The Attestation Process

After finishing up our medical paperwork a few weeks ago I was sure that the seemingly endless "process" of attaining a work visa in Abu Dhabi was complete. For this reason it was a surprise when I received an email saying "thanks for getting your medical forms completed so quickly, please begin the attestation process". I'm sure that my initial reaction was very similar to what you are thinking as you read this...confusion. After a few hours of squeezing all the info out of Google that I could, it was time to get the process underway.

Basically the "attestation process" is what the name implies. In order for a foreign government to recognize documents they must be "attested" as legitimate. Easy right...

Step 1: Have all education documents notarized.

The first step in the process was to obtain copies of our transcripts and "degrees" and have them notarized. As I drove to the registrar's office at UofL I felt that this small task could be handled in less than an hour. After around 40 seconds in the registrar's office I hit the first road block, the notary was on vacation. No big deal, I knew that banks and credit unions usually have a notary on staff and that there is a credit union in the student activities center. After a brisk five minute walk in the beautiful Ky weather I arrived dripping sweat and ready to get my documents stamped. If you are a notary please take note, you look rather foolish when someone asked you to notarize a document and you have no idea what they are talking about. After trying to explain to the notary that her job was very simple, put my documents in the the little stamp she was currently using as a paper weight and push the lever, I was forced to give up. She simply would not do it. Perhaps she felt the documents where not legit or maybe the pressure of notarizing a document issued by the university she is employed by was just to much. At this point I'm sure many people would have thrown in the towel, I however chose a different plan of attack. I went back to the registrar, laughed with them about the idiocy of the notary at the credit union and was then informed that the University Presidents secretary was also a notary. After a 10 min walk and a mild heart attack I arrived in the presidents office dripping sweat and ready to grab the notaries stamp and run for the door. As luck would have it this notary actually understand that the large silver paper weight on her desk served a second purpose. Within minutes my documents where stamped and I was out the door.

Step 2: Have the county clerk of court verify that the notary was indeed a notary.

The next step in the attestation process went much more smoothly. After picking Nikki up we drove to the clerk of courts office, parked at a meter and began trying to find our way into the Jefferson county court house. This is a very impressive building in downtown Louisville. The interesting thing about old government buildings in Kentucky is that you never enter through the front door. No, here in Kentucky we use a much more logical system of gaining entrance. One simply wonders around the outside of the building until one is lucky enough to stumble across the most obscure door possible. In this instance the entrance was in a ally running behind the courthouse. If your reading this Jerry, a sign or two would be nice. Once inside a very nice lady looked at the notary stamp for all of 1 second, never checked it against any type of record or database, then placed her own county seal and certificate onto each of our documents for the small fee of $8 each. I was baffled, how did she know that the notary was legit?? Regardless I was one seal and certificate closer to completing what could be the best example of bureaucratic BS I have experienced.

Step 3: Have the Kentucky Secretary of State verify that the county clerk of court was really the county clerk of court.

You guessed it, after a good nights sleep it was off to our state capital to verify that the Jefferson county clerk of court was really who they claim. At the capital we found the Kentucky tradition of entering government buildings from the most obscure door possible strongly in place. After exploring the building and seeing our tax dollars hard at work constructing the largest rubber band ball I have come across, and a large area under the rotunda featuring statues of both Lincoln and Jefferson Davis (only in the south LMAO) we found the office of the state secretary of state. We asked to have the state seal affixed to each of our documents. After about a second of scrutiny per document with absolutely zero cross checking or actual verification the state seal was affixed. Again I was left thinking...what was the point in that?? I just drove 45 minutes and paid $10 per document to have yet another sticker and certificate stapled to each document with no actual verification actually carried out. It was actually worth the drive to see a rubber band ball the size of a basketball on a government officials desk and a statue dedicated to the memory of the president of the confederacy in a government building. The only thing missing was a rebel flag or a sign mentioning the "war of northern aggression".

Step 4: Have the State Departments Office of Authentications in D.C verify that the Ky Secretary of state is really the Secretary of State.

Rather than wait the 25 business days or pay an internet company to handle the process for us Nikki and I decided to pick up my parents in Ohio and take a road trip to D.C. We rented a Grand Marquee and hit the road Sunday afternoon at around 4pm. After picking Mom and Dad up around 9pm we began our 8 hour sprint through the night to arrive at the D.C office as soon as they opened. After driving into some spectacular lightening the monsoon began and I discovered that the drivers side windshield wiper did not actually touch the windshield. Thank you budget rent a car. The drive did however provide plenty of time to enjoy the company of my parents which was nice as I do not get to spend a great deal of time with them.

We arrived in DC around 5am enjoyed breakfast at IHOP and then jumped on the Metro for the 40 min commute to the office of authentications. We disembarked from the subway on the campus of George Washington University, walked 3 blocks to a strip mall and walked into what appeared to be a homeless shelter. As we sat in the office it dawned on me that everyone in the room was not homeless, they were the representatives of the various online companies we encountered online offering to handle the attestation process for a very large fee. Once our number was called a very serious man behind some very thick glass inspected the documents and their numerous seals and certificates at the government prescribed pace of less than a second each. He then affixed the Federal Seal and signature of our Secretary of State with no actual verification and returned them for a very small fee of $8 each.

Step 5: Deliver the Attested Documents to the Embassy of the U.A.E for final verification.


This was the most interesting part of the trip for me as I have never been to an embassy. After wandering around the block we finally found the correct embassy, surrendered our identification in exchange for a visitor badge, paid the $30 per document fee and were back out and on the street in around 5 minutes.





To summarize the attestation process in a shining example of a pointless task that had to be completed in order for one government to trust another. The irony is that neither government actually checked anything they claimed to be checking. The only good thing to come from this process was a chance to spend time with family and explore our nation's capital.