I finally got all my paperwork for my visa & work permit together! I had to get my bachelors degree, TEFL certification, background check, medical check, and passport copies. Sounds easy right? Nope! I had to get all the copies notarized. Sounds easy, but when no one can tell you what you need to do it becomes complicated. So I first went to the bank to get them notarized. Well a notary just authenticates your signature. I didn't have anything to sign, they are all copies of documents in my possession. So the bank said they didn't know what I was supposed to do. Next I went to a friend of mine who is a notary (I should have went to her first but I was at the bank and thought I would give it a try). She put her seal on all the documents and signed them. That's what they said I needed.
Next step was to get them certified by the county clerk. Easy, other than having to drive downtown (which I hate btw). I get to the county clerk office and they say she was supposed to notarized my signature. So again I ask, what am I supposed to sign??? Then they tell me I need a letter of acknowledgement that I sign along with the notary (why did no one mention this in the first place?). So I had to go back to my friend and she helped me make these letters and then we signed them and I headed back to the county clerk office. Thank the Lord they could certify all the documents, I only had to write in the expiration date. I paid $30 and they certified the notary of the documents. So now I have the certified and notarized documents. Am I done? No.
Next I had to go to the capital, Frankfort, to the Secretary of State to get the documents authenticated. So I made the 40 minute drive to Frankfort and parked at the capital building to go to the S.O.S. to get the apostille (authentication) of the documents. Thankfully this went really smoothly and everyone I encountered was super nice! I paid another $30 for the state to add their document and seal to each set of my documents.
And after 5 hours of driving and talking to different people and parts of the governments I finally have all the paperwork done for my visa! All my documents are notarized, certified, and authenticated! Now I just have to get there! Countdown is at 7 days!!! *silently screaming on the inside*