Korean Job Discussion Forums

[distance]

Apostille Guide for US Citizens

Hello and Welcome,

Prospective teachers applying for an E-2 Visa are required to have a Criminal Background Check (also known as a Criminal Records Check) with an Apostille on the document. This is not a Certificate of Authenticity and the final document must say Apostille at the top. Below are the basic steps to acquiring an Apostille, however each state has different standards and requirements. You may contact your State�s office of the Secretary of State by going to http://www.apostilleinfo.com/usa.htm and looking up your particular state.
* This guide assumes things are done in person although you may also have these steps completed by mail this may take significantly longer and you should contact your Secretary of State for details.
*It is notable that if your State�s requirements are particularly stringent or time consuming you may have the C.B.C Apostilled in a state other than your state of residency.

The Basic Process
First, a notary public notarizes the primary signature on the document. Next, the notary�s signature is certified by the county clerk in the county in which the notary public took the oath of office. Finally, the Secretary of State issues his certification by certifying the county clerk�s signature and affixing an Apostille.
� Get a Notarized Criminal Background Check.
� Have the Notarized C.B.C. Certified at the County Clerk�s Office in which it was notarized.
� Have the Notarized and Certified C.B.C. Apostilled at the office of the Secretary of the State.

More Specifically

Acquire a Notarized Criminal Background Check. This can be done by going to your local police station and asking for one (if you are lucky). However, one can also be acquired by contacting your State Police and speaking with the Criminal Records Department.
*There will be a small fee varying state to state.
*Contact before hand to find which forms of payment are accepted. Some will only accept money orders while other will except cash, check, or credit cards.

Have the Notaries Signature Certified. After receiving your Notarized Criminal Background Check take this document to the County Clerk�s Office in which the Notary took the oath of office (this should be the county in which the Criminal Background Check was issued) and have the document Certified.
*Some states may require the documents to be certified by the actual County Clerk while others will accept a certification from a deputy clerk.
* There will be a small fee varying from state to state.
* Contact before hand to find which forms of payment are accepted.

Have the Apostille affixed. After having your Criminal Background Check Notarized and Certified you are ready to go to the Secretary of State�s office in your state to have the document Apostilled.
*There will be a small fee varying from state to state.
* Contact before hand to find which forms of payment are accepted.

I hope this clears things up and if anyone has corrections or questions feel free to ask.

[idonojacs]

Distance:

[hari seldon]

[idonojacs]

Oh, by the way, Hello and Welcome to you, too, whoever you are.

Some more questions:

* Did you have to be present to "• Have the Notarized and Certified C.B.C. Apostilled at the office of the Secretary of the State"? Or can you mail it if you live hundreds of miles from the office of the Secretary of the State?

* If you did complete this process yourself and submit it, did Kimmi accept it? Or did they reject it because it a) did not include a statement of authenticity, or b) they didn't like the color of your state's apostille?

* What is to stop a criminal from forging a CRC and then have it n-c-ad?

* I still wonder why we are going through all this trouble when, at least in the U.S., this still does not provide a national CRC. So it is a complete waste of time and does not provide the protections Korea claims.

* How did you make those cool bullets (• )? Did you write the posting on Microsoft Word or some other word processor program? If so, why, exactly, would you do that?

Nothing personal, but if Woody Allen were making a comedy about becoming a teacher abroad, a sort of 21st century "Bananas," he could not make up a procedure more ridiculous. I would love to see him make a film showing him going through this rigamarole. And then have him schedule a piss test for himself, go in and take it, and then go out and get wasted. It would be hilarious. Tequila!





_________________________________________________________

-- A bureaucrat's idea of an essay is a list.
..

[Boodleheimer]

i've read a thread started by a fellow named Khenan who said that immigration rejected his background check because it was a state apostille, not a national one. any comment?

edit: this would be the thread: http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=109223&highlight=

[idonojacs]

Any chance we could stick to compiling definitive information in one thread, such as:

http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=109027&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

If we find something about apostiles that is from a reliable source or from first-hand experience, let's collect it there, please. It's impossible to keep up on the dozens of pages and threads.

And without knowing who this "distance" is, what the source of information is, or whether this person has actually done these things and had the final result accepted by Kimmi, it is just more blather, I'm afraid.

And yes, KWhitehead, that's my point. You can go through all this and still have it rejected by Kimmi. Just iimagine if someone trying to renew after March 15 goes home to do this and winds up rejected.

[moosehead]

[Ut videam]

[distance]

Hello here are my answers the the questions raised thus far.

To idonojacs:


I have actually done this.

I did this in Kentucky my State Police Office was within an hour's drive.

I went to the State Police office in my State's Capital. The Notarized CBC cost $10 and took 10mins, the Clerks office was 10mins away the Certification cost $5 and the SOS Office was 10mins from the Clerks office and the fee was $5.

Total Fees $20 total time 1hour

I never signed an oath. The CBC in my state was an oath from the Records personnel stating I had no criminal record. The notary then signs alongside that, then the Clerk certifies the Notary has the legal authority to make that oath official and then the Secretary of State certifies the clerk is within their authority and the apostille is placed on top and all the documents are bound together.

I never made any oath.

If you are in Korea I would suggest an alternate Route. If you are applying, as am I, I think doing all this in person is a rather quick method and might be worth considering if your state regulations allow it to be this simple.

I beleive forged document are certainly possible to create and I would advise against it.

I created the guide in Microsoft Word (thats where the bullets came from.

I am in the process of being hired and when gathering the information for myself I wrote down everything I needed. I adapted the info so it would be easier to read and less of my own notes so others might not have to spend as much time as me doing research on it.

hari seldon:

The weblink is listed in the guide http://www.apostilleinfo.com/usa.htm
That will direct to a list of Secretary of State websites for each State. The process will vary for each individual state. My info reflects my experience acquiring my Apostille in Kentucky. Once again I suggest you contact the Secretary of State's Office in the state which you wish to initiate this process to make sure of that States specific regulations.

Idonojacs Post 2

Various states provide a method to do this process by mail. I would contact the State's SOS office to learn more. Although it is likely You could mail in the required request forms, fees and pre-addressed envelopes with letters of explanation, I doubt you would come into many snags. I did not do this again check with the SOS Office in which you wish to acquire an apostille.

KImmi should not accept a Certificate of Authenticity as the are a member of the Huang Convention. And Because a State's Office of the Secretary of State is a Representative of the State Department if carries federal power and according to the Huang Convention (which Korea is a member of) Any State's Apostille is an Official document and should be accepted assuming the Initial document (IE the correct type of CBC) is the one required.

kwhitehead
Any Apostille carries the weight of the Federal Goverment. As a Member of the Huang Convention any Document with an Apostille should be treated as an Official document. However the doesn't mean the correct document has been Apostilled. I have not read the thread yet but I plan to. My response is based on the intention of the Huang Convention

Idonjacs Post 3
I did not find the other thread before i created this one I will read that thread and then post my guide there as well or you could quote me into it. As you stated it is hard to keep up with the articles so I attempted to make one clearly titled that was easy to follow.

Moosehead
The requirements for a Background never ask that you are a resident of the State. This loophole has been a cheif complaint of the effectiveness of these new Visa Requirements. As such I considered it common knowledge. You may refer to the Korean immigration websites E2 Visa Requirements page never does it mention which state a CBC must be from. I I happened to to acquire my Apostilled CBC in my state of Residency.
*Note also Moosehead is not a real name.

UT Videam
Please refer to above posts the the background as you does indeed only state that you do not a record in the state in which it is run. However this statement is signed and then notarized allowing for the process to produce an apostille. As to your first hand knowledge I do not know what your experience was however I went through this process in Kentucky.

I hope this helps others. If there are anythings I can clear up about my experience i am happy to do so. Again I suggest contacting the Secretary of State's Office before beginning the process for yourself. I wrote up the information I gathered while going through these steps myself.

Thanks

/edit didn't mean to press submit
//edit i spell horribly the huang convention should be the Hague Conference on Legalization (cheers idonojacs for correcting this mistake)

[Jessie41]

[Ut videam]

Thanks for the info, distance!

I obtained my criminal background check from the Administrative Office of the Courts in Kentucky. They were not willing to notarize it. I executed a jurat at the county clerk's office in order to get it notarized, certified, and apostilled. That check is on the way to Korea now, along with my other documents. Hopefully KImmi will accept it.

Thanks to your info, I now know that the Kentucky State Police will provide a notarized background check. Just to be on the safe side, I may head back to Frankfort on Monday, get one, and have it certified and apostilled in case they reject the first one.

[dimnd]

That is fine if you are in the states..try taking care of it...in SK...no county clerk to take it to.

[Ut videam]

[South Jeolla Blues]

Some states require certification with the County Clerk. Others, like Arizona, don't. You should check with your Secretary of State's Office to see if certification by the County Clerk is required.

My CBC was done in Arizona through my local Sheriff's Office. The records clerk signed it, a notary in the office notarised it, and then it was sent off to the Secretary of State's Office for apostille. The clerk of the court wasn't involved at all.

[South Jeolla Blues]

CBC -- Free
Notarization -- Free
Apostille -- $3