Questions

No. A certificate records the religious dissolution of a marriage and has no civil legal effect. A civil divorce, where one is needed, comes only from a civil court.

Either spouse may apply for a divorce record. Both spouses sign the certificate, together with two witnesses, and each signs through a separate link sent by email, so an application can proceed only when the other spouse will take part. A conversion record is applied for by the convert, who signs the certificate with the two witnesses.

An application can still be made when the marriage was never civilly registered or no civil case was brought. The marriage contract takes the place of the civil decree, and the reviewing scholar interviews the parties before confirming the facts. The Effective Date is then the date of the act itself: the pronouncement of a Talaq, the agreed release in a Khulu', or the scholar's ruling in a Faskh.

The Bureau cannot yet issue a certificate in that case, because the certificate rests on the signatures of both spouses.

Two adult Muslim men who know the convert to be a Muslim and have heard the convert state the shahada. Each signs the certificate through his own link.

Yes. The certificate gives the date and place of the conversion as the convert declares them, and the convert signs a declaration that they are true.

The authorities that issue Hajj and Umrah visas set their own requirements for proof of conversion, and the Bureau cannot promise that they accept its certificate. Confirm with the authority or the travel agent concerned before applying.

Every party, including the witnesses, confirms their identity through Stripe Identity, which checks a government-issued photo ID.

A reviewer answers each application within 7 days, and any question about an answer appears on the applicant's private case page. The time to issue depends on how quickly the questions are answered and on the signatures, since the certificate is issued after the last one.

The waiting period is three months from the Effective Date. With a civil decree, the Effective Date is thirty days after the judge signed it; without one, it is the date of the act as described above. Both dates appear on the certificate and in the register.

Anyone holding a certificate enters its number at Check a record or uploads the PDF. The register shows whether the certificate is valid and its dates, and never shows the names of the parties or the witnesses.