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You are replying to this message: | | Posted by BrendaTx on 5/31/06 5:55pm
Re: apostille Posted by Gerry_VT of VT on 5/31/06 3:56pm Msg #123285 from logged in user The search feature will indeed find many posts that will give some suggestions about how to get an apostille, but the ones I've seen didn't emphasize a few simple ideas.
First, the reason for an apostille is that people in foreign countries don't want to keep track of who can perform notarial acts in all the countries in the world, so they have devised a two step process. You, the notary, perform a basic notarial act just as you always do (although I've heard foreign countries are partial to gold-colored foil stickers used with embossing seals; I have no personal experience). Then the secretary of state, or the SOS's authorized representative, looks up the notary's name and verifies that there really a notary by that name with an active commision as of the date on the document. The SOS then attaches the apostille, which essentially vouches for the notary. That way, the foreign country only needs to keep track of a few thousand officers who can issue apostilles, rather than hundreds of thousands of officers who can notarize documents.
Second, it is really up to the signer to obtain the apostille from the SOS, although you could do that as a service, just like you drive to the borrower's house as a service.
A note of caution: there seems to be a tendency for people to want apostilles for copies of documents that really should be handled by somebody other than the typical notary, for instance, birth certificates and university diplomas.
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