It’s been a while since I posted. There was a little glitch in my movement forward but now all is good. I had all my materials from our Social Worker and Home Study agent but had to send some of them back to my Social Worker after discovering, thankfully sooner than later, a few had been sent to me (accidentally) unnotarized. About a week or so ago, right before she was to resend us the newly notarized documents, our SW calls me up late at night to tell me that we neglected (all of us, I would say) to get these notaries authenticated — and that all the paperwork she provided for us (half of which I still had at home) had to be sent back to her so that she could collect them all to send to the Duchess County Clerk’s office for Authenication — to legal prove that the notary public used was in fact “authentic.”
So, this past Friday, I received everything back thanks to trusty Fed EX return envelopes. The Duchess County Clerk must be an efficient office as the turn around time was one day. Tomorrow morning, my father will pick me up at 7:30am to brave NYC traffic and travel to downtown Brooklyn to the Kings County Clerk’s office to authenticate all the notary stamps that were done here. From there, I will head into Manhattan to the County Clerk there to authenticate the Banker’s notary (which was notarized in Manhattan.) From there, we then drive over to the Secretary of State’s office, where my father will likely wait for me in a perfect spot thanks to his special handicapped pass which allows him to park literally anywhere) to get the official seal that authenticates the authentication (for lack of a better description!)
If there are no glitches or confusion, by 1pm tomorrow, I will hold in my hands –finally — all my official paperwork. I will inwardly cheer at my amazing work these past many months and outwardly hoot and holler. I will go home to photograph this beautiful paperwork to record for all eternity. I will then make sure I have my computer generated “photo-album” all properly arranged and ready to rock and roll as part of the dossier.
Most likely, just to be sure I dotted all my i’s and crossed my t’s, I will FedEX the dossier on Tuesday. It will be prayed over, kissed, coddled and nudged along to it’s first stop on the journey — With Hope and Love Adoption Agency. Once approved there, it will be sent to Kazakhstan for Legal Review and Translation. And other stops along the way that will eventually unite us with a little boy. And, I will breathe a huge sigh of relief and pray for all that is meant to be.
Steph
PS It is now 12:30 am, one hour from when I wrote the above. I have to cancel with my father and not go tomorrow. Two documents that were signed by my accountant in Manhattan who lives in New Jersey were just discovered by me upon closer inspection to have been notarized by a notary certified on Long Island. Which means that tomorrow I must drive one hour away to the Nassau County Clerk and authenticate 4 documents before I do anything. Additionally, I was tooling around in the King’s County Clerk web site, a site I’ve looked at before to get details, and now I notice it states that all notary stamps MUST say Kings County on it for them to authenticate. Well, though I am located in Kings County and got over 50 documents notarized by a local notary public who verbally told me that she is qualified in Kings County, not one stamp says Kings County on it. I actually asked her why her stamp looks different than most and she said it wasn’t a problem at all, that the stamp she had was all that was needed. But she is a new notary … is this correct? Will her name and number be enough to prove her qualification in Kings County or do I need to have everything restamped? Not earth shattering, but another hassle. The fact that I now have to drive to Long Island tomorrow gives me a day to figure this out. I thought everything was squared away and ready to go. I wrongly assumed that tomorrow I’d be authenticating the accountant’s documents in Manhattan where he notarized it. I was remiss in realizing that the notary he used was from another county. All this is so new to me. How do you know what you don’t even know you are supposed to know? I’m just so tired and frustrated. I wish I had Gary to discuss this with and have him really understand my level of frustration. He has not been part of the paperwork process and will likely be level headed with me and removed, when all I want right now is for someone to say “That sucks! You need a big hug and someone to sit with you and go over everything with. I can see how all these documents, dates, stamps, seals, originals, duplicates and copies are so very confusing. You are not alone. Here, Steph, sit back and let me handle this all for you. It will all get done. Don’t you worry.”
Gotta get to bed before I flip out.
1 am — Thirty minutes after I cried a bucket, I am feeling better. Gotta get some sleep. I can do this. One day, when I have three teenagers begging for later curfews, I will look back on this slight upset with a smile and a snicker. This, I know, is the easy stuff.
so much drama….Why the heck are they all over the country..you poor thing..
so much drama….Why the heck are they all over the country..you poor thing..
Hi Stephanie,
I read your post earlier today, feeling such frustration on your behalf—oh when you finally do get to drop that Dossier in the FedEx box, whoosh–you'll feeling amazing relief and accomplishment because this has been a Dossier marathon like none I've ever witnessed in my 7 years of following Kazakhstan adoption journeys closely.
I have been hesitating to write this, because I have no understanding of the Authentication process in your state (I live in Wisconsin–here we don't have to get county-specific authentication, we just send the entire dossier with all the various documents notarized by several different State of Wisconsin notaries to the Secretary of State Office for Apostille). But I want to raise a concern about "Authentication" because my experiences and my current observations/understanding is that the Kaz government requires "Apostille" by the Secretary of State, not Authentications (some international adoption-countries do indeed require Authentication, but for Kazakhstan it has always been an Apostille that is required—as you said in your post, it is verification from your State's Secretary of State that all of the notary publics who witness documents within the Dossier are indeed active/in good standing notary publics for your state.)
I don't want to add to any confusion or frustration, but I encourage you to contact your agency caseworker to get better clarification from them on this.
I believe you need to request an Apostille from the Secretary of State's Office.
Persevere Stephanie!!! Just take it one step at a time, and look forward.
Blessings,
Marcia
Happy Happy Mommy to Sara Marina & Kate, both adopted from Kazakhstan
Hi Stephanie,
I read your post earlier today, feeling such frustration on your behalf—oh when you finally do get to drop that Dossier in the FedEx box, whoosh–you'll feeling amazing relief and accomplishment because this has been a Dossier marathon like none I've ever witnessed in my 7 years of following Kazakhstan adoption journeys closely.
I have been hesitating to write this, because I have no understanding of the Authentication process in your state (I live in Wisconsin–here we don't have to get county-specific authentication, we just send the entire dossier with all the various documents notarized by several different State of Wisconsin notaries to the Secretary of State Office for Apostille). But I want to raise a concern about "Authentication" because my experiences and my current observations/understanding is that the Kaz government requires "Apostille" by the Secretary of State, not Authentications (some international adoption-countries do indeed require Authentication, but for Kazakhstan it has always been an Apostille that is required—as you said in your post, it is verification from your State's Secretary of State that all of the notary publics who witness documents within the Dossier are indeed active/in good standing notary publics for your state.)
I don't want to add to any confusion or frustration, but I encourage you to contact your agency caseworker to get better clarification from them on this.
I believe you need to request an Apostille from the Secretary of State's Office.
Persevere Stephanie!!! Just take it one step at a time, and look forward.
Blessings,
Marcia
Happy Happy Mommy to Sara Marina & Kate, both adopted from Kazakhstan
Hi Stephanie,
I read your post earlier today, feeling such frustration on your behalf—oh when you finally do get to drop that Dossier in the FedEx box, whoosh–you'll feeling amazing relief and accomplishment because this has been a Dossier marathon like none I've ever witnessed in my 7 years of following Kazakhstan adoption journeys closely.
I have been hesitating to write this, because I have no understanding of the Authentication process in your state (I live in Wisconsin–here we don't have to get county-specific authentication, we just send the entire dossier with all the various documents notarized by several different State of Wisconsin notaries to the Secretary of State Office for Apostille). But I want to raise a concern about "Authentication" because my experiences and my current observations/understanding is that the Kaz government requires "Apostille" by the Secretary of State, not Authentications (some international adoption-countries do indeed require Authentication, but for Kazakhstan it has always been an Apostille that is required—as you said in your post, it is verification from your State's Secretary of State that all of the notary publics who witness documents within the Dossier are indeed active/in good standing notary publics for your state.)
I don't want to add to any confusion or frustration, but I encourage you to contact your agency caseworker to get better clarification from them on this.
I believe you need to request an Apostille from the Secretary of State's Office.
Persevere Stephanie!!! Just take it one step at a time, and look forward.
Blessings,
Marcia
Happy Happy Mommy to Sara Marina & Kate, both adopted from Kazakhstan
Marcia — If you read this, thank you! Yes, I definitely do need Apostilles. It was the Authentication process (smack dab between Notarization and Apostilles) that was entirely new to me and not listed on any info sheets. It was almost as if I had to discover on my own that if I need to Apostille some documents in NY, then I'd better figure it out as I go along that there is a certain way to do it … so it has been a learning curve. Had my Social Worker not called me the other day, I would have been entirely surprised to show up to get Apostilled without the needed authentication seals on all my documents. How do I know what I don't even know — in regards to this process which seems to be specific to NY? I have to have authentication from three different places — one in my area, one an hour away and one 3 hours away (which we handled via FedEX.) Once all this will be accomplished, I will take everything to be Apostilled in one office in Manhattan. Thank you so much for your details and support! They are much appreciated!
Stephanie
Marcia — If you read this, thank you! Yes, I definitely do need Apostilles. It was the Authentication process (smack dab between Notarization and Apostilles) that was entirely new to me and not listed on any info sheets. It was almost as if I had to discover on my own that if I need to Apostille some documents in NY, then I'd better figure it out as I go along that there is a certain way to do it … so it has been a learning curve. Had my Social Worker not called me the other day, I would have been entirely surprised to show up to get Apostilled without the needed authentication seals on all my documents. How do I know what I don't even know — in regards to this process which seems to be specific to NY? I have to have authentication from three different places — one in my area, one an hour away and one 3 hours away (which we handled via FedEX.) Once all this will be accomplished, I will take everything to be Apostilled in one office in Manhattan. Thank you so much for your details and support! They are much appreciated!
Stephanie
Marcia — If you read this, thank you! Yes, I definitely do need Apostilles. It was the Authentication process (smack dab between Notarization and Apostilles) that was entirely new to me and not listed on any info sheets. It was almost as if I had to discover on my own that if I need to Apostille some documents in NY, then I'd better figure it out as I go along that there is a certain way to do it … so it has been a learning curve. Had my Social Worker not called me the other day, I would have been entirely surprised to show up to get Apostilled without the needed authentication seals on all my documents. How do I know what I don't even know — in regards to this process which seems to be specific to NY? I have to have authentication from three different places — one in my area, one an hour away and one 3 hours away (which we handled via FedEX.) Once all this will be accomplished, I will take everything to be Apostilled in one office in Manhattan. Thank you so much for your details and support! They are much appreciated!
Stephanie
Gee, and I thought it was difficult to get documents apostilled in CA. At least I can mail everything to the state office, I don't have to go to the county clerk unless we use a regional office. That's such a pain you have to get each notary authenticated in their county. I agree that once you get it all in place, it will be a huge weight off your shoulders.
Gee, and I thought it was difficult to get documents apostilled in CA. At least I can mail everything to the state office, I don't have to go to the county clerk unless we use a regional office. That's such a pain you have to get each notary authenticated in their county. I agree that once you get it all in place, it will be a huge weight off your shoulders.
Hi Again Stephanie,
Thanks for this explanation–I understand the NY process better, and it sounds like you're on the right track after all.
If that New York Apostille seal is anything like the State of Wisconsin one, you'll be dazzled by it–such a beautiful gold intricate seal, very distinctive and as official looking as it gets!
Marcia
Hi Again Stephanie,
Thanks for this explanation–I understand the NY process better, and it sounds like you're on the right track after all.
If that New York Apostille seal is anything like the State of Wisconsin one, you'll be dazzled by it–such a beautiful gold intricate seal, very distinctive and as official looking as it gets!
Marcia
Hi Again Stephanie,
Thanks for this explanation–I understand the NY process better, and it sounds like you're on the right track after all.
If that New York Apostille seal is anything like the State of Wisconsin one, you'll be dazzled by it–such a beautiful gold intricate seal, very distinctive and as official looking as it gets!
Marcia