Authentication back

They made the same mistake with ours---I think they put the documents in a pile for the Consulate General to stamp and sign, and somehow they get stuffed in your FedEx envelope with the receipt BEFORE he has signed them! Each document SHOULD have a certificate (in Spanish) attached (glued?) to the back, and the Panamanian Consulate seal stamped over a corner so that it covers both the certificate AND your original document. (as proof that you didn't change the doc after receiving the stamp) Also, if they sent you the receipt still intact (with the white original, the canary, pink, and blue copies still attached underneath), then you can be sure this was an accident. The only receipt you SHOULD have received was the blue one...or one of the others (it says "duplicado" at the bottom. The "original" one gets filed at the Consulate in case the Panamanian judge has any questions later). Of course, we kept the original the first time and sent back the duplicates, and nobody complained. The point is, you should only have ONE copy. You need to call the Consulate and straighten this out. You'll probably have to pay for return shipping again (argh), but remember, it's all a tax credit. Call the main Consulate number, and when the person answers in Spanish, say, "Autenticaciones, por favor." (ow-tehn-tee-kah-see-YON-ehs) Then when somebody from the Authentications office answers, ask if they speak English...Most staff members do. Good luck! And take heart---this happened to us TWICE. Argh. (They were very apologetic, though, and got it back to us within 2 days.) Rebecca