Here is an email I sent our Stateside agency. We are having a few issues with the standard authentication since I am already here in Kenya and some of my documents have Kenya notaries instead of US notaries.
The paperwork is so tedious and technical! Here's the email.
Dear ---,
Okay I'm understanding the authentication process a little better...
My courier emailed me and asked if I was sending a notarized Affidavit of True and Accurate Document to include with our homestudy so the US can authenticate it.
Our agency here suggested having CAS notarize their original Homestudy Approval Letter, and attach that with the homestudy to present to the NAC with my dossier.
But technically, I should be able to take my homestudy to Ministry of Foreign Affairs here in Nairobi and have it authenticated. You guys' homestudy approval letter...is that supposed to be included in my dossier as well? Is that a requirement of the NAC? Have you guys ever notarized/authenticated those approval letters in the past? If not, then why would I need to have CAS notarize/authenticate them now? I realize since the approval letter originates in the States then the NAC might require it to be notarized, but if you guys have never notarized them before then why should we have to start all over again with that now?
About the i800a, am I right, below, in suggesting that I always keep the original with me? However, since the i800a approval letter is not notarized, then even though the document originates in the States, the States will not be able to do anything with my Affidavit because my affidavit will be notarized by a Kenyan notary, so the US can't do anything with it even if I sent it to the State Dept to be authenticated.
Wow these are such TEDIOUS questions!! But valid ones as the NAC will kick out my dossier if I do something wrong! And I just don't have the time left in my timeline to have it kicked out by the NAC. Because if they don't approve us then we'd have to call off the adoption because there would be no way we'd have time left in our timeline to redo paperwork at that point.
Okay I think I am hyperventilating at the thought of that.
Sincerely, Jessica
