Apostilling a document before the North Carolina Secretary of State (NCSOS) has become an odyssey for many Latinos who need to authenticate documents to send to their countries of origin.
To apostill a document at the North Carolina Secretary of State, whose offices are located in Raleigh, users have had to obtain an appointment through their website. However, appointments have become available a month or two later.
Even with an appointment, the documents cannot be obtained apostilled on the same day, delivery is between 24 hours and 45 days later. This depends on the number of documents and the type of document you are seeking to apostille.
This is a real problem, since some documents have an apostille validity of 30 days, as is the case of minor exit permits or survivals for retirees.
To the writing of Enlace Latino NC Comments came from our audience about the difficulty of performing the apostille in the NCSOS. Some people have said that they have had to travel to the South Carolina Secretary of State, where they are attended without an appointment and the delivery of documents is the same day.
Some people have even stated that they must do the process through intermediaries in Florida and other states.
“In the last days of January I tried to get an appointment online to apostille my mother's survival, a document that I had to send to Colombia,” he told Enlace Latino NC, Andrea Salcedo. “When the system worked, they gave me an appointment until April. I called, and they said they didn't have any staff,” she said.
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Lack of resources
On February 1 on the NCSOS page in the “Apostille Certificates”, from the SOS it was reported that “they would be reviewing the delivery and collection times of documents presented for authentication due to “limited resources”.
Enlace Latino NC contacted this state government agency to inquire about this situation.
“Secretary Marshall has been warning the General Assembly for two years that the combination of insufficient staffing, a workload that has increased substantially since the pandemic, below-market wages, and an aging employee base, is threatening the ability of the Department of the Secretary of State to meet the document processing needs of our citizens and has requested additional resources,” Tim Crowley, spokesperson for the Department of the Secretary of State, told this media.
According to Crowley, the current extended response times in the Authentications unit are due to the catastrophic illness of one of three Authentication staff members, followed by the retirement of another.
“These changes left only one trained Authentication staff member to do the work of three,” the spokesperson said.
Delays expected to be temporary
Crowley said the authentication delays are temporary and they have been taking extraordinary measures to address them since they were first developed earlier this year.
“In addition to hiring a permanent replacement, the department hired three temporary employees and authorized overtime. We are borrowing two notary execution specialists from one unit to help resolve the backlog, taking a position from a second unit, and shifting executive support staff to help. As expected, this will affect the rest of the work in those units,” was the explanation provided by Crowley.
Additionally, he added, resolving authentication delays will take time, as training an authentication specialist can take several months before all requirements are mastered.
Which documents are they giving priority to and which are not?
Crowley indicated that they have been prioritizing same-day delivery of documents to funeral homes for people seeking repatriate the bodies of their deceased loved ones.
However, the processing time for birth certificates and other vital records is currently about thirty days.
“The authentication of documents involving notarial certificates is more complicated and is currently subject to a forty-five day delivery time. “We are currently re-evaluating the use of an appointment system that was established during the global pandemic,” he commented.
The spokesperson said, authentications and apostilles can also be sent by mail. Instructions on how to mail those documents are found in the NCSOS website.
They cancel appointments
Following Crowley's statements, on Monday, March 11, the NCSOS announced on its website that it "was canceling appointments made after March 20 due to limited resources."
“Mail or bring your documents to the office as soon as possible. The expected response time will be close to 45 days. “This long response time is temporary and we are taking advantage of every opportunity to get your documents back to you sooner,” the announcement continues.
This new change took Paula G., one of the people who have been affected by the delayed document apostille process at NCSOS, by surprise.
“I had my appointment for March 27, and they canceled it, now they say that I must go without an appointment, and wait at least 30 days to have my daughter's exit permit to Colombia. "I can't wait that long, since the document is only valid for 30 days," one of the affected people, who identified herself as Paula G, told our editorial staff.
In this regard, Liz Proctor, another NCSOS spokesperson, commented to Enlace Latino NC that now people will be attended to in order of arrival and that it is also anticipated that it will be a temporary situation.
“We hope it is a very temporary situation. The department is dedicating significant resources to try to reduce response time. The hope is that these 30 to 45 business days that we are currently seeing for some of these processes will be a very temporary situation,” Proctor said.
Proctor said that in February they served 882 people who requested the authentication of 2,120 documents. “Our staff processed 2,055 documents during the same period,” he said.
What is the apostille used for? a
The apostille and certificate of authentication are used to prove that US documents are authentic and can be legally recognized in another country.
An apostille is used to verify the signatures, seals, or stamps of important documents. These documents can range from court orders, contracts, civil registration certificates, marriage certificates, exit permits for minors, survivals, to educational diplomas, among others.
The country where the document is to be used determines whether you need an apostille or an authentication certificate.
The apostille itself is a simple process that can be completed at most government offices, such as secretaries of state, courts, or consulates.
Generally, the original document must be presented along with a copy translated into English to obtain the apostille. A $10 fee must also be paid for the process to be completed.
When is an apostille needed?
If the country where you want to use the document is on the list of members of the 1961 Hague Convention, then you will need an apostille. If the country is not on the list of members of the agreement, an authentication certificate will be required.
- Documents, such as vital registration certificates, issued by a US state require an apostille from the Secretary of state from each state.
- Documents issued by a federal agency require an apostille from the US Department of State.
*Before going to the Secretary of State, the document must have been notarized by a notary from the same state. If the original document is in Spanish, a copy of the English translation must also be attached.
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