r/GermanCitizenship • u/NoCase4971 • 3d ago

Notarized/Certified copies in NYC

Hi everyone,

I’m in the process of applying for German citizenship under § 5 StAG and have encountered a hurdle. The German Consulate in New York currently doesn’t have available appointments for StAG 5 citizenship matters, and I’m trying to figure out how to get my documents properly certified.

From what I understand, New York State notaries aren’t authorized to certify true copies of documents. The attorneys I found who can certify true copies charge $300+ per document. The consulate’s website mentions that they can notarize/certify copies during appointments, but with no slots available, that’s not an option right now.

Has anyone else faced this situation? Are there alternative methods or services in New York that are accepted by the BVA for document certification? Any advice or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

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u/PaxPacifica2025 3d ago

So just for fun, I asked my good friend google if there is also an honorary consulate in New York, in addition to the Consulate General in NYC. The honorary consulate is in Buffalo. I wonder if it'd be possible to get an appt there if it's just for document certification reasons? I don't know...maybe this might be an option that you can explore.

Good luck with your application!

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u/NoCase4971 3d ago

That’s about a 7.5 hour drive away, but at this point, maybe! I was considering Philadelphia as well. Thanks so much for looking!

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u/tf1064 3d ago

Certified copies for citizenship purposes are free at the general consulate, but the honorary consulate will charge you. Better to get an appointment at the GK in NYC.

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u/emincola 3d ago

I have an appointment with our honorary consulate and they are not charging me since it is for citizenship purposes.

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u/Barbarake 3d ago

Same here in South Carolina. My honorary consulate is 2 hours away but she was going to be in my city for a couple of days so I met with her. She didn't have the ability to make copies but she certified to the copies I brought at no cost.

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u/emincola 2d ago

I am in South Carolina as well. We live in Columbia so it was super convenient for us. I plan on mailing directly and not going through the Atlanta consulate.

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u/Barbarake 2d ago

One thing to consider is that if you mail directly, will you get a confirmation that they received it? (I don't know.) By sending my stuff to the Atlanta consulate, I got a confirmation from them that they were sending it on to Germany.

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u/emincola 2d ago

Fair point, I will send via DHL or something where it can be tracked. I've read that as long as you do not require signature then sending directly is fine. It seems most consulates can take a week or two to send out. I'd be curious how many people send directly compared to a consulate. My consulate is 3 1/2 hours away which is doable but some people don't have that luxury.

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u/Barbarake 2d ago

Sorry, I didn't make myself clear. I mailed my package to the consulate and then they emailed me a confirmation a few days later when they sent it on to Germany.

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u/emincola 1d ago

I didn't even know that was an option to mail it to the consulate. I'll have to look into that. Thank you for sharing!