|
Notaries and authentication services are one of the
oldest traditional U.S. consular functions, dating back to 1792.
Consular officials at any U.S. embassy or consulate abroad can
provide a service similar to the functions of a notary public in the
United States. Notaries’ services are available to all U.S. passport
holders, and to foreign nationals with documents destined for use in
the United States. Notaries’ services include statements made under
oath, affidavits, authentications and acknowledgements.
For any of the above mentioned services, you must come in person to
the office of American Citizens Services (ACS) of the Consular
Section; We are open for these purposes Tuesdays and Thursdays (except
on
Dominican and U.S. holidays, and on Consular Administrative days),
between 7:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. for applicants to drop off the
documents needing notaries services, and at 1:30 p.m. to pick them
up already notarized; applicants requesting notaries’ services need
to bring the following documents:
-
A valid passport or other proof of identity
-
The document to be notarized
-
US$30.00 or Dominican peso equivalent for each notary’s service
requested, and a US$20.00 or Dominican peso equivalent for each
additional notary’s service provided at the same time in
connection with the same document. There is also a US$30.00 fee
for each authentication service. Fee must be paid in cash.
Personal checks, postal money orders, and credit cards are not
accepted.
-
If your document must also be witnessed, please bring your
witness with you, as the Consular staff notarizing your document
cannot also serve as a witness.
***Documents need to be
dropped off with the costumer service representative at the
Consulate’s main lobby within the specified time during the morning
to be prepared for notarization. This could reduce the time that
you’ll need to wait later on, but anyhow you will need to come back
at 1:30 p.m. to pick up the notarized documents.***
For further information on all notaries matters, please call (809)
221-2171 at any time.
No legal advice:
The consular section does not provide legal advice in any instance.
The consular section does not prepare or recommend formats for legal
documents. Competent counsel, in accordance with the legal
requirements of the U.S. jurisdiction where the documents will be
used, should prepare legal documents. Each U.S. state has different
formats and requirements for legal documents.
NOTARY PUBLIC
The Consular Officer acts
as a U.S. notary public for documents to be used in the United
States. Like a notary public in the U.S., the Consular official must
require the personal appearance of the person requesting the
notaries’ service; establish the identity of that person; establish
that the person understands the nature, language and consequences of
the document to be notarized; and establish that the person is not
acting under duress. (22 C.F.R. 92.31).
If you need to sign a
document in the presence of a notary public, and a U.S. notary
public is NOT required, you can look in the Dominican yellow
pages under “Notarios” or under “Abogados” to find the notaries
official nearest you; also you can review the Embassy’s
list of Attorneys.
NOTARIZATION BY U.S.
CONSULAR OFFICIAL
Notaries’ functions
relate to oaths, affidavits and acknowledgments. The consular
official may refuse certain notaries services as provided by 22
C.F.R. 92.9.
Do not sign any documents
presented until requested to do so by the Consular Officer.
Depending on the nature of the document, the Consular Officer will
either take an acknowledgment that your signature was done freely
and with an understanding of the document's contents or administer
an oath whereby you swear or affirm the contents of a document are
true. (Note: Consular Officers do not themselves certify that
the contents of submitted documents are true. The officer only
certifies that you have made an oath or affirmation that they are.)
AUTHENTICATIONS
An authentication is a
certification of the genuineness of the signature and seal or the
position of a foreign official, in our case a seal and signature of
an official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Dominican
Republic (Cancillería), previously executed, issued, or certified on
a document, so that such document may be recognized in another
jurisdiction. A consular authentication in no way attests to the
authenticity of the contents of a document but merely to the seal
and signature of the issuing authority.
U. S. consular
officers DO NOT authenticate foreign academic credentials,
transcripts, or degrees for use in the United States.
Documents notarized by a
Dominican Notary Public for use in the United States can be
authenticated by a U.S. Consular Officer after the signature from
the Dominican Notary Public is authenticated first by the Attorney
General’s office (Procuraduría) and then by the Dominican Ministry
of Foreign Affairs (Cancillería). After these two offices have
authenticated the document, you must then submit the document in
person at the U.S. Consulate. A consul can authenticate the office
of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ signature and seal, so that the
document can be used in the United States.
We suggest that you
contact the Attorney General’s office at (809) 533-3522 and the
Dominican Ministry of Foreign Affairs at (809) 535-6280 to obtain
information about their location and about the process for
authentication of Dominican documents for use in the U.S. or in
another foreign country.
Authentications of the
Consular officer’s seal
It is sometimes necessary
for legal purposes to have the seal and signature of a U. S.
consular official further authenticated by a higher authority. The
Department of State's Authentications Office can perform this
function. The Authentications Office is located at:
518 23rd St., N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20520
(202) 647-5002 or (800)
688-9889
Walk-in service is available at that office from 8AM to 12PM Monday-Friday,
except holidays. There is a fee of US$5.00.
CERTIFIED TRUE COPIES
As a general rule, U. S.
Consulates/Embassies only certify true copies of documents issued by
the U.S. Department of State (including documents issued by U.S.
embassies and consulates). These documents include, among others,
U.S. passports and U.S. Consular Reports of Birth. We DO NOT
certify true copies of U.S. state documents such as driver’s
licenses, birth, marriage, divorce or death certificates. U.S.
consular Officers DO NOT provide certified true copies of
foreign academic credentials, transcripts, or degrees for use in the
United States. We do not issue certified copies of none of the
above mentioned documents.
For more information about notaries
services, visit the Department of State’s web site at:
http://www.travel.state.gov/law/notarial_authentication.html |
