Korean Job Discussion Forums

[darkcity]

don't underestimate how much there is to do!!!

i dont want to be an alarmist, but I thought I had researched enough on this board about getting my criminal record check apostilled and would be able to do it in a day. i would've been able to have completed it if I had been fully aware of what to do. even www.apostilleinfo.com can be a bit labyrinthine.

so since others have helped me out on this board, i'll post up the steps in the hopes that anyone going down the same road as me will use the search function and find this post.

keep in mind, this is how it works in california, dunno if other states are different.

1. get the criminal record check ordered. local is fine, costed me $29. was told it would take 5 days, but it took 15 working days. some people have told me their local police dept. wouldn't give them a printout. dunno what this is all about, but my local dept. had no qualms.

2. get it notarized. i think getting it done at a lawyer would be your best bet, because the AIM Mail Center and real estate agency i went to seemed clueless on how to handle the document, as my signature was nowhere on the actual printout. a jurat needs to be attached to the CRC, which is basically just you saying that you swear you're you, blablabla. costs $10.

3. then you need to get the notarization certified. this has to be done in the same county where the notary was performed, at the county clerk's office. i was lucky because my mother is a notary, so she knew where the office was. the certification is another $12.

4. NOW you can go get the apostille. i did mine over the counter at the San Francisco office, 550 Golden Gate Ave, 14th floor. they wouldn't apostille it without the certification. the apostille is another $20. you can also do it by mail if you don't live near Fresno, Sacramento, SF, LA, or San Diego. but there's always the risk of losing things in the mail, and also if it turns out you did something wrong, you lose a few days mailing things back and forth.

4a. if you went straight to the Sacramento office for the apostille, you don't need certification. you can skip step 3 altogether.

so all in all, $69, not counting the train and gas money. for the fucking CRC.

at first i didn't mind the idea of a CRC, but after wasting a whole day doing this crap, i'm sure there must be an easier way. the actual CRC can easily be forged in the first place, so it seems a little futile to do all this.

anyway, hope this helps someone in the future.

[Gnawbert]

Yeah, I did the San Francisco run back in January when the new regs went into effect.

http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=113068&highlight=

Lot of fun, eh? Good news tho, it all worked, and I've been over here the last 7 weeks having a blast

[Seoul_Star]

I paid huge money to have a third party do the entire thing for me. They basically did all the steps that you described, and then fedexed it to me in Korea. Took about 8 days. Still worked out to being less than the cost of an airline ticket though.