Consulates and Offices in San Francisco

My fees for courier service are as follows:

Personal and Adoption Documents

$15.00 per document
($105.00 minimum for up to 7 documents)

Business, Real Estate, Company Documents

$20.00 per document
($140.00 minimum for up to 7 documents)

Visas

$90 for one visa, and $50 for each additional visa
(i.e. 3 visas are $190; 4 visas are $240, and so on.)

For your fee, I review your each document for proper notarization and certification (I recommend you have your agency review each document prior to the certification and authentication process) and each visa application form for completeness and accuracy I will notify you immediately if I have any concerns, then deliver them to the appropriate Consulate in SF.

San Francisco Consulates

Chinese Consulate

Authentication

Documents originating in Northern California (contact me regarding documents originating throughout California), Oregon, Washington, Nevada and Alaska must be authenticated at the San Francisco Chinese Consulate. If you have concerns about which Chinese Consulate or Embassy your documents need to go to please refer to Laura Morrison's website, www.asststork.com.

Fees for Authentication

$25 per document (non-commercial/business) – Regular turnaround time of 5 to 6 days
$50 per commercial/business document – Regular turnaround time of 5 to 6 days

Expedited service for documents is available for an additional $25 per document for 2 to 3 day "rush" service (2 to 3 business days is the fastest the consulate will process documents). No overnight or same day processing. Documents that are mailed to the consulate will not be expedited and are processed in a minimum of 10 days. No expedited service on mailed in documents. NOTE: Visa applications MUST be presented in person – no mailed in visa applications.

Click link for an Authentication Application Form - G1 (PDF format)

Click here for instructions - G1 (PDF format)

Money Orders or Cashier's Checks only (made out to the China Consulate) – NO PERSONAL CHECKS.

Fees for Visas

Beginning May 1, 2003, visa applicants are required to come to the visa office for apply for a single entry visa. If an applicant cannot come personally, he/she may entrust a relative or friend or travel/visa agent to come to the visa office for application process.

Beginning September 1, 2013, please use the NEW 4-page Chinese Visa Application.

Click link for Chinese Visa Application (PDF format)

Click here for instructions - Application Form V2013 (PDF format)

Most tourist visas issued to USA passport holders are now valid for 10 years.

Expedited service for visas is available for an additional $25 per visa for 2 to 3 day "rush" service (2 to 3 business days is the fastest they will process visas). No overnight or same day processing.

Money Orders or Cashier's Checks only (made out CHINA CONSULATE) – NO PERSONAL CHECKS.

For detailed visa information please go to the Chinese Embassy website, www.china-embassy.org
or the San Francisco Consulate website, chinaconsulatesf.org.

Vietnamese Consulate

The Vietnamese Consulate will authenticate or "legalize" adoption documents for documents originating anywhere in the United States. They have a good website at http://www.vietnam-embassy.org where you can download adoption forms.

Fees for Authentication

$50 per document
Regular service is approximately 2 weeks

$70 per document
Expedited service is approximately 4-5 days

$80 per document*
Priority expedited service is approximately 2-3 days

*This is the type of service I've been using for the past year. Although not indicated on their website or available via phone, the SF Vietnamese Consulate accepts $80 per document to give your documents "Priority Expedited" service which generally takes 2 to 3 days. The $70 per document 'Expedited' service sometimes is completed within this timeframe as well.

Timelines are never guaranteed by the consulate 

Money Orders or Cashier's Checks only (made out to The Consulate General of Vietnam-SF) – NO PERSONAL CHECKS

Guatemalan Consulate

Documents originating in Alaska, Northern California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington must be authenticated at the San Francisco Guatemalan Consulate. If you have concerns about which Guatemalan Consulate or Embassy your documents need to go to please refer to Laura Morrison's website, The Assistant Stork.

Fees for Legalization (authentication)

$10 per document

Payment to the Consulate General of Guatemala in the form of a money order or bank check. Generally the Guatemalan Consulate will legalize overnight. If you have an entire dossier it may be longer. There is no set timeframe for processing at the Guatemalan Consulate.

Please contact me for other San Francisco Consulates and visa processing services.

Sacramento Secretary of State

Main Office

California Secretary of State's (CSOS) main office in Sacramento maintains a database of all California Notaries, Public and County Officials. All documents may be certified/apostilled there for $20 per document.

Documents mailed in will be returned in 10 business days, or longer. The California Secretary of State's office (main or branch) accepts personal checks made out to the California Secretary of State. They have a very informative website at: http://www.sos.ca.gov/business/notary/authentication.htm.

Branch Offices

The California Secretary of State also has only one branch office in addition to the Sacramento office and that is in Los Angeles. However, the branch office does not maintain a database of Notaries Public, only County Officials. Therefore, while one may obtain certification/apostille for vital records (CA birth and marriage certificates, divorce decrees - documents signed by a County Official) documents that have been notarized by a California Notary Public must either go to the main office in Sacramento or first be county verified in the county where the Notary Public is registered before going to a branch office for certification/apostille.

State fees for certification/apostille at branch offices are the same as the main office in Sacramento:

$20.00 per document and an additional
$6.00 per notary/county official for documents
carried in on a while-you-wait basis.

The California Secretary of State's office (main or branch) accepts personal checks made out to California Secretary of State.

Note: If sending in documents, send to the Secretary of State's Main Office in Sacramento:

Notary Public Section
11th Street 2nd Floor
Sacramento, CA 95814

Fees for Courier Services to the Main Office of the CA Secretary of Stat in Sacramento ONLY (apostilles or certifications without country authentication):

$12/document
(minimum $84 for up to 7 documents)

Fees for Services
in and around San Francisco

How do I arrange for Courier Services?

If you would like me to provide courier service for your documents, please do the following...

1) Contact me by e-mail: jill@papermidwife.com, so that I can answer questions, decide on the best and most appropriate services for your needs, give you my mailing address and let you know my scheduling. (Mailing address may be different for different circumstances.)

2) For document processing (at San Francisco Chinese Consulate only) please include the following items in the following order in your package to me:

• MONEY ORDER or BANKCHECK made out to CHINA CONSULATE for $25 per document for 5 to 6 day processing or $50 per document for 2 to 3 day expedite processing. No $5 mailing fee is needed when I take in.
• a personal, business, bank check or money order to International Adoption Dossier Services for Personal/Adoption Documents - $15 per document (with a minimum of $105 for up to 7 documents) Business, Real Estate, Company Documents - $20 per document (with a minimum of $140 for up to 7 documents)
• completed authentication application form One form for each prospective adoptive parent. Signed exactly like the signature in your passport.
  Authentication Application Form - G1 (PDF format)
  Click here for instructions - G1 (PDF format)
• photocopy of document holder's passport - prospective adoptive parents should submit BOTH passport copies (this is a requirement at the SF Consulate) If either prospective parent is a non USA passport holder, please include photocopy of both sides of the alien registration number. Do not shrink or enlarge any copies
• original documents (do not unstaple) Certification page for each document on top
• photocopy of original documents in the same order as the originals (including the state certification pages and be sure stamps going from one page to another are copied) One stack of original and one stack of photocopies in the same order
• return prepaid mailer (FedEx preferred) with your address as sender, clearing indicating account number or credit card number

3) For visa processing please include the following items in the following order in your package to me:

• MONEY ORDER OR BANK CHECK ONLY made out to CHINA CONSULATE
  USA Passport Holders:
  $140 per visa for 5 to 6 day regular processing OR
  $165 per visa for 2 to 3 day expedite processing - this is the fastest the consulate will issue a visas (the website may indicate same day or overnight but there is no same day or overnight processing)
• personal check (or money order/bank check) to International Adoption Dossier Services for $90 for one visa and $50 per visa for each additional visa
• the actual passports. Blank visa pages? Will not expire for at least 6 months? Non-USA passports - include original 'alien registration card' US Citizen born in China? If so, please contact me for additional documentation. Be sure you have signed your passport if new
• passport-type photo for each traveler (looking directly into the camera) stapled to the square indicating photo on the right upper side of form. Please see detailed instructions at link.
  http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/visas/zyxx/P020161206204655391310.jpg
• application form for each traveler
  http://www.chinaconsulatesf.org/chn/qianzhen/zgqz/P020130828366275572026.pdf
  Click here for instructions - Application Form V2013 (PDF format)
  • Please fill out the application form on your computer, print a hard copy and sign it.
  • Hand written form is not acceptable.
  • All fields are mandatory. If a section doesn't apply, please type in "None" or "N/A". Incomplete form will be rejected.
  • Please check for omission and error before you print the form. Change or correction is not allowed on the printed form. You must print a new form in case of any change or correction.
  • Please print out and submit only single-sided pages of the application, not back to back.
  Sign the form exactly as you signed your passport
  place inside individual's passport
• photocopy of USA birth certificate for travelers under 18 years of age
  place inside individual's passport
• photocopy of local identification - DMV issued ID or Driver's License
  place inside individual's passport
• photocopy of passport photo and signature page
  place inside individual's passport
• an invitation letter (TA or LOA for adopters) OR itinerary from travel agency OR
  place outside and behind passports
• a photocopy of the roundtrip airline ticket/reservation and hotel reservation or itinerary confirmation
  place outside and behind passports
• return prepaid mailer (FedEx preferred) with your address as sender, clearing indicating your account number or credit card number

4) Let me know when/if you are sending and the tracking number.

Make sure to sign so the package can be left without a signature. This is particularly important if you use USPS Express, DHL, UPS or another carrier. If I have to pick up at the Post Office or other facility because the envelope "release signature" isn't signed, there will be a $35 charge and the process will be delayed.