Business Visa Update
Since announcing my pursuit of a standard business visa last month, I’ve had lots of people asking for updates on my situation.
In the last two weeks since I shared the list of documents required to apply, I’ve run into some walls. One I can run around, the other I cannot.
First, E*Trade won’t notarize the letter I asked them to write, so I had a friend in New Jersey (where the office which produced it is located) take a copy to a local notary. She said the document can’t be notarized without the signer present.
The letter from my bank is required for my visa application, but the notary and apostille, technically, are not. It’d be great to have them both, as it adds credibility to the document and my application, but there’s nothing I can do based on my bank’s policies.
Second, I didn’t provide a proper place for a Florida notary to sign a stamp the Company Declaration letter written and signed by my LLC’s new VP.
As a result, Florida’s Department of State returned the letter without an apostille, but at least they included clear instructions in terms of what needed to be added to the letter.
The new version has been signed and notarized, and is effectively on its way back to Tallahassee for the apostille. This delay is adding another 7-10 calendar days to the process.
The one piece of good news is that while Florida returned the Company Declaration without an apostille, they did fulfill my request for a signed, notarized, and apostilled Certificate of Status, which states my LLC is in good standing.
My current tourist visa runs out soon, and I still need to receive my documentation here in Medellin, get it translated, and go to Bogotá before then.
Where does this leave me?
Stay tuned.
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