BajaNomad - DO NOT USE "CALIFORNIA APOSTILLE SERVICES"

DO NOT USE "CALIFORNIA APOSTILLE SERVICES"

oladulce - 7-13-2006 at 06:46 PM

Do not use the following service if you need an Apostille on a document for Mexico:

California Apostille Services

We needed an Apostille on an important, time-sensitive document for Baja and the company website stated the average turn-around time was "2-4 days" vs the 3 wks it would have taken for us to complete the steps ourselves by mail.

3 weeks ago they cashed the $165 dollar check I sent them for this service and have never responded to email or phone message requests for an ETA of completion date.

We finally gave up and realized the business was a sham and traveled to the nearest Sec. of State office ourselves this week to obtain the necessary stamps.

I left a phone message, faxed and emailed a letter to California Apostille Services requesting a refund since no service had been provided but never received a response.

Don't trust this company with your important documents and don't let their fancy website fool you, it's a rip off.

Bedman - 7-13-2006 at 06:57 PM

This is a Calif Co. I would recommend you contact the Attorney General.

Bedman

Bruce R Leech - 7-13-2006 at 07:07 PM

thanks for the warning oladulce I'm sure you saved some of us from having the same problems you had

Bruce R Leech - 7-13-2006 at 07:18 PM

you know it is funny in all the years I have been in Mexico I have formed and dissolved Corporations I have bought and sold all types of land I have been in at least 15 different business gotten FM3/ FM2 and become an Immigrant to Mexico. no one has ever asked me to get an Apostille.

just what is it that requires this thing? :?:

Al G - 7-13-2006 at 09:09 PM

Bruce , It is a state level certification of a county level document like a birth certificate,
Can not imagine what I would ever use one for.
Maybe to run for public office in Baja. :lol:

oladulce, if I may ask what did you need it for. :?:

oladulce - 7-14-2006 at 01:15 AM

Al,
We need to apply for a couple of permits from the state of Baja Sur for our home construction and as a part of our Environmental Impact study, but because we are only the "beneficiaries" of our property, we can't apply for any permits ourselves. We had to write a formal request to our Fideicomiso bank to apply for the permits on our behalf, and to give permission for the Inginero we hired to do the permits to act as our representative. We're signing these documents in California, which is where the Apostille comes in.

It's the same situation when you apply for a Federal Zone concession and have a Fideicomiso. You (the foreigner property owner) can't apply for a Federal Zone concession yourself on your property. We had to ask the bank with our Fideicomiso to apply for us and the concession is actually in the Bank's name, with us as the beneficiary.

It's quite a racket because anytime we've had get the Bank's permission to apply for a government permit, the Bank has charged us $700 (+) for this "service".

Sheez, I've lost count of how many Apostille's we've had to get. Most frequently it's been to give Powers' of Attorney when we've bought or sold property and couldn't be there in person to sign. We've used Apostilles in both Mexico and nicaragua for real estate transactions.

An Apostille will legalize a document for international use and is accepted by a long list of countries.

Basically anytime your signature is required on an legal or official document but you can't get down to Mexico in person, you can sign via an Apostille. You sign the document in front of any notary public, and send it to the Secretary of the state you're in. The Sec. of State will verify the identity of the notary or county official and attach the Apostille document.
It saves you the cost of a plane ticket each time you have to sign something.

The reason you haven't needed an Apostille Bruce, is that you can sign in person !

Bruce R Leech - 7-14-2006 at 06:34 AM

oladulce
I have done those things and I have never been asked for An Apostille. It must be something new they are doing. But that is Mexico. if they learn about some new paper soon they they require everyone to have it.

Reeljob - 7-14-2006 at 07:21 AM

When buying property in the name of a foriegn company (like a Colorado LLC or Calif. Corp) you need an Apostile. That verifies the good standing of the company and the person authorized to sign and act for the company in obtaining the title to the property and the bank trust.

flyfishinPam - 7-17-2006 at 06:54 AM

Seven years ago in Loreto, everyone had to have an Apostille to get an FM3, rentista or lucrativa.

http://www.sos.idaho.gov/notary/apost_allstates.htm

djh - 7-17-2006 at 07:19 AM

http://www.sos.idaho.gov/notary/apost_allstates.htm

Idaho's link to Apostille service in all 50 states.

Yup.... nowadays for FM-3 Lucrativa, Corp. stuff..... Power of Attorney....

I hope the link assists anyone in need. Idaho's service is prety convenient and quick and well defined. Don't know about other states....

Sorry you got scammed. The Apostille service is SUPPOSED to be done by your state's Secretary of State (or a Mexican Consulate), so even the mention of a private business offering the service sounds a little fishy to me.... BTW some documents are also required to be translated into Spanish for certain purposes....

We are going through the steps for several important documents....

Best,
djh

apostille

sylens - 7-17-2006 at 10:34 AM

is an internationally accepted verification process. when my husband got fm3 and needed to establish minimum monthly balance in our usa bank, the bank wrote letter to that effect; this was notarized at the bank, then the notary was "verified" by the county recorder, and the county recorder was "verified" by the secretary of state of the state of california. this last transaction constituted the apostille.

he opened a local account in ensenada so we won't ever have to do that again, hopefully.

oladulce - 7-17-2006 at 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by djh

Sorry you got scammed. The Apostille service is SUPPOSED to be done by your state's Secretary of State (or a Mexican Consulate), so even the mention of a private business offering the service sounds a little fishy to me....

djh

We needed to get this document to Mexico ASAP and this service claimed that they would take your documents directly to the Sec. of State for you and have an Apostille that same day, then FedEx back to you. We couldn't take off work until the following week to go to our local Sec. of State office, so it seemed like the fastest option.

Eventually we did do it ourselves and it was very easy. The nearest Calif. Sec. of State office to us is in San Diego and here's what we did if it'll help anyone:

1. Went to the San Diego county Clerk's office on Pacific Hwy (by the harbor and Gaslight district) where they notarized the doc. in room 402. (No waiting).

2. Went to room 273 in the same building where they authenticated the notary's ID. (No waiting).

3. Next stop, the California Sec. of State office on Front street (we walked the ? mile and it was easy). We paid $26 and they attached the Apostille form. (No waiting).

4. Then we walked a few more blocks to The Postal store and DHL'd the package to Baja Sur.

You can skip the County clerk step when you send your documents directly to Sacramento. In my experience, it's been a 2?-3 wk turnaround when I've mailed stuff directly to Sacramento for the Apostille. It's the easiest way to go for docs. bound for Mexico when you're not in a hurry.

Live and Learn....

djh - 7-17-2006 at 07:05 PM

Thanks for sharing your experience, and the heads up for fellow Nomads.

Did you also need translations into spanish?

When utilizing some US documents (diplomas, certifications, etc.) for FM-3 Lucarativa purposes, I've been told that Spanish translation is also required.... Obviously, a translated document would not have the official seal of the US document (a college diploma, for example) so the Apostille is for the original document and agency seal / or notary seal...

Always something new to figure out

The extensive work and red tape I went through with all of the steps for Unconditionsl Permanent Resident Status in the US for my wife (I did it myself.... where many... perhaps most - people hire an immigration attorney to process it all...) was dumbfounding..... THAT made my original Mexican FM-3 seem so simple and enjoyable.

So... it is all relative, I suppose!

djh

[Edited on 7-18-2006 by djh]

bajamigo - 7-17-2006 at 07:30 PM

Oladulce, very valuable advice. Sorry you had to go through the pain, but I really appreciate your sharing these important details with us.

oladulce - 7-18-2006 at 12:37 AM

Bajamigo your Chile bailando is mesmerizing.

DJH- Yes, all of the documents that we've had to get Apostilled have been in Spanish. We only have experience
with the type of Apostille called an "Acknowledgement". This is when you provide the document and the notary public is merely witnessing your signature and verifying your identity , but they are not responsible for the contents of the document.

On our way home from Baja last month we stopped at the office of the Tecate Notario Publico with another document we needed to sign relating to our SEMARNAT Environmental Impact study. We just needed to have our signatures witnessed and thought it would be easier to run in and do this before leaving Mexico, rather than do the Apostille steps.

It turned in to a very long (5 hours) at the Notarios office and we learned that because a Mexican Notario Publico is an attorney, he cannot simply watch you sign a document. The Notario is responsible for the contents of the document and it's accuracy or "legalness". He's also responsible for confirming that you understand the contents and if in Spanish, for inquiring if you need translation.

He was very thorough and called our Mexican attorney in Phoenix about some details on the doc, and even corrected some spelling and punctuation. The Notario and staff were extremely nice, but it was a much longer afternoon in TKT than we'd expected..

Response to ********** and her caution to avoid our services

CAAPOSTSVC - 7-19-2006 at 06:17 PM

As a courtesy, and to address this forum posting, which we have just been made aware of by ************** (oladulce) by US Mail, we first need to remind readers that our office policy forbids any public discussion of an individual client's order. Our privacy policy and terms of service are detailed on our website at www.cadocs.com . In this specific and very rare instance, we are making an exception, to set the record straight publicly.

As to the specific issue, the completed Apostilled Power of Attorney which ******** ordered was placed with DHL for delivery to the attention of ******* at her residence, on 13th of July, and delivered succesfully.

The DHL tracking number was *********** , feel free to visit www.dhl.com and look at the shipment tracking data.

It is also interesting to note that *******'s letter to our office was dated 15th July, 2 days after our office had already shipped the documents to her via DHL, and DHL had already informed her of the shipment to her via email.

Our office has been providing Apostille services for California documents for many years, with satified clients around the globe, and many ongoing repeat business relationships with small and large companies, private individuals, attorneys, CPAs etc. When we say "Apostille Services", we refer to physically going to the CA State government's offices and obtaining an Apostille on the specific document which a client has provided to us. We wait in line, pay the fees on the Client's behalf, and send the document back to the Client.

At any time there may be a delay, a rejection, or other service issues, we attempt to relay this to the Client.

Our office cannot be responsible for delays, holidays, weekends, or workloads of the CA state government, nor the delivery schedule of the courier services such as DHL. We completed the certification, informed the client (**********), and provided tracking information to her through DHL. Our service was succesfully completed. Her request for a refund is of course, denied, and her allegations of failure to provide services are incorrect and moot.

In closing, please bear in mind this is a one-time only posting. There will be no followup to this matter, no further information provided, nor reaction to future postings. It is only fair that our office be allowed to voice our side and set the record straight. It is important that readers always be open to the possiblity that there is another side to every story, and that people, when angry, can exaggerate and inflame a situation.

Regards

California Apostille Services
San Francisco CA
www.cadocs.com

[Edited on 7-20-2006 by BajaNomad]

Bedman - 7-19-2006 at 08:05 PM

I have difficulty with the time frame stated by the CAAPOSTSVC.

What happened during 3 weeks the document was not delivered? If indeed a 2 to 4 day turn around was promised?

And to make a one time post is nice but does leave several questions unanswered.

Bedman

oladulce - 7-19-2006 at 08:49 PM

Wow, a response ! - although I would have preferred an email or phone call.

Yes, it looks like the document was mailed the same day as my original post. It got here July 17, (25 days after they had received it) and I discovered it on July 18.

Not sure why they never responded when I asked for an ETA. Since our check had been cashed on June 23, the same day they received the doc., we figured we'd been duped.

Since we had to regenerate the document and obtained the Apostille ourselves (because it really needed to get to Baja), I actually haven't opened the one they sent back but assume they did obtain the Apostille.

His post gave me the creeps . Wouldn't it have been better to contact me directly rather than post my name and shipment information on the internet ?

jerry - 7-19-2006 at 09:02 PM

perhaps all this should have been handeled outside of here??

jerry - 7-19-2006 at 09:22 PM

yes it is larry and i dont think we will ever know both sides completly
this isnt court tv and peers dosnt mean equials
so the person who refuses to provide evedence will loose in this court but will teach the peope here nothing
2 ppl disagreeing

TMW - 7-20-2006 at 07:13 AM

I think the time line speaks for itself. The company screwed up and found out they were exposed on Nomad and are trying to cover their behinds to minimize the bad publicity.

oladulce - 7-20-2006 at 07:49 PM

It?s a relief to find out this is a real business. Since no one ever answered their office phone or responded to emails, we thought we?d been victims of an internet scam and felt lame for falling for it.

After the 3rd week of no contact, we realized that they also had access to personal identification info, bank account info from our payment, and the information contained in the important document we?d sent in for the Apostille and by then were really concerned.

Sheeeew, glad that?s over and am pleased to hear that it is a real business. Since we got the Apostille ourselves and sent it off last week, life is all good !