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[James Hetfield]

Apostille questions for American teacher in Mexico (read above sticky):
Mexican schools need ORIGINAL IN ENGLISH with Apostille stamp? Do they want the SPANISH TRANSLATION with stamp? Or BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH STAMPED? Or ENGLISH stamp with unstamped Spanish attached?

Notarized too? In USA for each document:
$20 notary fee + $20 Apostille stamp on English + $20 Spanish translation fee + $20 stamp on Spanish = $80 per document?

Which documents need stamp?
BACHELORS DEGREE DIPLOMA? TEFL CERTIFICATE? TRANSCRIPTS? COLLEGE VERIFICATION LETTERS? WHAT OTHERS?

Besides Mexico, what other Latin American nations may want this Apostille stamp?

from above Sticky this was great link for USA office contacts:
http://www.footprintsrecruiting.com/apostilles-usa.php?abarcar_Session=07b558d84d425f14bae81c30d766f392

[jfurgers]

I just got my degree and TEFL certificate notorized and apostilled before coming down. You can probably wait to get them translated until you get to Mexico.
I was in Texas so the degree was about $40.00 dollars and the certificate was free. It was issued from Colorado and they do apostilles free. If you get a FM2, you probably won't need to show your degree or certificate. I didn't have to.

[James Hetfield]

Thanks Supercool Avatar Dude.

Cheaper and easier to get documents translated in Latin America?

Any other documents they might want stamped? Just the diploma and TEFL?
In Asia they want all kinds of weird stuff: POLICE BACKGROUND CHECK, MEDICAL CHECK, IMMUNIZATION RECORD, etc.

Only Mexico wants Apostille stamp? How about other Latin American nations?

[jfurgers]

[James Hetfield]

THANKS FOR GREAT LINK FOR USA:
http://www.footprintsrecruiting.com/apostilles-usa.php?abarcar_Session=07b558d84d425f14bae81c30d766f392

You need to get the degree OR the TEFL certificate appostilled. One or the other. If you have both, I'd suggest the degree. Get whatever document you get apostilled translated. You don't need the translation apostilled, or at least you didn't last time I dealt with it. That wasn't very long ago, but they change it almost daily, and every state (in Mexico, that is) is different. I just got my degree and TEFL certificate notorized and apostilled before coming down. You can probably wait to get them translated until you get to Mexico. I was in Texas so the degree was about $40.00 dollars.

If you get a FM2, you probably won't need to show your degree or certificate. I didn't have to. My wife (who is Mexican) told me that you will have to get your degree translated here in Mexico. She said they MAY NOT accept it if its been translated in the States but I'm not sure if she's 100% sure on that. For sure though,get them notorized and apostilled before you come down. I wouldn't worry about the transcripts. No one has ever asked me for them. I would say the degree and TEFL certificate are the main documents you will need to have notorized and apostilled. No medical check but some schools may want physical. Never heard of them wanting immunization records here.

From: Gregor
To: James Hetfield
Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 4:06 am
Subject: Re: Apostille stamp questions from Mexico sticky
You need to get the degree OR the TEFL certificate appostilled. One or the other. If you have both, I'd suggest the degree. Get whatever document you get apostilled translated. You don't need the translation apostilled, or at least you didn't last time I dealt with it. That wasn't very long ago, but they change it almost daily, and every state (in Mexico, that is) is different.

For that matter, every US state is different, too. As for fees, ease of obtaining the apostille and so on. For example, if you're from Minnisota, you are in for some hassles. Arizona, on the other hand, is easy. Just make sure you go to the Secretary of State of the STATE government. Do NOT do it at the Federal level! Let me know if I can help any further. Bear in mind that I am now in Indonesia so I'm not going to be up on the current state of apostilles for much longer!