The letter arrived today!!
So, our dossier is complete!! We just need to actually have (in hand) our homestudy report, and homestudy agency license (notarized) to take with us to Sacramento...maybe this week!!
Obtaining this letter wasn't clear or intuitive at all...
...here are the steps.
Refer to this website - Office of the Attorney General DOJ.
Take note of the far right hand column about half-way down - the information about "Visa/Immigration and Foreign Adoptions".
Download this form, as instructed.
Fill it out using this guideline. - note, check the 'visa/immigration' box; write "Foreign Adoption" on the line.
Find a Livescan facility to get your fingerprints done (this is a separate livescan from the one you do for your homestudy agency; and they cannot 'save' fingerprints on the computer, so you have to do it twice, and pay twice). Be sure to get a copy of the form - especially making sure the numbers on the bottom of the form (ATI number, agency and terminal numbers) are clear...you may need them to check on your results via the automated system.
You'll likely want to check the status of the fingerprints if you haven't received them after a week: 24-hour Automated Telephone Service Available: 916-227-4557. If a requesting agency does not have results yet and digital Live Scan fingerprints were submitted, you can use the automated telephone system to check on your submission. You will need the following information: (1) your date of birth; and (2) the 10-digit Automated Transaction Identifier (ATI) number that appears at the bottom of the Department of Justice form requesting Live Scan fingerprint background checks. The ATI number always appears in the following sequence: 1 LETTER; 3 NUMBERS; 3 LETTERS and 3 NUMBERS. - from the DOJ website.
They will mail you a printout to your home - no criminal record may take 1 day. Yes criminal record? Took 35 days for us.
The printouts arrived looking very unofficial (just a printout); like something I could do on my home computer. Didn't seem "right" or "official." So....
I called DOJ. Of course I got the run around as most of the automated pre-recorded messages (you'll encounter on their website) are not very helpful - so I left a message (on two of the voicemails). I spoke with a few people (at this point in the process) who tried to tell me I'd need another livescan...my agency needs to provide me with a certain requisition paper, etc. (I think they were confused with livescan #1...nonetheless, they didn't know what they were talking about).
But there is one person who was tremendously helpful: (916) 227-3807, her name is Lena. Her voice mail instructs you to leave a message and she'll return the call within 2 business days. Actually, everyone returned our call that same day, or the next day...so go ahead and leave a message.
She understood what we had, and what we were missing (i.e. we "had the printout, we were only missing the 'letter'). She said she'd mail us a letter, on letterhead with a seal. Two days later, a letter arrived - on letterhead with a Seal impression and signature. Attached to the letter was a printout (the same printout they initially mailed to us sans the letter). So, again, after getting the print-out, we had to call Lena and have her subsequently mail us the 'letter.' Maybe the letter should have come initially with the printout?? but it didn't.
Letter done and in hand - looks very official in comparison. Take to Sacramento to the Secretary of State Office for authentication:
How do I get my response notarized as required by the foreign government from where I am attempting to adopt a child? The Department of Justice does not provide notarized responses, however, your response may be submitted to the California Secretary of State Office for an Apostille Certification.
Per the Secretary of State website:
Documents can be hand delivered to any office location for over-the-counter processing between the hours of 8:00 am and 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday (excluding holidays) or mailed to the Sacramento office. Regional offices do not process mailed in documents. Office locations are as follows:
Sacramento Office (for hand delivery)
Notary Public Section
1500 11th Street, 2nd Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 653-3595
Regional Offices (see website for addresses)
Fresno
Los Angeles
San Diego
San Francisco
When submitting documents to any of our offices for over-the-counter processing, no appointment is necessary. Customers are served on a “first come first serve” basis.
Documents submitted for over-the-counter processing are normally processed within an hour. The average processing time for documents submitted by mail is approximately two weeks.
There is a $20.00 processing fee (per signature authenticated) and a $6.00 special handling fee (per public official for documents submitted over the counter).
Payments over-the-counter in Sacramento can be made by check, money order, cash, or credit card (Visa or MasterCard).
No comments:
Post a Comment