For the most part if you have a Hague Member Country that has signed the Oct 5, 1961 Convention on the Legalization of Foreign Documents then things are straight forward. The problems arise when you have a client who needs a document to go to Saudi Arabia or Canada and you have to figure out what the process is, if you haven’t done one previously. This is where your training kicks in or your individual research on how to navigate the hcch.net website. By the way has anyone come across an Entry Into Force (EIF) issue? These are some examples where an experienced Apostille Agent is worth their weight in gold.
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Wil: How do I find more information on training for Apostille signings? May I contact you directly.
Tom
good question because the training must be state specific in some instances I’m wondering that myself
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@jennjoneis you probably don’t need any formal “training”, per se - just go to your Sec of State’s website, look for “apostilles” and see what they require to process an apostille request, including what they charge. That will give you an idea of what’s involved
Also, make sure you study up on apostilles a bit - when an apostille applies and when a certification applies (certifications for non-Hague Convention members).
Don’t make this more difficult than it really is - it’s not hard - an apostille/certification is merely the appropriate official is certifying that the notary who notarized the document was a notary in good standing when the notarization took place.
Best of luck
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There are nuances to being a Hague or Non-Hague Member country that you will only understand if you do your own research or take a training class. There are Hague Member Countries that have not signed the Oct. 5, 1961 Convention for the Legalization of Foreign Documents and there are Non-Hague Countries that have signed the Oct. 5, 1961 Convention for the Legalization of Foreign Documents.
So there are no generalities that can be made about these two types of HCCH Member Countries. There is also a third threshold that must be satisfied before you can treat a country as Hague or Non-Hague Member country. If you don’t know these things up front then you will be wasting time and money as your documents will be returned as they will be sent to the wrong Authenticating Authority or not sent at all to the appropriate Authenticating Authority.
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I took the Apostill training class with Wil last week. I am delighted with the service, it was very efficient. He also provided me with tools and sources that, I am going to need to do Apostills.
When I ask him a question, he replies real quick to my questions , This is my favorite part about Wil. If you are looking for a good training class for Apostill, Wil is the right person for that.
Thank you Wil!
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That is wonderful! now we are waiting for how many apostilles have you done for the month, and if this is profitable, we are waiting…
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Mannie1950, your business is profitable after doing one Apostille as the price for my course is less than what I currently charge for One Apostille. With respect to how many Apostilles per month are done will be based on your Google My Business Page, your website and to a lesser degree if you’re running Google Ads.
I personally get all of my business from my Google My Business Page or people just searching for Apostille Near Me. Everyone’s mileage will vary based on their location and the amount of fine tuning that you put into your Google My Business page, so there is no average number of Apostilles per month. If I do ONE Apostille per month, I have made a profit.
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Im doing very good in apostiles (+5-10 month) and ive made a topic about this a while ago…I just cant be sitting around waiting for a $50 Lss assignment , secondly im signing loans with out the LSS, when people need signings they really dont care about this LSA (certiffcations) stuff from my experience. My profits per apostille can exceed $150.00 wihout traveling and paid same day. I suggest diversifying your services!!!
Also, if you’re not very good with communication between you and the client this can ruin your business. In my area , people need services immediatiely with quick turn around times. Do not promise things you cant control. Speed, accuracy ,expertise , and communication is the core of this business.
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JME but no speedy turnaround times here with apostilles - website says they take 6-8 business days - FL SoS is backed up 3 weeks or better on processing them. My signer was very understanding, however her family and the attorney outside the country waiting for this document was getting really antsy - this PoA was intended for sale of estate property.
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Im fully aware of this and the department of state is even worse 8-10 weeks. Doing this for a while I know what im doing. Most of my business is referral , people even email me from portugal all the time for this service.
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Do you use Fedex/UPS or Priority Mail to FL SoS for quick turnarounds, or it doesn’t really matter because they are backed up? Do you use Courier services to get same day service?
I’m in NE Florida.
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@Aces did not mean to insinuate you did not know what you were doing…I apologixe if you inferred that. , just passing along info from my experience … hence JME
@Patricia I used priority mail to SoS and on the return envelope … both with tracking. Cost paid by signer at appointment
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How do you begin as an Appostille?
I would recommend that if you have access to Facebook, that you do a search for any Apostille Groups and join those groups. You will learn a lot by just listening in the background and when you have a question go ahead and post it. If you feel that you need additional training, there will be several options for you to choose from.
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Based on the info on their national website, the easiest money in the Apostille business (in my opinion) is being made by a company that has their in-house notary copy certify scanned documents, and successfully submit them for apostilles. They offer a quick turnaround time and charge a flat rate.
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Ezra Apostille Academy
@jrobinson 7444 here’s all the education you need:
Read the instructions through, follow the steps outlined and you can help your callers process their apostille request.
@winstonmobilenotary I looked up Ezra Academy - cheapest price is $185 - to do what I just did for free. Also, they state they are “certified apostille agents”- to the best of my knowledge there is no such thing - unless that title came from an Association that trains people to be “certified” in anything and everything - most of which mean nothing at all.
I fulfill about a half dozen Apostille requests per week. I’ve been rolling along at that pace for two decades. Some of my clients are direct referrals from UPS or Postal Annex.
I’ve found that one in three requests are from people who submitted their documents by mail or a newly minted “Apostille agent” and for various reasons the documents were rejected by the clerks at the SOS. Usually by that time they have nearly run out of time so I step in and save the day.
Simple stuff like birth or death certificates can be handled by anyone but only a notary that is hands on trained for this service with a mentor they can call for help, will be confident enough to convince the chief legal officer at an international company to trust them with such responsibility. Some times million dollar transactions hang in the balance. You just can’t guess your way through.
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I live in nw Florida how do I get the training