Thursday, July 05, 2007
Paperwork nightmare
We had a big meeting yesterday of American citizens regarding getting work permits. Once a person has been working for a time in Viet Nam they need a work permit to continue. Unfortunately, the requirements have been changed recently and it's led to a very complicated mess.
To work in Viet Nam a foreigner needs a background criminal check in the country of origin and a notarized copy of any educational degrees or certificates the individual holds. This was something I didn't realize when I left the states, there was no mention made of it on the places I researched, including Apollo. I brought along a transcript from college and the results of a medical exam.
This was not acceptable once I was hired. It seems that the documents have to be notarized in the country of origin. I had this done with my criminal background check, however now they've added another step. The notary has to be notarized by the state government as being legit. My transcript didn't work either, they want a copy of the degree (which is God knows where in storage) and that needs to be notarized and then the notary needs to notarized by the state. It reminds me of one of those episodes of MASH where Radar explains the various forms that the Army requires.
The process is simpler for British citizens, they can take their documents to the British Embassy, which will stamp them as being authentic. In other words, the government will back the holder in their claim of authenticity. The US Embassy will not do this, they will only certify that the holder of the documents "says" they are authentic.
This I find most ironic, a fine point of grammar (but important, to be sure) may force me to leave here at the end of September, short of my goal of spending a year in Viet Nam.
To work in Viet Nam a foreigner needs a background criminal check in the country of origin and a notarized copy of any educational degrees or certificates the individual holds. This was something I didn't realize when I left the states, there was no mention made of it on the places I researched, including Apollo. I brought along a transcript from college and the results of a medical exam.
This was not acceptable once I was hired. It seems that the documents have to be notarized in the country of origin. I had this done with my criminal background check, however now they've added another step. The notary has to be notarized by the state government as being legit. My transcript didn't work either, they want a copy of the degree (which is God knows where in storage) and that needs to be notarized and then the notary needs to notarized by the state. It reminds me of one of those episodes of MASH where Radar explains the various forms that the Army requires.
The process is simpler for British citizens, they can take their documents to the British Embassy, which will stamp them as being authentic. In other words, the government will back the holder in their claim of authenticity. The US Embassy will not do this, they will only certify that the holder of the documents "says" they are authentic.
This I find most ironic, a fine point of grammar (but important, to be sure) may force me to leave here at the end of September, short of my goal of spending a year in Viet Nam.
Labels: legal system, Viet Nam, Viet Nam and the West
Comments:
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Mary,
Didn't you get your degree from Marquette? Contact the registars office to see if they can Fed Ex you an official transcript. Chris S:) P.S. Drop me an email sometime:)
Didn't you get your degree from Marquette? Contact the registars office to see if they can Fed Ex you an official transcript. Chris S:) P.S. Drop me an email sometime:)
# posted by 
: 6:48 AM
: 6:48 AM
Hi Mary, just saw your latest posting! So sorry to hear about your woes. I wish there was something I could do on this end to help you. It would be a shame to cut your journey short! If you can think of anything I could do, please let me know. I loved the poem at the end of your posting. You haven't lost it at all. Write soon. Barb
come home and try it again in another year or 2 you can always go back . If you could get me into storage I could look for you???
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