Notarizing Documents at the U.S. Consulate in Israel

A very common question I get asked is “How do I notarize a U.S. document at the U.S. Consulate while in Israel?”  Alternatively, “Are you a U.S. Notary Public”?

The answer to the latter question is that I am not a U.S. Notary Public.  I am an Israeli Notary. However, a U.S. Notary public cannot notarize documents outside of the jurisdiction where he/she has his/her notary license.  So, whether or not I am a U.S. Notary public is irrelevant.

However, the first question is relevant.

The answer is that there are two ways to notarize a U.S. document in Israel.

1 – Using the Notary Public services of the U.S. Consulate; or

2 – Using the Notary services of an Israeli Notary with an Apostille.

This article discusses the first option.  Option 2 is discussed here.  In a head to head comparison in an article here, you will see that option 2 is the better option.

Scheduling an Appointment to notarize documents at the U.S. Consulate

There is no other way to say this other than to say that scheduling an appointment at the U.S. Consulate is a hassle.

For starters, it cannot be done by telephone. In other words, no human to speak to.

I attempted to visit the Consulate in Jerusalem’s website, and got an error message.

I next tried Tel Aviv.  The first available date (today’s post is July 27, 2017) which you can see at the screenshot here is August 15, 2017!

Time it takes to notarize at the U.S. Consulate

Once you’ve managed to schedule your appointment at the U.S. Consulate, you then have to schlep there with all your documents and identification.  You must clear an arduous security process and then wait your turn to be called which can be a while, depending on how many documents the other people there have with them.  In short, I’ve been told that it takes several hours and much aggravation to notarize even one document at the Consulate.

Cost of notarizing at the U.S. Consulate

Each signature costs $50 USD.  Even two signatures on one document will cost $50 USD each for a total of $100 USD.

If you’re still interested in notarizing at the U.S. Consulate, you can learn more on the U.S. Consulate website.

However, if you’d like to see a better option, visit my blog post about Notarizing and obtaining an Apostille here.