Job Discussion Forums

AjarnErnes · Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 71 Location: Mexico City, Mexico

I'm not sure what apostille means exactly.

Any help?

ajarnernest

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

Apostillization is the process required by the Mexican gov't to recognize legal documents from other countries. If you are from the USA, you likely need your university degree and your TEFL /teaching certificate to be apostillized so that they will be accepted by Mexican Immigration.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostille

Most English-speaking countries have entered into a treaty with Mexico to accept apostillized documents. Some, such as Canada, have not: if your documents are Canadian, they need to be 'legalized' - a different process from apostillization.

AjarnErnes · Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 71 Location: Mexico City, Mexico

Working here in Thailand I had to take my degree to the US Embassy to get it notarized and verified because the name on the degree does not use my middle initial and the name on my passport DOES use my middle initial.

Is this considered having it aposilled?

If yes, then will the Mexican Government recognize the notary from the US Embassy in Thailand or will I have to have it done again at a US Embassy in Mexico?

Ajarn Ernest

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Try running that by the Mexican embassy in Thailand, and not the US embassy. Would be faster...

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

Allie · Joined: 15 Sep 2005 Posts: 32 Location: UK

Does anyone know if the UK has signed a treaty with Mexico? I already have my documents legalised and don't really want to pay out to get them apostillised if I don't need to.

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

I just asked a Brit working here. She said you MUST have an apostille added to your notarized copies of documents such as your degree or certificate.

She said she had it done at the Foreign office in London, and said that there is a lot of info on the FSO web site.

MELEE · Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2005 3:16 pm Post subject:

Okay,

I think we need to get a sticky made about apostille, since most people can�t seem to use the search function Laughing

Read this thread.
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=8725&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=apostille&start=0

visit this site about the Hague Convention
http://hcch.e-vision.nl/index_en.php?act=text.display&tid=1

or if your really lazy, here is a short quote

AjarnErnes · Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 71 Location: Mexico City, Mexico

So now I know what it is but it still sound redundant. It is basically a piece of paper saying that the person who notarized your degrees and transcripts had the authority do notarize them.

Am I correct?

ajarnernest

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

MELEE · Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 3:25 pm Post subject:

Actually,

there are two types of apostilles, the first one is as Ajarn said, it authenticates a notarization. THis can be done in any state. The other, authenticates the document, this has to be done in the state that issued the document.

geaaronson · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 948 Location: Mexico City

I am currently going through the mechanics of apostillizaing both my ba and masters diploma.
For those of you who are concerned and confused (as I was) as to what this entails let me review the procedure.
1) Bring your college diplomas with you to a xerox copy center and make one copy of each diploma.
2) Bring both the original diploma and its copy with you to a notary public. My credit union has 3 notary publics on its staff. They are mandated to have their notary seals with them at the bank.
In my case my bank offers the service for free, Wachovia use to charge $4 for a seal.
Show both the diploma and its copy to the notary and he/she will double check it against the original. He will then use his stamping seal to make a seal on the copy and sign it. In the state of Georgia, the state also requires that the statement that the document is an accurate reproduction be xeroxed onto the copy and the notary public signs this and put his seal on to it and signs it. THis can be done either on the back of the xerox copy, preferably so that the added information does not obscure the writings on the diploma itself, or on the certificate side, making careful that it is free of the certification text.
3) You must then bring the xerox copy to the secretary of states's clerks office. In the state of Georgia, all apostilled documents headed for Mexico go to the Law Clerk's office of the Superior Court of Georgia, not the Secretary of State's office. The law clerk will draw up the notary public's signature from his electronic database and check to see if it matches the signature on the notarized copy. He will also double check to ascertain that the seal is proper and the statement is legible attesting to the documents autheniticiy as an accurate reproduction. Then you get to pay the clerk $3.00 for each apostilled document.
4) These people at the law clerks office are extremely anal, please be warned. I was refused my first attempt at apostillization as the notary public's signature had changed slightly over the course of several years, subsequent to her initial application as a notary public.
I was refused apostillization the second time around as the seal on the attestation of certification was on a separate sheet of paper.
I am now on my third attempt and am still in the dark as to what the law clerk affixes to the paperwork to make it legal.
I have outlined all the above because it has been a particularly arduous task for me as no one seems to know what they are doing. I hope everyone else has better luck than I did and with my outlining of the procedure are able to maneuver this procedure with better ease.

AjarnErnes · Joined: 26 Jun 2005 Posts: 71 Location: Mexico City, Mexico

It sounds like a real P.I.T.A. ( pain in the a** ).

I am a US citizen ( from CA ) currently living and teaching in Bangkok Thailand. I have found a company in CA on the internet that will Notarize AND apostille all 5 of my documents:

1. BA Degree
2. BA Transcript
3. MA Degree
4. MA Transcript
5. TEFL Certificate

But they will charge me $145.00 per document.

That is a lot of money. I don't see any other way around this, though. I am over here and the CA Sect. of State's office requires that the notarizing be done in CA.. Even though I've had them notarized HERE IN THAILAND by a staff member of the US Embassy ( US State Dept. Notary ), I still have to have the notarizing done in CA by a CA Certified Notary. The good thing is that having them notarized AND apostilled once, I can use them to work in many other countries around the world.

I will send my originals to this company via FedEx and hope they don't get lost in transit. I'm terrified about this happening.

Ajarn Ernest

geaaronson · Joined: 19 Apr 2005 Posts: 948 Location: Mexico City

That's a small fortune in legal fees. I'm paying $6.00 for two documents. I'm not bothering doing my transcripts but I suppose it's not a bad idea.

hlamb · Joined: 09 Dec 2003 Posts: 431 Location: Canada

Couldn't you fedex them to a family member or friend and have that person find a cheaper notary? Those fees seem really high.