[sillyme]

I just thought I'd pass on what I learned about notaries. We got all of our (non-travelling) notaries done for free at our local bank...something to consider if you have an account at a neighborhood bank.

Also, I'm a university student, and when I had my doctor's appt (health clinic on campus) and also when I needed my employment letter (for my work on campus), there was a free notary right on campus.

We are almost done with the paperchase and so far haven't had to pay a notary! And I never would have known, I just randomly found out.

[Tsmom]

If you go to celebrateadoption.com they have a link for free notaries.

[prechrswife]

We know several notaries personally, so we didn't have to pay for a single notary during our process. The ones we didn't know personally were notarizing letters from their places of business (bank, sheriff's dept, etc.), so they did not charge either.

[jchrapcyn]

I still can't find a travelling notary. I called some names I found on-line. No one called back.

I can get my mom to do the medical I guess- she is a notary. But does anyone know if it's ok to use a close relative? And she lives in another county from us. Is that going to be a problem? My dad would have to drive her here some day- she doesn't drive.

[mnkygrrrl]

jchrapcyn - did you check the UPS stores? They have travelling notaries - well, most of them do and it's cheap. We only had to pay the notary to go to our doctor's office for our medical results but it was simple going through the UPS store. Cheap too.

[Niccum]

JCH - You can't have your mom notarize anything for you if your state is like mine. I am a notary and can't notarize anything for myself either. You have to go to an unbiased party!

[Tsmom]

go 123notary.com
Type in your zip and it will give you a list of traveling notaries in your area.

[prechrswife]

I can't help with the family member thing. We don't have any relatives that are notaries. As for the living in another county, I think it will only affect you if you are in a state that requires certification at the county level before your documents are sent to the Secretary of State. Then it is only a matter of convenience, as you will have to deal with two different Clerk of Court offices. We are in Georgia, and we did have to have the county certification. I am not sure which other states require it. The different county thing actually worked to our benefit because our county Clerk of Court was out of the country when our I-171H came in. We got one of my co-workers who is a notary and lives in a neighboring county to notarize that one so that we could go on and get county certification without waiting on our C of C to get back to town.

[jchrapcyn]

No- the UPS stores here do not have travelling notaries. In fact of the 4 stores I called only 2 had notaries at all and just in during certain hours. I thought maybe Kinko's but no notaries either.

I tried those on-line notary searches. When I called the names of notaries I found- no one returned my call- in fact some of the phone numbers were disconnected. So that was a bust.

Now I don't know what to do about this medical form. I keep hoping I'm going to run into someone that is a notary but no luck so far.

In Ohio we do have to have county seal before state seal so I was trying to avoid the different county issue.

This is getting so frustrating- but somehow I will get it done.

[travelqueen06]

Did you check at the physicians office?? Mine has a notary on site. She did it for free since it was a doctor from there. You may have already tried that but it is worth a try if you haven't.

[jchrapcyn]

no- that was the first thing I asked- no notary in the dr's office

they're in a building by themselves too- there's not even another office that might have a notary

somehow I'm going to figure this out though

on the plus side- all our bloodwork came back normal

[sillyme]

you could always post a request on craig's list since they have local sites

[mnkygrrrl]

I'm sorry! I guess it depends on where you live. I wonder if your doctor could bring the papers by his bank to get notarized. We asked ours but he did not have the time.

[mkinzie]

I spoke with my agency about notaries after I read your post. I was concerned bc we are going to an attorney to have everything notarized so that we can skip having to get county certification. (We are in Ohio). My coordinator said that I did not need to have my med forms notarized in the presence of the Dr. This only applies to Guatemala. I can have all the paperwork notarized at the same time with the attorney. We just have to state above the notarization that "we swear this is the signature, etc". I'm curious to see if this has been the experience of others. Thanks, Melissa

[Sean&Shan]

We were told the opposite, that it absolutely must be the doctor's signature that is being notarized. We also used 123notary.com. I called about 8 people listed and only 1 returned my call. But in the end, 1 was all we needed.
Remember, to have the notary come when you go back for test results not on the initial appointment. Also, my DH and I used the same doctor so that we only had to have one notary come out once, it was only $20.