I had submitted a certified copy of my long form marriage certificate to the *wniosek* as that is the best document I can procure. It is impossible for me to submit an original marriage certificate as that remains in the Clerk of Courts of the county in which I was married.

How can I make sure they understand that my certified copy is essentially "an original"?

Regarding the apostille, I have experience obtaining one of these (and an incumbency) last year, but it’s simply a separate sheet of paper that doesn’t alter/affect the main document that it apostilles. It looks like this:

[Apostille](https://imagepaste.org/i/ffrs3ppa.png)

I am concerned that they will reject my resubmission on two grounds: 1. that my certified copy is not "the original" (which is not possible) and 2. that the apostille appears inauthentic given that it is two separate sheets of paper to the certificate itself.

What have your experiences been with filing your marriage certificate for transcription?

transcribing foreign marriage certificate and apostille