[walter]

Hi all,

We are in the last stages of our application. I am sending many original documents, but wanted to send notarized copies of a couple (for various reasons). I went to the bank and asked the notary there (whom we've used for other things), and was told they can only notarize signatures. Is this true? If so, how have others in the US approached it?

Thanks,

Walter

[Brian]

My bank would only notarize bank documents. I found a notary service through Craigslist and they gave me notarized copies of two documents for $10. You can also look up "notary" in the phone book.

http://www.craigslist.org/

[Carl and Liz]

Hi Walter,

First, let me qualify the following advice - I am an attorney (please do not take this to mean that I know what the h*ll is going on ;) ) - when I had to send "certified", i.e. notarized, copies of documents to have my law credentials assessed in NZ, I sent a notarized affidavit with language similar to that below. This satisfied the NZ legal folks.

On that basis, I sent to NZIS the following notarized affidavit with a copy of my passport (as did my husband) to satisfy, hopefully, the "certified" copy requirement. We have not heard back from NZIS yet so I'm not sure this is valid. But, I'm throwing it out there to let you know how we handled it.

At the top of the one page notarized affidavit, I put my own "letterhead" with my name, address, etc.

Then I put a paragraph describing what I was swearing to and then followed it with the standard notary acknowledgement (note this is standard language for California notarys and may be a bit different for Arizona - you should double check this). Here is an example:

I, [YOUR NAME HERE], of [YOUR CITY], [YOUR STATE], solemnly and sincerely, declare that the attached copy of my passport, United States of America Passport No. xxxxxxxxx, is a true and correct copy of my passport.

Dated: ________________ By: __________________________
[YOUR SIGNATURE HERE]


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

STATE OF [WHEREVER] )

) ss

COUNTY OF [WHEREVER] )

On ________, 2005, before me __________________, a Notary Public in and for the County of [YOUR COUNTY], State of [WHEREVER], personally appeared [YOUR NAME HERE], proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence or personally known to me to be the person who executed the within documents, and acknowledged to me that he/she executed the same for the purposes therein stated.

WITNESS my hand and official seal, this ____ day of _________, 2005, at [YOUR CITY], [YOUR STATE].




__________________________________
[NOTARY SIGNATURE BLOCK]






Hope this helps.

Regards,
Liz

[Raeven]

Hi, Walter,

As a licensed Notary Public for the State of California, here's what I can tell you: When a Notary Public puts his/her stamp on your document, he/she is certifying that the person who signs the document is in fact the person they purport to be. They are NOT certifying the authenticity of the document itself. For that, you need document CERTIFICATION. This is generally done by the issuing agency. For instance, if you need a certified copy of a marriage license, go to the local registrar and they can issue the certified copy. Only the issuing agency can certify -- meaning authenticate -- the validity of a document. Notary Publics authenticate the identity of persons only. Certified copies should be readily accepted by NZIS.

Hope this helps.

All the best, Rae

[Carl and Liz]

Hi Walter,

We just had our interview with our visa officer. She said all of our documents were fine - including our certified copies of our passport (see my earlier post on how we did this). Just wanted to pass the information along.

Regards,
Liz

[mathmussim]

Walter -

We just took the documents (e.g. passport) that the bank wouldn't notarize to Kinko's (on the recommendation of the bank). Kinko's made "certified" copies. The way it was explained to us, they are certifying that the material you give them are indeed originals. It worked, we have PR.

js

[walter]

Hi,

I found a notary in my building, asked her about this, and described the affidavit that Liz described. She went back to her notary 'manual' and found a similar form that she could fill out for us that was remarkably similar! She needed to make the copies herself and filled out the form. Turns out her husband works with my wife, so no charge!

mathmussim - we had contacted our local Kinko's and were told they couldn't help us out, maybe differences by state?

Anyway thanks for all the great responses. I love this place.

Our application hit UK soil today, fingers crossed!

Walter

[Carl and Liz]

Good luck, Walter!

[selchie]

we had contacted our local Kinko's and were told they couldn't help us out, maybe differences by state?Same here, in California. Darn. We're just going to send the originals and hope they send our passports back quickly. We'll need them in December.

[Bruckner]

Hi Walter,

We just had our interview with our visa officer. She said all of our documents were fine - including our certified copies of our passport (see my earlier post on how we did this). Just wanted to pass the information along.

Regards,
Liz

Hi Liz,

Do you think Greg and I can sign on behalf of our 8 month old twins? We may be traveling internationally and I'd like to hold onto the passports. Thanks.

Emily

[Carl and Liz]

I would think so as infants are, obviously, not capable of signing on their own. If you use the acknowledgement form I suggested above, I would simply add some language that you, as the parents, are signing on behalf of your kids. We held onto our passports and did not have them "blessed", i.e. the residence visa sticker put in, until after we were approved in princple. You just don't know how long the process is going to take and you don't want to have your passports sitting around their office while you wait.

Good luck.

[Bruckner]

Thanks Liz. We're probably going to do the same with the birth certificates as well.

Emily