Korean Job Discussion Forums

[laurenneva]

After waiting for the longest two months of my life my FBI background check finally arrived! but the celebration has not begun because I'm not sure if I was sent the correct paper. With my initial application I included a letter saying that I needed the to have results document authenticated (agency seal and signature of a division official) because I will need to send the document for an apostille. Yes, we have read 100's of threads that begin like this but here is where it gets wacky....The results that i received today look like this: on a light blue/purplish paper, there is a large seal toward the bottom of the page but it is NOT embossed or raised, the division officials signature is black and is NOT in pen. Included in the envelope was a small sheet of paper saying, "The FBI's CJIS division has authenticated the enclosed U.S. Department of Justice Order 556-73 fingerprint search results by placing the FBI seal and signature of a Division official on the results. If you require an apostille, you must submit this authenticated document to the U.S Department of State (DOS) for further action. You may contact the U.S. DOS at..."

It pretty much looks like a photocopy of what I was supposed to receive. So after more searching I found that in order to prevent fraudulent documents the words "UNAUTHORIZED COPY" will appear on any scanned or photocopied version. The words unauthorized copy DO NOT appear on what I was sent. So does this mean i was send an "authorized" copy? Will this be eligible for an apostille? and if it does get the apostille, will the Korean government accept it without an embossed seal and ink signature? I have also read many posts about not removing the staples that the office providing the apostille will do that but nothing I received was stapled...

This is where I found info on the unauthorized copy: http://dwteachkorea.com/samples_criminal_background_check_and_apostille

and here is the only place I could find that mentions the seal is required to be embossed: http://www.usauthentication.com/ApostilleonBackgroundcheck.html

Any help or guidance is GREATLY appreciated

[laurenneva]

For anyone who may come across this in the future... I spoke to the FBI this morning and they informed me that as of a month ago the authentication seal will no longer be embossed. So everything I received was correct, what a relief!

[asalchert]

Thanks for this - I got mine apostilled and sent to me in Korea but was wondering (worrying) about the new seal as well!!! Thanks for checking!