US Notary Services

[blizzard]

Hoping someone may have some info...

We are buying an Aulani resale contract and need to have some documents notarized for the State of Hawaii. It appears there are 2 options for Canadians:
1. Take the documents to an American Consulate to have them notarized
2. Have the documents notarized by a Canadian Notary, and then forward to US Embassy or Consulate to have the Notary's signature authenticated

Our closest Consulate is Calgary, and it looks like they are not taking appointments at this time (if anyone has info as to when they may be open for appointments, that would be helpful - Vancouver is taking appointments now)

Has anyone here signed documents and mailed them to the consulate for authentication? I just want to get a feel for the process. There doesn't appear to be a lot in the way of instructions on their website.
[My interpretation is that I get documents notarized, mail with self-addressed & postage included envelope, US$100 ($50/signature). Is that it?]

Thanks for any help someone may be able to provide.

 

[Madame]

Hoping someone may have some info...

We are buying an Aulani resale contract and need to have some documents notarized for the State of Hawaii. It appears there are 2 options for Canadians:
1. Take the documents to an American Consulate to have them notarized
2. Have the documents notarized by a Canadian Notary, and then forward to US Embassy or Consulate to have the Notary's signature authenticated

Our closest Consulate is Calgary, and it looks like they are not taking appointments at this time (if anyone has info as to when they may be open for appointments, that would be helpful - Vancouver is taking appointments now)

Has anyone here signed documents and mailed them to the consulate for authentication? I just want to get a feel for the process. There doesn't appear to be a lot in the way of instructions on their website.
[My interpretation is that I get documents notarized, mail with self-addressed & postage included envelope, US$100 ($50/signature). Is that it?]

Thanks for any help someone may be able to provide.

Not in Canada, but a few Europeans were talking about this process over on the DVC boards. Would you like me to find it & tag you over there?

 

[blizzard]

Not in Canada, but a few Europeans were talking about this process over on the DVC boards. Would you like me to find it & tag you over there?

Thanks, I have looked at those. Was wondering if anyone had info specific to Canada. My hope is that since they are not taking appointments, they have nothing to do and can turn it around quickly!

 

[Madame]

Thanks, I have looked at those. Was wondering if anyone had info specific to Canada. My hope is that since they are not taking appointments, they have nothing to do and can turn it around quickly!

Good luck!

 

[blizzard]

Just thought I'd provide an update from what I found out. I will update once more when all documents are returned. (If someone is searching this in the future, this is in 2020 when the consulate is closed due to Covid)

Canada is not a member of the Hague Apostille Convention - this means that you cannot just get an Apostille signed (trying this route is a red herring)

I believe some US States will accept a Canadian Notary declaration. Hawaii is not one of those States.

This is the process to get an Authentication:
1. Have the document notarized by a Canadian Notary Public.
2. Send the document to the Consulate with the following:
- full document with the seal of the Canadian Notary Public
- US$50 per signature required in the form of a Bank Draft only
- a return xpresspost or priority post envelope (Canada Post Only)
(also note that the Notary must be registered (on file) with the Consulate. They can do this by providing a 3"x5" index card with their name and address, sample signature and impression of seal, date commission expires (or stating that it does not expire), and copy of membership in Law Society or copy of Notarial commission - this registration is free, and it may be included with the documents you are sending)

They estimated the process at 10 business days.

 

[blizzard]

Received my documents back. They had them about 5 business days, so the turn around was faster than they estimated.

It’s a very clunky process, but it works if you have no other choice.

 

[bunnybee]

Interested to hear how you did this. We are stuck right now trying to get our resale notarized. Can you please provide more information about who you used. Please send me a private message if you prefer? Thank you

 

[bababear_50]

Interested to hear how you did this. We are stuck right now trying to get our resale notarized. Can you please provide more information about who you used. Please send me a private message if you prefer? Thank you

Hi
I recently had my stuff notarized.
Maybe post where you live so others can assist.

This is one I have used before
Drive Thru

https://publicnotarymississauga.com/https://www.notarypro.ca/location/mississauga-ridgeway-notary/
Regards
Mel

 

[bunnybee]

Hi
I recently had my stuff notarized.
Maybe post where you live so others can assist.

This is one I have used before
Drive Thru

https://publicnotarymississauga.com/https://www.notarypro.ca/location/mississauga-ridgeway-notary/
Regards
Mel

Thank you
i live in Ontario, Mississauga! I am looking for how to get a US notary or process for Aulani closing.

 

[shaunacb]

Hawaii (Aulani) has stricter laws and requires a US Notary so you have to go to the US Consulate by appointment and pay $100 US for them to notarize the deed. Alternatively, if your US Consulate is still closed due to COVID, you can get your documents notarized by a regular Canadian notary (we used a friend who is a lawyer), and then courier the notarized documents into the US consulate for your Canadian notary’s signature to be “authenticated”. The process is exactly as blizzard stated. (That’s in Calgary so it may be different in Ontario I’m not sure.). You need to send a return priority post envelope for them to mail it back to you, and a US bank draft (it was actually only $50 US for us, not $100 as blizzard posted, because the authentication fee is “per document” rather than “per signature”). If your US Consulate/Embassy is open for citizen services you can just get it notarized directly there rather than this “authentication” process. But it wasn’t too bad. Our documents were returned within 5 days as well.

 

[bunnybee]

Ok.. I will check in with the Calgary embassy. They did not offer that in the Toronto office or even in Ottawa. Thank you

 

[shaunacb]

This website explains it:
https://ca.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/local-resources-for-u-s-citizens/notaries-public/Here is where you can check for notary appointments:
https://evisaforms.state.gov/Instructions/ACSSchedulingSystem.asp