New Authentication Procedures

During 1998 the Lebanese Engineering Syndicate announced thatit no longer will accept documents authenticated by the U.S.State Department from engineers or architects applying to theSyndicate. Applicants from the United States and Canada shouldhave their documents authenticated by Amideast headquarters inWashington, DC, or one of its offices in Lebanon.

Applicants should request from Amideast a release form. Oncethe applicant has completed and signed the release form he/shesends it back to Amideast. Please note that Amideast charges afee for each document authenticated. Amideast will then send thesigned release form to the applicant's university. Once Amideastreceives the documents they forward them to their offices inLebanon by courier for authentication. The Amideast offices inLebanon then will forward the documents to the LebaneseEngineering Syndicate.

Please note that the Syndicate for its application procedurerequires an authenticated university letter of degreeverification and transcript.

To request a release form please contact:

Ms. Christine Graziano
Amideast Headquarters
1730 M St., NW
Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20036
e-mail: cgraziano@amideast.org
telephone: (202) 776-9618
fax: (202) 776-7018

Students who have majored in fields other than engineering orarchitecture can also have their documents authenticated byAmideast or through the U.S. State Department procedure.

Former students in the Middle East who wish to have theirdocuments authenticated should contact one of the Amideastoffices in Lebanon:

Authentication Process forU.S. Diplomas

Lebanese who have earned a degree in the United States andplan to use the diploma in Lebanon are urged to have the diplomaauthenticated by appropriate officials in the U.S. You areencouraged to complete this process before departing the U.S. Tohave your diploma(s) earned in the United States authenticatedfor use in Lebanon:

1. The university registrar must certify that the diploma is official.
2. A notary public must notarize the signature of the university official on the diploma.
3. The Clerk of Court of the county where the notary is commissioned must certify to the authority of the notary.
4. The Secretary of State of the state in which the document is being authenticated must certify to the clerk of the court, under impressed Seal of the State.
5. The Secretary of State of the United States must then authenticate the diploma. The applicant must send the diploma to the following address with a $4.00 check payable to the U.S. Department of State and a letter stating that the diploma will be used in Lebanon.

Office of Authentication
(FMSS/GS/AUTH)
600 19^th Street, NW
State Annex 1
Washington, DC 20006

Tel: (202) 647-5002
Website: http://www.state.gov/www/authenticate/info.html

Finally, either the Embassy of Lebanon or one of the Lebanese Consulates in the United States must authenticate the diploma after the U.S. Secretary of State returns the diploma to the applicant. The applicant must send the diploma along with a money order ($5.00 per document) and a stamped, self-addressed envelope to one of the following addresses as determined by the applicant's state of residence:

Residents of D.C., Delaware, Maryland,Virginia,
West Virginia, Georgia, Florida, North or South Carolina,
Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri,
Louisiana, Kansas, or Alabama must send their money order
(payable to The Embassy of Lebanon) and documents to:

Embassy of Lebanon
2560 28^th St., NW
Washington, DC 20008

e-mail: EmbLebanon@aol.com

Visit the Embassy's Website for additionalinformation

http://www.embofleb.org

Residents of New York, Connecticut,Massachusetts, New Jersey,Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, RhodeIsland, Maine, or Vermont must send
their money order (payable to The Consulate General of Lebanon,New York)
and documents to:

The Consulate of Lebanon
9 East 76^th St.
New York, NY 10021

Residents of Michigan, Illinois, Indiana,Montana, Ohio, Nebraska, North or
South Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, or Kentucky must send
their money order (payable to The Consulate General of Lebanon,Detroit)
And documents to:

The Consulate of Lebanon
3031 W. Grand Blvd., Suite 560
Detroit, MI 48202

Tel: (313) 758--0752/4/5
Fax: (313) 758-0756
Web site: www.lebaneseconsulateindetroit.org

Residents of California, Nevada, Utah,Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming,
Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Alaska or Hawaii must sendtheir
money order (payable to The Consulate General of Lebanon, LosAngeles)
and documents to:

The Consulate of Lebanon
7060 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 510
Los Angeles, CA 90028

Not Able To Authenticate
Because You're Not In The U.S.

Amideast, a non-profit organization headquartered inWashington, D.C., can authenticate documents. Please contactAmideast headquarters to find out which of their offices in theMiddle East or North Africa that can authenticate documents:

Ms. Juleann Fallgatter
Director, Field Affairs Division
Amideast
1730 M St., NW, Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20036-4505
Tel: (202) 776-9600
Fax: (202) 776-7000
e-mail: jfallgatter@amideast.org
web: http://www.amideast.org