The Chicago
Office is for Walk-in Service Only
No Mail-in Service
Sec. of State fee: $2 per document
My
Courier Fee: $25*
flat fee
*
If you only need your documents Certified by the Secretary of State, and
they
are not going to the
Guatemala Consulate for Authentication, my courier fee is $60.
After your documents are Certified, I will submit
them to the Guatemala Consulate on
my next business day.
I do not go to the Secretary of State or the Consulate
on
Wednesdays or Fridays but phone calls and
deliveries are
accepted, as well
as
deliveries on Saturday.
Include
the following with your Documents for Certification:
A
personal check made payable to: There's
Always Hope! for my fee and
include the Secretary of State fee. I prefer you include the Secretary
of State fee because sometimes documents are rejected and the SOS will
not
take your check if it is not the correct amount.
Check to make sure your Notaries are valid,
(what!!
you have got to be kidding!)
by visiting the following website:
www.ilsos.gov/notary
Type in the Notary's
Last name, First Name
Click on the Notary name and verify the name signed and
the name on the
stamp is exactly
as shown in the database.
Add 4 to the
Current Commission year
to verify
the full expiration date (mm/dd/yy).
If they
are
not exactly as the database
displays,
the document will be rejected.
Documents could also be rejected if the
Notary's
name and commission
expiration date on the stamp are not clear (or to light). If they
are not
clear,
have the Notary re-stamp the document, not resign it (practice a few times
on
a blank
sheet of paper, before making the second stamp on the document).
Notes:
Notaries in IL cannot witness stamped or computer generated signatures.
Notaries in
IL cannot make the statement that it is a true copy of the
original
document, they are to witness someone else's signature.
Notary Stamps can only be in black ink.
Do not send a cover letter or the SOS Certification form. I have
my own
Certification form
and submit it with your documents.
The
Illinois Secretary of State office in Chicago is for walk-in service only,
no mail-in
service.
EFECTIVE 1/1/2012
I
have just been informed that all documents (except vital records:
Marriage, Birth, Divorce)
need to have a Notary statement, not just the notary stamp, signature
and date.
An example would be:
State
of Illinois
County of ___________
Signed and attested before me on ____________(date) by
___________________________________________ (name or names of person or persons).
________________________________
(Notary Seal)
Notary Signature
There's Always Hope!
c/o Denise Hope
23408 South Kathey Drive
Channahon, IL 60410
(815) 690-7035
email: info@theres-always-hope.com
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