Ganesh

Hello,

I am trying to get certified copies made of transcripts,reference letters etc for an
ACS application and I am having a difficult time trying to figure out how to get
certified copies of these docs made in California.

Is there anyone out there who has found out how to do this? I searched all over the
internet and newsgroups and found that there were similar postings,but no
definitive answer.

Here in in California it seems that a Notary Public can by law only certify copies of
Powers of Attorney, nothing else. The california law apparently states the
following..

Certified Copies: A certified copy is a duplicate copy of an original document that
is certified as an exact reproduction. In California, a Notary is prohibited form
making certified copies of anything but the Notary's own official journal or a Power
of Attorney. Request for certified copies of any other documents should be directed
to the agency that holds the document

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Ganesh

Greg

Hello Ganesh:

I had the same problem with my ACS application. I took the step of driving to Nevada
(Stateline, about 2 hours drive from where I live in
CA), since Nevada notaries can certify documents (as can Arizona notaries).

Note that it is much cheaper to have this done in NV ($2.50 a cert copy compared to
$10 for the bogus California cert).

Even then, the Nevada notary (actually a Californian who owns two businesses, one in
CA and one in NV) attempted to use the CA method on my docs (which as you know is no
certification of anything other than your signature). I had to ask for the Nevada
Notary Handbook, show him the relevant passage and copy the relevant form onto the
back of the copies of all my docs. Then he certified the copies, I had to sign and
thumbprint for each, and all was done.

From the same office on the same day, I FedEx'ed everything off to Sydney (note: open
a FedEx account for both outbound and return correspondence, that is, include a
completed FedEx International Shipping form for the return of your ACS letter).

For my actual Visa application, I submitted both originals and copies (except for my
passport, which I eventually sent once all was approved), since there was really no
other way to do the deal, outside of going back to Stateline (you may want to do what
I didn't do, that is, make a second set of certified copies in Nevada), but the
Consulate suggested this other method (i.e. submit originals and copies), and I
agreed. Everything worked out, but cracking this initially was a headache.

Good luck, all the best, and enjoy your trip to NV or AZ!

Greg

PS Here is the relevant section from the Nevada Revised Statutes concerning Notaries
(from http://www.leg.state.nv.us/NRS/NRS-2...NRS240Sec168):

NRS 240.168 Short form for attesting copy of document. The following certificate is
sufficient for attesting a copy of a document:

State of................................................ .

County of.............................................

I certify that this is a true and correct copy of a document in the possession
of.......................(name of person who presents the
document)...................

Dated............................................. .

(Signature of notarial officer)

(Seal, if any)

(Title and rank (optional))

(Added to NRS by 1993, 203; A 1995, 197; 1997, 940; 2001, 657)

[email protected] (Ganesh) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]. com>...
    > Hello,
    >
    > I am trying to get certified copies made of transcripts,reference letters etc for
    > an ACS application and I am having a difficult time trying to figure out how to get
    > certified copies of these docs made in California.
    >
    > Is there anyone out there who has found out how to do this? I searched all over the
    > internet and newsgroups and found that there were similar postings,but no
    > definitive answer.
    >
    > Here in in California it seems that a Notary Public can by law only certify copies
    > of Powers of Attorney, nothing else. The california law apparently states the
    > following..
    >
    > Certified Copies: A certified copy is a duplicate copy of an original document that
    > is certified as an exact reproduction. In California, a Notary is prohibited form
    > making certified copies of anything but the Notary's own official journal or a
    > Power of Attorney. Request for certified copies of any other documents should be
    > directed to the agency that holds the document
    >
    > Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
    >
    > Ganesh