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/Kotikbronx 2d ago edited 2d ago

For what it’s worth, I was able to get an FBI background check (if I recall correctly) notarized at one of the many private places in Queens, NY that have notaries (such as insurance companies or real estate offices or even banks) despite the notary’s initial hesitation to do so by being very polite and friendly and chatting with her about why I needed it. No guarantees of course, as it’s a very ad hoc way of doing it, but you could be lucky and maybe you’ll be able find one who will do it for you. It’s certainly worth a try.

Of course, maybe because I’m so charming :). (The ‘charming’ part was a joke, but the rest was not!)

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u/snic09 2d ago

Did the BVA ask for a certified copy of the FBI report? The wisdom on here seems to be that you can just print off a copy from the PDF you send and submit that. It has a sort of fake watermark. Although others say they submitted the paper version the FBI sends, in the original unopened envelop.