Chasing paper

Monday I went to C's office and a coworker of his notarized almost 40 documents for us for free. Then I came home and filled out the apostille applications for all the different notaries that have been used by us and the different professionals who have had items notarized for us. I need an apostille for each document, but I only have to fill out one application for each notary that was used.

I'm still waiting for the psych letter, and tonight he e-mailed me to let me know he had it ready and was prepared to get it notarized tomorrow, but he noticed his license expires Jan. 31st and he doesn't have his new one yet, which should arrive next week. I'll check with the agency tomorrow, but I imagine we will have to wait for the new license, which is a bummer because I was hoping to send off for the apostilles this week and get them back in a week or two. I want to send one package since this is all done via Fed Ex and those charges can really add up. (Tip for anyone considering adoption: set up a Fed Ex account. You are going to need it.)

We are lucky in Texas. I'll need 78 apostilles, it looks like, and in Texas those are $10 each up to $100 per child. Since we could possibly bring home two children from Russia, we cap out at $200. In some states, it can be as much as $20 per apostille with no cap...so we would be paying $1560 in one of those states. Nuts, I tell you.

What is an apostille? Well in the early 60's a bunch of countries got together in The Hague and devised a way to accept each others official documents. Items to be apostilled can either be issued by a government authority (like a birth or marriage certificate) or notarized by a certified notary. The apostille verifies that it is really a government-issued doc ( a real, true marriage license) or really was notarized by an official notary. This way Russia knows that the docs we are sending are the real deal. For China, after our docs were apostilled, we had to send them to the Chinese Consulate and get another certification, verifying that the apostille was real. I don't have to do that for Russia...I am not sure if my agency will be doing it after I send them my paperwork, or if it just isn't required. I'm guessing it is not required because I'm sure I'd have to do it (and pay out of pocket) if it were. What does an apostille look like? Essentially it is a piece of paper permanently stapled to the document that has wording to say that this is an official document and if I remember correctly, the Texas one is on letterhead that has the seal of Texas printed on it and then there is also a gold embossed seal and it is all "signed" by the secretary of state.