Authenticating docs for Kuwait
Authenticating docs for Kuwait
Can anyone tell me what needs to be done to authentic transcripts for teaching assignment in Kuwait? I'm a US Citizen who is not living in the US but currently in China. Do documents have to all be sent to Washington DC first - State Department and then the Kuwaiti Embassy in the US. The information I have is very confusing!
Response
Kuwait is not a signatory to Hague convention (Apostiles). What you need is a certification of a document followed by legalization by Kuwait at their embassy/consulate.
First you request an official CERTIFIED transcript (not just a notarized transcript). A notarization only verifies the signature of the individual signing (attesting) the transcript. A certification starts with the register (or other appointed University official responsible for transcripts) signing (attesting) to the statement (or equivalent in your state) to the effect that "This document is an original and true document of the record in my custody". Your state may call this an affirmation, or some other name and may have variations in wording, but it is this type of notarization that you want.
This statement attested to by the university officer is notarized by a separate notary (likely another member of the University staff). The notaries seal certifies that the individual named has had their identity verified.
You then submit to your states Secretary of State the certified document along with the fee and form for a verification (or may be called an authentication). This is another sealed/sworn document that verifies the signature of the notary on your document matches the exemplar of the notaries signature on record, and that the notaries commission (to notarize documents) is valid.
You then complete another form and send another fee to the US Secretary of State along with your certified, notarized, and verified document for an Authentication which will compare the signature of the Secretary of the State (or their designee) that issued your verification matches the exemplar on file, and that the individual names is authorized to issue such verifications.
Finally you send all of this with your fee and form to the appropriate Kuwait consulate or embassy for legalization. The consular officer will examine the documents and if in order will accept them as authenticated documents. They will attach another cover document to your documents and return them to you.
At no time does this process actually seek to authenticate the validity of the content in the document. It merely verifies signatures and the integrity of the documents presentation. As such some important guidelines:
1) Dont alter or mess with the staples. Your document is likely to contain several cover sheets representing the various certification/verification/authentication in different places. One of the primary focuses on determining a documents integrity is determining if the staples appear to be tampered with. If the staples are intact, it is less likely the document was reprinted modifying it face. However the position of those staples can be unconventional and easily ripped requiring completion of the process from the start.
2) Be very careful when handling the document, touch it as little as possible and store it in a still paperboard envelope.
3) It will double the cost by I highly recommend you simultaneously request/process two identical documents of the same document. You never know when you, your courier service or someone will make a mistake with it effectively destroying one of the documents.
4) Start as soon as possible, the wait/processing times can be very long, sometimes weeks or months.
5) Most importantly, whatever advise your IS gives you follow it, even if its wrong. If something goes wrong you dont want to be the one to blame, and not doing what you were instructed to do is an easy out for an IS to void your contract.
First you request an official CERTIFIED transcript (not just a notarized transcript). A notarization only verifies the signature of the individual signing (attesting) the transcript. A certification starts with the register (or other appointed University official responsible for transcripts) signing (attesting) to the statement (or equivalent in your state) to the effect that "This document is an original and true document of the record in my custody". Your state may call this an affirmation, or some other name and may have variations in wording, but it is this type of notarization that you want.
This statement attested to by the university officer is notarized by a separate notary (likely another member of the University staff). The notaries seal certifies that the individual named has had their identity verified.
You then submit to your states Secretary of State the certified document along with the fee and form for a verification (or may be called an authentication). This is another sealed/sworn document that verifies the signature of the notary on your document matches the exemplar of the notaries signature on record, and that the notaries commission (to notarize documents) is valid.
You then complete another form and send another fee to the US Secretary of State along with your certified, notarized, and verified document for an Authentication which will compare the signature of the Secretary of the State (or their designee) that issued your verification matches the exemplar on file, and that the individual names is authorized to issue such verifications.
Finally you send all of this with your fee and form to the appropriate Kuwait consulate or embassy for legalization. The consular officer will examine the documents and if in order will accept them as authenticated documents. They will attach another cover document to your documents and return them to you.
At no time does this process actually seek to authenticate the validity of the content in the document. It merely verifies signatures and the integrity of the documents presentation. As such some important guidelines:
1) Dont alter or mess with the staples. Your document is likely to contain several cover sheets representing the various certification/verification/authentication in different places. One of the primary focuses on determining a documents integrity is determining if the staples appear to be tampered with. If the staples are intact, it is less likely the document was reprinted modifying it face. However the position of those staples can be unconventional and easily ripped requiring completion of the process from the start.
2) Be very careful when handling the document, touch it as little as possible and store it in a still paperboard envelope.
3) It will double the cost by I highly recommend you simultaneously request/process two identical documents of the same document. You never know when you, your courier service or someone will make a mistake with it effectively destroying one of the documents.
4) Start as soon as possible, the wait/processing times can be very long, sometimes weeks or months.
5) Most importantly, whatever advise your IS gives you follow it, even if its wrong. If something goes wrong you dont want to be the one to blame, and not doing what you were instructed to do is an easy out for an IS to void your contract.