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gogohorrorshow
Joined: 13 May 2009
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 Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 11:39 am Post subject: Getting stuffed apostilled in California |
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| I got hired by SMOE and they want me to send in all my documents by July 4th. I sent off my CRC to the California Apostille Services Agency to get it apostilled. I know for a fact they received this on June 11 (got the tracking number.) Unfortunately, I misplaced the tracking number for the return shipment (I did the FedEx option where they would just bill me the cost of mailing it back). Anyway, it seems they are still not done processing it yet. I sent out an email to the agency but have not heard anything from them (apparently we're not allowed to call them to ask about the status of our document). Just wondering if there are any other Californians who went through the (mailing) process and how long it's going to take for me to get my CRC with the apostille back! As I have lost the return tracking number there's really no way I can track the progress of this thing until it arrives at my door. I don't think i'm gonna make the July 4th deadline. |
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alphakennyone
Joined: 01 Aug 2005
Location: city heights
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| Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 12:43 pm Post subject: |
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I dont know anything about "apostillization services"
for my CRC I went straight to the secretary of state office and got it apostillized. 10 minutes.
for my university degree i got a copy, got it notarized, got it signed by the county clerk, then went to the sec of state for an apostille. possible to do it in one day.
for the apostille, the other option would've been to mail it to the secretary of state office in sacramento.
the "apostille service" sounds like a middleman and a scam. much like passport services preying on the lazy/uninformed who think it's somehow easier to go through them than to go to the post office. |
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lifeinkorea
Joined: 24 Jan 2009
Location: somewhere in China
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| Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 4:34 pm Post subject: |
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| You can also go to the US embassy if you are in Seoul, get an affidavit, and they will accept that. |
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Kikomom
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: them thar hills--Penna, USA--Zippy is my kid, the teacher in ROK. You can call me Kiko
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| Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 4:50 pm Post subject: |
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The only 'agency' you should be dealing with is the California Secretary of State's Notary Public Section office in Sacremento.
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* The customer must identify the country of destination when the documents are submitted to the Secretary of State. If documents are submitted by mail to the Sacramento office, a letter identifying the country of destination must accompany the documents. To facilitate the processing of documents submitted by mail, please include a self-addressed envelope.
* Documents can be hand delivered to any office location for over-the-counter processing between the hours of 8:00 am and 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday (excluding holidays) or mailed to the Sacramento office. Regional offices do not process mailed in documents. Office locations are as follows:
Sacramento Office
Street Address:
Notary Public Section
1500 11th Street, 2nd Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 653-3595
Mailing Address:
Notary Public Section
Post Office Box 942877
Sacramento, CA 94277-0001
...
Checks or money orders should be made payable to the Secretary of State.
http://www.sos.ca.gov/business/notary/notary_authentication.htm |
And it should have only cost you $20 and a return (stamped?) envelope. Walk-in offices are also located in LA and SF, addresses at the above link.
Anyone that doesn't have a .gov in their web address or .ca in their email addy is a middleman. If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay? |
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merrypr4nkster
Joined: 03 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 4:53 pm Post subject: |
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| I heard mailing takes a long time... About a month to 6 weeks total from what I heard. I went to my local Secretary of State's office in San Diego and got it done right there while I waited. |
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blonde researcher
Joined: 16 Oct 2006
Location: Globalizing in Korea for the time being
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| Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 8:28 pm Post subject: |
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The Korean immigration will not accept any Apostille service for your papers done through an Internet based business ( online service) or private company.
Where you are, you can only get your CRC Apostille sorted from the State Secretary's office.
Looks like you may have had all this trouble and the costs for nothing?? |
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JDUB34
Joined: 17 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 8:34 pm Post subject: |
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hey... i just went through the exact same process. i found the company "california apostille" online and went to their office in west LA and dropped off my documents to them. it took over a week of me using their webforms and calling to finally receive my documents back from them.
theres basically only one person working there.. richard greenberg. he basically just takes your money and then goes over to the state office in sacramento and has it apostilled there for like 26 dollars per document. there is a regional office in downtown LA where u can get the apostilling done yourself for $26 per document and done the same day. if i knew about that before, i wouldnt have wasted my time and money with california apostille.
just keep using the webform to contact richard and call until he finally gets the docs back to you. |
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gogohorrorshow
Joined: 13 May 2009
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| Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 10:11 am Post subject: |
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Wow. Are you kidding me? I honestly had NO idea the California Apostille Services Agency had nothing to do with the government of California. If i had known that I sure as hell wouldn't have sent them anything!
| JDUB34 wrote: |
theres basically only one person working there.. richard greenberg. he basically just takes your money and then goes over to the state office in sacramento and has it apostilled there for like 26 dollars per document. there is a regional office in downtown LA where u can get the apostilling done yourself for $26 per document and done the same day. if i knew about that before, i wouldnt have wasted my time and money with california apostille.
just keep using the webform to contact richard and call until he finally gets the docs back to you. |
Are you saying it took a week between you sending it in to you getting it back? I spoke to Richard over the phone a few times and he was a real jerk. I have used the webform to ask about my status but haven't heard back at all, plus the website says they won't answer any questions about the status of our document over the phone.
Now I think maybe I should just demand my documents back and go do it myself in person (apparently you all are saying it takes less than a day! argh!) Does anybody know what I should do to get these documents back? I mean he can't just keep them hostage can he? I am getting pretty worried as I don't want SMOE to retract their offer because I can't get my documents in on time. |
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Chambertin
Joined: 07 Jun 2009
Location: Gunsan
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| Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 2:54 pm Post subject: |
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Kikomom said it right for cali.
blonde researcher is on the ball.
If your agency is not on the official HCCH list then you are SOL. Expediting services, apostille services, or any other agency even for a notary stamp are generally a rip off and may not be legal for the purpose you intend. At best they charge you double, and take much longer than the normal way for the same stamp.
It stinks but they make tons of money off those who want it done fast over done right. (and they take longer to do it right)
The list of officially registered agencies in the US for apostille.
Middle page section III
http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=authorities.details&aid=353
Always call or check with your Sec. of State for walk in service, many have it. |
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JDUB34
Joined: 17 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 3:08 pm Post subject: |
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| gogohorrorshow wrote: |
Wow. Are you kidding me? I honestly had NO idea the California Apostille Services Agency had nothing to do with the government of California. If i had known that I sure as hell wouldn't have sent them anything!
| JDUB34 wrote: |
theres basically only one person working there.. richard greenberg. he basically just takes your money and then goes over to the state office in sacramento and has it apostilled there for like 26 dollars per document. there is a regional office in downtown LA where u can get the apostilling done yourself for $26 per document and done the same day. if i knew about that before, i wouldnt have wasted my time and money with california apostille.
just keep using the webform to contact richard and call until he finally gets the docs back to you. |
Are you saying it took a week between you sending it in to you getting it back? I spoke to Richard over the phone a few times and he was a real jerk. I have used the webform to ask about my status but haven't heard back at all, plus the website says they won't answer any questions about the status of our document over the phone.
Now I think maybe I should just demand my documents back and go do it myself in person (apparently you all are saying it takes less than a day! argh!) Does anybody know what I should do to get these documents back? I mean he can't just keep them hostage can he? I am getting pretty worried as I don't want SMOE to retract their offer because I can't get my documents in on time. |
yeah.. they are definitely not affiliated with the secretary of state office. on the website they claim they are listed with the state but its complete b.s.
i sent in my documents 6/11 and i got them back like 6/23. i basically had to stay on richard through the webforms but it was pretty frustrating because he wouldnt really give alot of feedback or answer my questions.
i consider myself lucky because i found a review on yelp where a guy used richards services and didnt get his documents back for 3 weeks!
its pretty pointless to call him because he will just give you attitude and then tell you to use the webform.... and then when you do use the webform, he doesnt really answer any of your questions. its basically just there to give you the run-around. |
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gogohorrorshow
Joined: 13 May 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 8:29 am Post subject: |
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i finally called him yesterday and sent him two emails threatening to file a complaint against him with the BBB and the office of the attorney general if he didn't get my documents back to me by this wednesday. lo and behold he got everything apostilled and sent off within the VERY SAME DAY. It's pretty unbelievable; this guy only gets off his ass if you threaten him enough, looks like.
for anyone out there doing the E-2 visa thing, learn from my mistake. do not ever, ever, ever, ever go with California Apostille Services Agency. the guy is a rip-off artist. who knows how long he would have kept my documents hostage if I hadn't threatened to file a report on him! do your research! i was dumb. |
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Kikomom
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: them thar hills--Penna, USA--Zippy is my kid, the teacher in ROK. You can call me Kiko
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| Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 8:48 am Post subject: |
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It's next to impossible to get this message out to everyone going thru the application process--just getting them to find out what an apostille IS, is half the battle. But to you GoGo... the baton has been passed.
tag, you're it 
Glad you got it sorted out. |
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smaulik
Joined: 01 May 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 10:38 am Post subject: |
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| I have a quick (stupid?) questions about the criminal background check: is there supposed to be a signature on it? I just got mine in the mail from the California DOJ and it doesn't have a signature. When I took it to the Notary Public he looked confused. |
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AgentONeal
Joined: 21 May 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 11:22 am Post subject: |
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I have everything ready to be apostilled, my interview with SMOE is tonight at 11:30 PM (ack). Right after they tell me whether or not I get the job (don't know if it'll be after the interview or a few days after), I'll drive down to LA and get them apostilled at the SOS office.
Yeah, going through a middle man or mailing it off is lame, unless you absolutely have to mail it. It takes 10 minutes to an hour to get it done in person, and while you're doing that you can explore downtown. |
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iisabrane
Joined: 24 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2009 12:43 pm Post subject: Downtown LA Office |
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Hi Guys,
The Sec State Office in Downtown LA was awesome. I took my CBC there and I was out the door in under 3 minutes (I swear). I went on a Friday afternoon and every person leaving that place seemed to have a smile on their face. My dad took my car and was driving around the area trying to find a metered parking spot when I called him to come pick me up. It took me longer to wait for him to come get me than to get my CBC apostilled. $26 bucks for the apostille and 3 bucks for parking is all you'll need. The office is on the 12th floor of the large building on the corner of Spring and 3rd. |
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