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[cmeeks1]

Hello Everyone
I am from the USA and have recently signed a contract with a school in Sharjah. They provided a thorough explanation on the visa process, however I am just a little unclear on the specifics. After getting the official documents notarized who exactly do I need to have them attested or authorized by?
Any information would be greatly appreciated

[adorabilly]

Hi Cmeeks.

Ok, it is a massive amount of hoops but you need to take your official notarized documents and then
1. send them to the secretary of state in the state they were issued in to get authenticated.
THEN
2. you send them to the US state department to get authenticated
THEN
3. you send them to the UAE embassay in DC to get them authenticated there.
and you need them SENT BACK TO YOU.

At each stop you need to include directions as to what you want each person to do and include the correct amount of money (usually via a personal check or money order).

It is a pain in the rear, and can be very troubling and confusing. Did you send enough money for this one, will it get to the right office for that one...

The way we did it was to call into our local fed ex office and explain we wanted it to go from one to the next
so from the secretary of state to the us state department to the UAE embassy to us. FEDEX can do that, just explain what you want, and then make sure you have printed directions for each step with the correct payment amount.

That way it is cheaper than fedexing it to the secretary of state and waiting for it to return to fed ex it to teh state department etc...

It gets really complicated if for example you were married in a state that is different from where your kids were born and also different from where you went to school.

Each one needs to be authenticated at the appropriate STATE level.

[cmeeks1]

thank you so much for this explanation.
The only other thing that I am having difficulty understanding is when it gets authenticized what exactly does that mean is it a letter or stamp or the like.
Thank You so much for the help

[cmeeks1]

and secretary of state... or state department of education...
Thank you

[adorabilly]

Hi cmeeks.

You need to get certified copies of the documents. They need to be sent to the people I stated earlier.

At each office, the office holder has a stamp with a raised seal that they use to "authenticate" the document. (so think of a notaries stamp... like that.)

so things like
birth certificates
marriage license
Citizenship proof
get sent to the local state agency where they were issued to be authenticated.

In Arizona, it was the secretary of states office which authenitcated our documents.

As for your school transcripts, official transcripts shouldn't need to be authenticated, just sent to the appropriate place as per your employer.

[cmeeks1]

Thank You so much this really Helped!!!!!
I wasn't sure if it was a stamp or a letter!!!! and no one seemed to know.

I need only to get my diploma attested so I think that I need to send it to the Department of education..?? However this really helped

One final question, how long did this take. Ill be taking the documents in person to the state office and the UAE embassy, would it be presumptuous to assume that I could get the authorization completed in one day for each?

Thank You again!!!! I cant tell you how much this helps!!!

[veiledsentiments]

I suspect not. The two times I did certification of my documents for Oman, the first day I got the notarization (in DC.. it must be done in DC) and the DC certification of the notary. Then I dropped the papers off at the State Department and they told me to come back to get them the next day. I picked them up in the morning and drove to the embassy. The first day I could use the subway, but the second required a car.

The UAE may have slightly different rules. And you could do the first two steps in another state and the final two in one day in DC. Not that anything notarized in VA will have to have the second step in Richmond... or in Maryland will have to go to Annapolis.

VS

[cmeeks1]

If I could send you flowers and a hug I would!!!!!
Thank You for the help... I was very stressed at first but it appears that it is a managable situation (just a little time consuming)

Thank You

[veiledsentiments]

Time consuming, expensive, and basically meaningless. They would be better off just getting a copy of your transcript directly from your university. That would actually prove something other than the ability to push paper and pay them money. Welcome to the Middle East!!

VS

[Never Ceased To Be Amazed]

O.K. cmeeks1, here's the 411 on what I've been observing for a day now...and might I add, I'm very good friends with a trained and practicing notary.

For educational documents: You must have them (a "true and correct" copy) notarized by a notary from the state where it/they were issued. The reason for this it that, then, it/they must be sent to the Secretary of State of the place where the diploma was issued as all notaries public are required to have their official signature held by the SoS's office. Once the signiture has been confirmed, the SoS's office will place upon the document a seal known as an "Apostille", this carries a lot of weight as it represent's the state's entire political authority and reputation for truthfulness.

That's for educational documents. I can't really tell you about the others other than you have to have your marriage certificate sent to the US State Department to have their apostille affixed upon it. I didn't do the run-around that adorabilly alluded to as time was short for me and the US Embassy...for a HUGE fee was able to affix their official "Okey-dokey" on my marriage certificate. (Hurray for you if you didn't get married overseas like I did and your marriage certificate isn't in a different language (mine is in Uranian ), because, I had to send ours to the Uranian Embassy in my state to have them put their official "Okey-dokey" on the English translation.)

Now, here's something that may prove interesting to interested people, even though the US State Department issues what is know as a "Consular's Report of Birth Abroad", issued for children born outside the US (Factoid: Did you know that Uranians breath through their ears?) it will refuse to put its apostille upon it. Go figure! However, the local embassy will put their official "key-dokey" on it, again, for a HUGE fee.

I hope that I was able to help somewhat.

NCTBA