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Police Clearance Apostille in California
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pcs0325



Joined: 21 Sep 2007

PostPosted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 12:11 pm    Post subject: Police Clearance Apostille in California Reply with quote

Has anyone who has been issued an E-2 visa had to get a police clearance apostilled in California?

I've got all my documents ready but the police clearance and I'm having extraordinary difficulty getting my police clearance notarized.

The issue seems to be that it's the police department's Records Manager whose signature appears on the clearance and not mine. I've been to a couple of notaries, both of whom say they need the Records Manager present in order to put an acknowledgment on the clearance. However, each time I call either the regional office for the Secretary of State or the Secretary of State in Sacramento's office (the places where I would eventually get an apostille for the clearance), I'm told that I should be able to get an acknowledgement without the Records Manager being present.

Actually, the Secretary of State's office in Sacramento told me that I can have a jurat, a sworn oath, attached to the document and get an apostille for that. The problem then is, can I get an E-2 Visa with an apostille on a sworn oath rather than the clearance itself?

There's been a lot of run around and differing opinions, so I wonder if anyone has actually gone through the process and is now in Korea working.
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bourbon



Joined: 28 Dec 2007

PostPosted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 5:20 pm    Post subject: California Apostille Reply with quote

I just did it in GA. I used to live in CA. Here is what should help. There should be a Notary at the police station, I happened to mention that the Background check was for an international company, the police officer was glad I did as it was different than the norm. This one is on official letterhead addressed to the Korean consulate and Notarized. THEN...I had to go to the clerk of the County Supreme Court to get a Notary flag, basically a second Notary from the county saying the first Notary was real. THEN I sent it to a company I found in Atlanta that for 20 bucks sends it to the capital to get the Apostille stamp. So, sounds to me like you are missing the initial notary and the notary flag. I know each state is a little different but they might be the same.
BOL
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pcs0325



Joined: 21 Sep 2007

PostPosted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 8:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
THEN...I had to go to the clerk of the County Supreme Court to get a Notary flag, basically a second Notary from the county saying the first Notary was real. THEN I sent it to a company I found in Atlanta that for 20 bucks sends it to the capital to get the Apostille stamp.


This is the process as I understand it too. However, my campus police station didn't have a notary on hand and I had already gotten the police clearance from them, so I've taken a slightly different route.

I've learned that there are two things I can get for my police clearance: an acknowledgement or a jurat. I believe what you got was an acknowledgement (where the notary verifies the signature on the police clearance) and that's what I would have like to have gotten. Instead, I got a jurat, an attached document with a statement from me attesting to the authenticity of the police clearance. I then headed down to the county clerk to get a notary authentication which, as you said, verifies that the notary is legit. So the last thing I'm going to do is head up to the Secretary of State regional office in Los Angeles and get an apostille for it all.

I hope the jurat suffices. From what I understood from talking with someone at the Secretary of State's office, the apostille is the same whether it's done on a jurat or an acknowledgement.

However this turns out, the police clearance has definitely been the most difficult document to procure for the E-2 visa.
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distance



Joined: 03 Jan 2008
Location: Icheon (1 hour from Seoul)

PostPosted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 10:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I wouldn't settle for the Jurat to be on the safe side. You can contact your state police and they should be able to get you what you need but be sure to mention this is for a Visa application. Also if you are having trouble in CA you can have all this done in another state with an easier process (you are not required to have the CBC done in your state residency).
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bourbon



Joined: 28 Dec 2007

PostPosted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 10:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah I would skip going to the Campus office and go straight to your city police headquarters. In GA the request is common for people working with kids domestically.
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Norith



Joined: 02 Nov 2007

PostPosted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 10:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had a copy of my degree notarized and apostilled for immigration. I know it's different, and it was just before the new regulations....but neither the notary stamp, nor the actually apostille appeared on the copy of my degree...they were separate pieces of paper that the clerk at the sec. of state clamped together with a rather official looking binding.
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distance



Joined: 03 Jan 2008
Location: Icheon (1 hour from Seoul)

PostPosted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 10:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

thats how all Apostilles are I believe. The notarized document is on bottom, then the Certification of the Notary is put on top then the Apostille is attached on top of that and all are bound together.
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pcs0325



Joined: 21 Sep 2007

PostPosted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 10:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Norith wrote:
I had a copy of my degree notarized and apostilled for immigration. I know it's different, and it was just before the new regulations....but neither the notary stamp, nor the actually apostille appeared on the copy of my degree...they were separate pieces of paper that the clerk at the sec. of state clamped together with a rather official looking binding.


This is what I'm hoping for. Because the apostille is actually a separate document, I'm hoping that it'll work the same regardless. But if it doesn't work out, then I'll go to the Irvine (rather than the campus) police department and see if they have a notary there. So far my documents have cost me $38 (I haven't paid for an apostille yet) and that's not too bad. It's interesting to watch the cost of the police clearance climb each time a new piece of paper is stapled with it.
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Ut videam



Joined: 07 Dec 2007
Location: Pocheon-si, Gyeonggi-do

PostPosted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 12:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

distance wrote:
I wouldn't settle for the Jurat to be on the safe side. You can contact your state police and they should be able to get you what you need but be sure to mention this is for a Visa application. Also if you are having trouble in CA you can have all this done in another state with an easier process (you are not required to have the CBC done in your state residency).

Criminal background checks are not official documents in the U.S., and therefore it's very difficult to obtain one bearing an official signature. Without an official signature, a notary cannot execute an acknowledgement. In almost every case, therefore, background checks from the U.S. can only be notarized by means of a jurat executed by the subject of the check in the presence of the notary.
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Jessie41



Joined: 14 Dec 2007

PostPosted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 12:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

After reading several posts on the subject, it appears that many state authorities will send a notarized document. For example, my CBC was signed from an official of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. It contains a notary seal and signature on the document. With the notary seal, it can then be sent to the Colorado Secretary of State for an apostille. OP, I read elsewhere that the state of California will issue a notarized document. However, I can't find those specific posts to confirm this information. It is likely that a local police department will not have the resources to have a notary on site. You may have better luck at the state level.
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Ut videam



Joined: 07 Dec 2007
Location: Pocheon-si, Gyeonggi-do

PostPosted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 3:55 pm