An adoption dossier is typically a lengthy and complex compilation of documentation in support of a prospective international adoption. Some documents must be originals while others must be notarized certified true copies.

Our expert staff specialize in helping individuals and adoption companies navigate the authentication and legalization process. By utilizing an authentication and legalization service like our office, we can save you time by having the documents authenticated by Global Affairs quickly. Thereafter, we can arrange for the legalization at the specific Embassy or Consulate.

In many cases, our notary can make certified true copies of your original Canadian documents. Our office also works closely with other Canadian notaries and we can put you in touch with a notary that is closer to you.

The fees charged by Capital Authentication are quite specific. We offer four different processing options depending upon urgency. When determining the appropriate fees, we take into account the total time that is required to complete the authentication and legalization process. The result is that a client typically pays lower fees than expected. It also means that we remain more competitive that the local competition.

Other factors that have an impact on processing cost are the associated disbursements. For example, the fees charged by an Embassy or Consular office differs. The method of payment – the type of currency, money order or direct deposit. Is it possible to submit the documents to the Embassy Consulate in person or must they be sent and received by courier.

When working with Capital Authentication we will clearly advise you of the corresponding fees and disbursements.

Our office works very efficiently with the authentication and legalization of documents, including adoption papers. The ability to have documents completed quickly really comes down to how fast an Embassy or Consular Office will complete the legalization process. Some Embassies complete documents while you wait while others can take six or more business days. Our expert staff welcome the opportunity to explain all of your options available to you including how long we anticipate the adoption papers will take to be completed.

When considering using a third party service provider to assist with the authentication and legalization process one might contemplate using either an authentication and legalization service and/or process server.  Various service providers can be found by doing simple internet searches.  But, are they different?   Generally speaking, the various third party service providers are not very different.  The main differences come down to knowledge about the overall process, requirements of a particular diplomatic mission and the fees that are charged by the third party service provider.  It is very important that one complete a minimum level of due diligence when choosing a third party service provider as one will find that the fees charged can vary widely.

Our office offers a number of different payment options such as money order, e-transfer, direct payment into our account, credit card (visa or mastercard).  If you have any questions about payment methods, please feel free to reach out to our office either by e-mail or telephone as we will happily discuss payment options.

We suggest using a national courier such as FedEx, Purolator, DHL or Canada Post “Xpresspost”.  Each of these courier options offers a form of tracking and considering that the documents are sensitive in nature the ability to track your item is strongly recommended.

Once the authentication and legalization services have been completed, our clients can provide a prepaid return courier to our office.  If however it is more convenient, our office will happily arrange for the return courier either to our client directly or to an authorized third party of their choosing.

At Capital Authentication we do not like to return documents to a client using regular lettermail.  Regular lettermail is not encouraged given the sensitive nature of the documents.  However, where a client has specifically requests this method of return, we will comply.

This is a very good question and it really depends upon where one intends to use the document.  As long as the document is a Canadian document, Global Affairs Canada will authenticate either an original document or a notarized copy of the document.  If using a notarized document, the notary must be a Canadian notary.   The more important question to ask is whether the diplomatic mission in question will accept notarized documents instead of original documents.  It is always best to consult the diplomatic mission to determine if original documents and/or notarized documents can be used.  There are some diplomatic missions that will only accept original documents.

Should a problem arise with the processing of your documents due to a change in policy or requirements by Global Affairs Canada or at a particular diplomatic mission our office will be in contact with our clients immediately, by e-mail and/or telephone, so as to identify the problem and determine the best possible solution.

There are many instances when it is more convenient for a client to have documents sent directly to our office as opposed to their receiving them first.  For example, government issued documents such as birth certificates can be sent directly to us.  We can receive them and start compiling a client dossier with the authentication and legalization component to commence once we have all of the documents.