# Do Egyptians Know what Notaries are?



## SalmaHAH

I need my husband's signature on a document. He is in Egypt and is Egyptian. His signature needs to be notarized, he has no idea what that is. He lives in Luxor, are there any International Banks in Luxor that would know WHAT a notary is and would notarize his signature?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Salma


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## MaidenScotland

He has to contact a lawyer...
Signatures, translations etc all have to be notarised here and in Cairo there are billboards all over the place advertising lawyers, agents.. I am sure Alex is no different.


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## SalmaHAH

MaidenScotland said:


> He has to contact a lawyer...
> Signatures, translations etc all have to be notarised here and in Cairo there are billboards all over the place advertising lawyers, agents.. I am sure Alex is no different.


Thank you so much Maiden. A lawyer, great. I have spent thousands of dollars on Egyptian lawyers. Can't wait to tell him this and see how many thousands this will cost me.


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## MaidenScotland

SalmaHAH said:


> Thank you so much Maiden. A lawyer, great. I have spent thousands of dollars on Egyptian lawyers. Can't wait to tell him this and see how many thousands this will cost me.




It shouldn`t cost you thousands.... someone is diddling you


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## bat

MaidenScotland said:


> It shouldn`t cost you thousands.... someone is diddling you


Glad you said it think all thinking same thing!


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## SalmaHAH

MaidenScotland said:


> It shouldn`t cost you thousands.... someone is diddling you


I figured that was happening to me as well, but when I thought about divorcing my husband and checked into Egyptian lawyers everyone of them quoted me anywhere from $4,000 to $7,500...then I thought that maybe my husband was telling me the truth about the expense of the lawyers. It cost over $2,500 for us to get married, most of it was travel expense back and forth to Cairo and lodging for the lawyer and my husband and I...I don't know! I probably was taken to the cleaners by my husband and the lawyers and the Egyptian government....my luck.
Just because I am American they all think I am wealthy! Joke is on them


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## MaidenScotland

SalmaHAH said:


> I figured that was happening to me as well, but when I thought about divorcing my husband and checked into Egyptian lawyers everyone of them quoted me anywhere from $4,000 to $7,500...then I thought that maybe my husband was telling me the truth about the expense of the lawyers. It cost over $2,500 for us to get married, most of it was travel expense back and forth to Cairo and lodging for the lawyer and my husband and I...I don't know! I probably was taken to the cleaners by my husband and the lawyers and the Egyptian government....my luck.
> Just because I am American they all think I am wealthy! Joke is on them




It cost my friend 600LE to get a divorce... I can´t get in touch with her to find out the name as she is travelling .
Lots of people get divorced in Egypt and I bet the majority of them cannot afford anything like the amount you paid.. my chef has been divorced 4 times!!!

Go to your embassy website they will give you a list of lawyers.


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## MaidenScotland

MaidenScotland said:


> It cost my friend 600LE to get a divorce... I can´t get in touch with her to find out the name as she is travelling .
> Lots of people get divorced in Egypt and I bet the majority of them cannot afford anything like the amount you paid.. my chef has been divorced 4 times!!!
> 
> Go to your embassy website they will give you a list of lawyers.




mmm just had a look and I can´t see any, you may want to look at the British embassy site.


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## MaidenScotland

Can you not get divorced in America?


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## SalmaHAH

MaidenScotland said:


> Can you not get divorced in America?


Thank you Maiden, yes I can get divorced here, don't want to. Love my husband very much. We had just had a fight and this was 2 years ago. Granted he is in Luxor and I am here, but... I will let you know whatever happens. Thank you so much for all of the information.


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## MaidenScotland

I have been googling and found this

EGYPTPI SERVICES

The truth is... no matter where you go as a foreigner we pay over the odds.


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## SalmaHAH

MaidenScotland said:


> I have been googling and found this
> 
> EGYPTPI SERVICES
> 
> The truth is... no matter where you go as a foreigner we pay over the odds.


OOOOOO, this is great! I am going to see how much this might cost me. Perhaps I can get some answers to my questions.


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## Sam

You paid HOW MUCH for a lawyer??!!!!!!!!!

When I got divorced I paid nothing. I gave my lawyer PoA as I couldn't be present in Cairo to sign for myself, but this was not necessary. Not sure if my ex husband had to pay fees but for sure it wasn't high. It was not done through courts and lawyers weren't needed, just as when we married we did not use any lawyer.

As for notorisation, this is just a case of a notary public witnessing the signature. It should not cost any more than a few hundred Egyptian pounds. Depending on the document it might not be able to be done by any lawyer, but you should easily find a NP.


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## SalmaHAH

Sam said:


> You paid HOW MUCH for a lawyer??!!!!!!!!!
> 
> When I got divorced I paid nothing. I gave my lawyer PoA as I couldn't be present in Cairo to sign for myself, but this was not necessary. Not sure if my ex husband had to pay fees but for sure it wasn't high. It was not done through courts and lawyers weren't needed, just as when we married we did not use any lawyer.
> 
> As for notorisation, this is just a case of a notary public witnessing the signature. It should not cost any more than a few hundred Egyptian pounds. Depending on the document it might not be able to be done by any lawyer, but you should easily find a NP.


Don't panic Sam, I didn't pay anything to divorce my husband, still married. Just researched it a couple of years ago when I was angry with him. However, I know that I have been taken to the cleaners in other ways, like paying so much just to get married; trying to buy a shop that mysteriously did NOT come about and the person absconded with my money...bribes to get things done fast fast...you name it. So there are NPs in Egypt? My husband doesn't have a clue what they are. He lives in Luxor...I told him to go to an International Bank like HSBC, or an attorney...not sure if he is going to do that. Thanks for the information.


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## Sam

SalmaHAH said:


> Don't panic Sam, I didn't pay anything to divorce my husband, still married. Just researched it a couple of years ago when I was angry with him. However, I know that I have been taken to the cleaners in other ways, like paying so much just to get married; trying to buy a shop that mysteriously did NOT come about and the person absconded with my money...bribes to get things done fast fast...you name it. So there are NPs in Egypt? My husband doesn't have a clue what they are. He lives in Luxor...I told him to go to an International Bank like HSBC, or an attorney...not sure if he is going to do that. Thanks for the information.


DG may be able to help with what they are called in Arabic, which should make it easier for him. Otherwise an attorney would be better than a bank. It may be best to check with whoever is asking for the notorisation on advice.


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## SalmaHAH

Sam said:


> DG may be able to help with what they are called in Arabic, which should make it easier for him. Otherwise an attorney would be better than a bank. It may be best to check with whoever is asking for the notorisation on advice.


It is a form I need to obtain money from my 401K. Since I am married, I need my husband's signature and it must be notarized. Without it I cannot get any money out! It looks as if I am going to continue to be in a financial bind since I cannot even get to my OWN money. I am getting very disheartened. I have been married to him for almost 3 years, he lived here in the States for a whopping year, then returned to Egypt because his father was sick. I haven't seen him since 6 September 2009 and his father died the first of November 2009.


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## MaidenScotland

SalmaHAH said:


> It is a form I need to obtain money from my 401K. Since I am married, I need my husband's signature and it must be notarized. Without it I cannot get any money out! It looks as if I am going to continue to be in a financial bind since I cannot even get to my OWN money. I am getting very disheartened. I have been married to him for almost 3 years, he lived here in the States for a whopping year, then returned to Egypt because his father was sick. I haven't seen him since 6 September 2009 and his father died the first of November 2009.




I must ask.... are you sure the money is still available?


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## SalmaHAH

MaidenScotland said:


> I must ask.... are you sure the money is still available?


Oh yes, he cannot touch it. My government makes sure of that! But since I am legally married to him I have to get his signature to withdraw any of it.


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## bat

SalmaHAH said:


> Oh yes, he cannot touch it. My government makes sure of that! But since I am legally married to him I have to get his signature to withdraw any of it.


Sorry about your troubles, but I find it very strange he does not know what notaries are maybe no the English name but anything you do here includes lots of paper work etc and what you need is well known and it sounds like he's playing with you .yes also marriage and divorce doesn't need a lawyer. Also all this money sounds like he was collecting to maybe get married again especially you said his father died. Kick him to the kerb


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## seawind77

he can notarized his signature from a bank where he has his bank account. This is common practice. (eg. Also he can give a power of attorney with countersign from bank.)

For the lawyers charges, as you say because of you are american, they tried to trick you. In my company we are employing two lawyer basis full time and paying 4000 le for one of them and 3000 le to the another. Even these amounts are high. 

If it was mutual agreement to divorce there is no need to hire a lawyer (unless there are disputes) and can finish this at shar el kady.


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## Bevdeforges

The American concept of a notary public isn't really recognized in most other countries. If your paperwork requires a notarized signature, your husband will have to go to the US Consulate to have it notarized. 

There is normally a charge per document (in Paris it's something like $35 per document) and be sure to check the US consulate webpage for the hours they are available for notary services. Very often it's only mornings or certain days of the week. Check for something like "US Citizen Services" on the consulate or embassy website.
Cheers,
Bev


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## DeadGuy

Hi,

What I understood from your post(s) is that you need a person who is in Egypt right now to sign an American document for you.

The legal process for a notaries in here is called "Sehett tawkee" (Sehett as in the Arabic word for "Health"), the process is not supposed to cost more than 100 EGP for a lawyer (Of course you'll send your document, he'd translate it and then "legalize" it) However it will take at least one month to be done, will also take at least one visit by him to any court in Egypt, but since you need it for an American agency/party, you'd need him to get it translated back to English again, then get the foreign ministry's stamp on it and most probably he'll still need to get it stamped in the American embassy in here before it would be valid in the States!! A hassle!!

PS, I'm not sure if he'd need to translate it to Arabic or not, but he will most probably need to, I never personally seen any court dealing with any documents in languages other than Arabic, if they do that in here then I have no idea how/where to do so, sorry :s

Hope all that Egyptian legal none sense made some sense anyway!

Bevdeforges' suggestion would most probably suit you best, all you'd need is to send your document to the American embassy/consulate, your husband will need to visit and sign it in there, they'll send it back to you........Regardless of the costs, but it will be more safe and efficient for sure.

Good luck! And merry Christmas!


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## SalmaHAH

DeadGuy said:


> Hi,
> 
> What I understood from your post(s) is that you need a person who is in Egypt right now to sign an American document for you.
> 
> The legal process for a notaries in here is called "Sehett tawkee" (Sehett as in the Arabic word for "Health"), the process is not supposed to cost more than 100 EGP for a lawyer (Of course you'll send your document, he'd translate it and then "legalize" it) However it will take at least one month to be done, will also take at least one visit by him to any court in Egypt, but since you need it for an American agency/party, you'd need him to get it translated back to English again, then get the foreign ministry's stamp on it and most probably he'll still need to get it stamped in the American embassy in here before it would be valid in the States!! A hassle!!
> 
> PS, I'm not sure if he'd need to translate it to Arabic or not, but he will most probably need to, I never personally seen any court dealing with any documents in languages other than Arabic, if they do that in here then I have no idea how/where to do so, sorry :s
> 
> Hope all that Egyptian legal none sense made some sense anyway!
> 
> Bevdeforges' suggestion would most probably suit you best, all you'd need is to send your document to the American embassy/consulate, your husband will need to visit and sign it in there, they'll send it back to you........Regardless of the costs, but it will be more safe and efficient for sure.
> 
> Good luck! And merry Christmas!


 Thank you so much for the valuable information. I have decided that it will be cheaper and more efficient on my heart and mind to just dissolved my marriage. I am so very tired of all of this drama. I need to move on with my life and get over this and out from under the problems this marriage has caused me. He has no intention of returning to me and I have no intention of paying him any more money for anything. So HALAS! Again, thank you for the information, the Arabic word alone was very very helpful.


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## Spritzup

*Affidavits and Notary*

Hello 
I m trying to get my husbadn to Canada
Hes in Egypt right now, I m in Canada
We need to get affidavits for him but I m not sure where to do that in Egypt and he has no idea what that is ... or.. where to go for it. 

As well as... if we make copies of documents that have been translated and stamped by someone approved by canada... like his birthcertificate 
does that need to be notarized?


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