Authenticating Notary Signatures- Where does it say this?? SERIOUSLY CONFUSED!

[juliac]

I've just finished talking to the Consular in Rome....at the Embassy, NOT immigration....but I spoke to this woman in November to do something for my wedding and I told her that I knew she didn't work for Immigration (which was on the floor below) but if she could help. She was super helpful and said if I ever needed anything to email her and we'd be in touch. SO, I email her today asking about the AUTHENTICATION OF DOCUMENT SIGNATURES (or Notary signatures on documents) because Canada does NOT accept the Apostille as it did not sign at the Hague convention. OK so, she THEN says that I have to send all our Italian documents (birth cert, marriage cert, and police clearances) to HER, at the EMBASSY, to have them authenticated and then they send them back and THEN I can send them in my application...is this RIGHT??? Where the heck does it say THAT on the immigration package? If it's true, it's absolutely RIDICULOUS. If it's not true, WHY is she giving this information? Someone PLEASE clear this up for us!

Thanks in advance!

 

[juliac]

Re: Authenticating Documents - Where does it say this????? SERIOUSLY CONFUSED!

Really? No one knows the answer to this?

What I'm confused with is that the Appendix C for our country explains EVERYTHING, no? But it says NOTHING about authenticating/legalizing the documents that we are to send in for the application. Is this TRUE or is the woman at the embassy totally wrong?

HELP!

 

[BCgirl2012]

Re: Authenticating Documents - Where does it say this????? SERIOUSLY CONFUSED!

Hi juliac, is your country specific guide requiring you to legalize or authenticate your documents? Normally for sponsor copies or certified copies are enough (depending on what the guide instructs)

Can you tell us which country you are applying from and if you are the sponsor or the applicant? It will help us to share more accurate information with you.

 

[fandv]

Re: Authenticating Documents - Where does it say this????? SERIOUSLY CONFUSED!

I've just finished talking to the Consular in Rome....at the Embassy, NOT immigration....but I spoke to this woman in November to do something for my wedding and I told her that I knew she didn't work for Immigration (which was on the floor below) but if she could help. She was super helpful and said if I ever needed anything to email her and we'd be in touch. SO, I email her today asking about the AUTHENTICATION OF DOCUMENTS because Canada does NOT accept the Apostille as it did not sign at the Hague convention. OK so, she THEN says that I have to send all our Italian documents (birth cert, marriage cert, and police clearances) to HER, at the EMBASSY, to have them authenticated and then they send them back and THEN I can send them in my application...is this RIGHT??? Where the heck does it say THAT on the immigration package? If it's true, it's absolutely RIDICULOUS. If it's not true, WHY is she giving this information? Someone PLEASE clear this up for us!

Thanks in advance!

Hi Julia...

Relax... lol . The woman was right...I think she must've meant "certification".

There's the guide for the sponsored person, which is this:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/3999Etoc.asp

According to the above page:

"Translation of documents

Any document that is not in English or French must be accompanied by:

the English or French translation; and
an affidavit from the person who completed the translation; and
a certified copy of the original document.

Note: An affidavit is a document on which the translator has sworn, in the presence of a commissioner authorized to administer oaths in the country in which the translator is living, that the contents of their translation are a true translation and representation of the contents of the original document. Translators who are certified members in good standing of one of the provincial or territorial organizations of translators and interpreters of Canada do not need to supply an affidavit.

Important information. Translations by family members are not acceptable.
Certified true copies

To have a photocopy of a document certified, an authorized person must compare the original document to the photocopy and must print the following on the photocopy:

“I certify that this is a true copy of the original document”,
the name of the original document,
the date of the certification,
his or her name,
his or her official position or title, and
his or her signature.

Who can certify copies?

Persons authorized to certify copies include the following:

In Canada:

a commissioner of oaths
a notary public
a justice of the peace

Outside Canada:

a judge
a magistrate
a notary public
an officer of a court of justice
a commissioner authorized to administer oaths in the country in which the person is living

Family members may not certify copies of your documents."




So to summarise: all non-English documents have to be translated into English (you have to hire a sworn translator), and then you also have to request for an affidavit from the sworn translator.

And also, you have to submit photocopies of all non-English documents, and you MUST certify (or, as the woman said, "authenticate") them, by using the service of any of the aforementioned (see above under "Outside Canada"). Most people, including myself, choose a notary public to do the certification/authentication... .

And the person who certifies the photocopies also have to use the exact verbiage that I quoted above (i.e.: I certify that this is a true copy of the original document, bla bla bla.......)

And just in case you're in doubt: you don't submit the original non-English documents. What you must submit for every non-English document are:

1. Its sworn translation
2. The affidavit of the sworn translation (provided by the sworn translator)
3. Its certified copy


Exceptions apply to some documents...the following must be original:

1. Employment letter of the sponsor
2. Option C printout (if applicable) of the sponsor
3. Police clearance of the sponsored person

Really? No one knows the answer to this?

What I'm confused with is that the Appendix C for our country explains EVERYTHING, no? But it says NOTHING about authenticating/legalizing the documents that we are to send in for the application. Is this TRUE or is the woman at the embassy totally wrong?

HELP!

You meant the regional guide? No it doesn't exactly explain everything...it's more of a checklist. For more complete and detailed explanations, you should refer to the immigrant guide 3999 (it's for the sponsored person) that I mentioned above...here is the link again:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/3999Etoc.asp



For the sponsor, the guide is 3900:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/guides/3900ETOC.asp

Both guides are long, I know, but you absolutely must read them as they contain important information...

 

[juliac]

Re: Authenticating Documents - Where does it say this????? SERIOUSLY CONFUSED!

Hi all,

Thank you so much for helping! Ok, so I'm applying to Rome, Italy.

I know about certified translation of documents. This is NOT what she was talking about.

She said, I need to send all of my documents that are signed and stamped by the 'Procura' or "Prefettur" (like a notary), to the Embassy and they will authenticate their signatures. This is NOT mentioned anywhere. I told her that and she said "No no, you must do this" but I honestly don't think so. The 'certification' is different; it's done BY Italy. The authentication is done by CANADA at the Embassy so that the documents can be used in Canada. Does that make sense? I can do it...I can send them. It's 35 euros and UPS payment....but I can do it. I just don't see ANYWHERE where it says that one needs to do this.

 

[juliac]

I found this on the Government of Canada Italy website. It seems that it IS true. However, I ask, WHY isn't this made CLEAR from CIC? Has anyone else done this in OTHER countries? I haven't found anything of the like ANYWHERE else, so it seems strange to me. Any feedback would be sooo helpful! Thanks in advance!

http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/italy-italie/consular_services_consulaires/authentication_documents_authentification.aspx?lang=eng&view=d

 

[juliac]

So, I guess not ONE person has sent in documents from other countries.

I'm so stuck and would like to get this resolved.

ANYONE????? :'(

 

[MadeInCanada]

Hello

I believe what your saying is all documents need a stamp or seal of somesort to be authenticated for use out of the country they originated from? Am I correct?

My husband had to do that for everything we submitted as well. He is in Egypt and took the doctment to the ministry of foreign affairs. They stamped them as legal/valid documents that could be used outside of egypt.

Good luck hope I helped

On a side note, nothing with CIC is clear,lol.

 

[ldumitriu]

Hi,

I'm sending my application through Paris.

I think the lady at the embassy might be is right. I am saying this not because it says so on any of the CIC websites but logically, if you do this and didn't need to it's no problem. If you didn't and you were supposed to it will slow down the application.

From what I've experienced so far, the way it works in some european countries is the following.

You can get a any document certified by a notary. So far so good. So you get the certification but further down the line someone will ask for proof that this is not a fake (fake birth certificate, fake marriage licence etc.) and the only way to guarantee this is to have it authenticated.

Because a certified true copy means that the copy is in fact a copy of the document, but doesn't at any point authenticate the document.

This is what I've been told here in paris while dealing with administration, and I think that it might be the same in italy.

Maybe Canada doesn't need this authentification as they're not used to deal with as many "fake documents" as they do here in Europe and the lady at the embassy is basing her info on normal italian procedures,

so, I say better safe then sorry.

Also you should try finding someone who went thro the ROme VO and maybe they can advise you better

 

[juliac]

Thank you for responding.

Yes, I have found someone at the Rome VO.....I've emailed him and am waiting for his response....still not answer hence my insistent asking on the forum. I thought we could get this sorted out for today because it's Friday and I would have liked to send the docs to Rome before the weekend (not going to happen now unfortunately).

From what I have read on the Italian site, it DOES seem to be the procedure. It's just extremely frustrating that in no place whatsoever does it say this on the immigration documents. Sigh. Ok, so Monday morning I will send all the documents (translations included) to the Embassy and have ALL the signatures authenticated. Just to be sure....because, yes, this could slow down the whole process.

I'll let you know if anything changes!