Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Mr Lee's Monkey]

Current wait for first time FBI check is 9 weeks, and current wait for DOS apostille by mail (Cust Svc DOS ph 202-647-7039) is 8 weeks. Carumba!

edit changed as of 10/19 to 3 weeks for DOS apostille by mail

[sweetkiss]

what?! it was 2 weeks for the apostille wen I checked last week according to the website! and now it says its 3 weeks >___< wtfff!!! where did you get 8 weeks??? did you call them?

[Mr Lee's Monkey]

Yes, I called them at the number listed above about 5 minutes before I posted what they told me. I made the girl repeat herself three times and explained what's going on here - also told her I'd heard it was a 15 day wait once the CBC got to DOS - she sounded pretty disinterested and reiterated that the current wait time was 8 weeks to have it done if it's being sent to them. Try calling them and see what they tell you.
As an aside, my first set of fingerprints for my first national check were rejected by CJIS and that took 9 weeks to find out.

[sweetkiss]

so i called the # on the website and the lady i talked to said its the messaging system because the regular ppl are "so overwhelmed" but she quoted the 3 wks from the website :/

[dramasing]

great, I'm already behind on even getting my cbc.

I'll be walking mine in to get apostilled, I guess.

[katbrady]

its ridiculous they don't tell you your fingerprints were rejected earlier than sending the packet back to you. i only sent in one set of fingerprints. i was thinking maybe i should send in another CBC request just to be safe, then realized it would be too late then for EPIK.

i got my prints done at a truck. here's to hoping they pass.

[globusmonkey]

If you're in a hurry to get your apostille back, I would recommend using one of the private services that do it for you (Us Legalization and Apostille Pros are some of the ones I've seen mentioned on here - just do a google search). You can ship your CBC down to DC, include a shipping label back, and they walk it over to the State Dep't for you - takes a couple of days, depending on how you ship. The one I used cost about 45 bucks, which was really worth it after waiting for 10 weeks for the background check to be returned.

[Pinehurst]

It did take 8 weeks over the summer. One way to shave a little time off is to use Fedex. I heard that some apostile services use Cal. Department of State not Washington DC. Some states will do it for you but I am not sure if Korea will accept it. If the state does it, they want a notorized afidavit not that FBI seal. If I was doing it again I would order two FBI checks one with the seal and one without. Send the one with the seal to DC using fedex, and the one without get notorized and send to your state. That way you have a backup.

[Weigookin74]

Wow. I feel for you Americans.

[Mr Lee's Monkey]

I called back again tonight 10/20 in Korea and got a woman who asked to take a message - I asked her about the time frame for the apostille and she said it was "updated" yesterday, 10/19, and is now 3 weeks.