California Secretary Of State Debra Bowen

Thank God this incompetent woman is booted out. It has taken me 2+ years to file my R-​12 (Statement of Information) 1-​page SI form for my LLC. It is still not done.
They can’t validate what’s wrong with the information but reject it or worse inform nothing. To get hold of someone on the phone is half-​day activity.
DEBRA BOWEN IS A TAX PAYERS’ LIABILITY. SHE CAN’T HANDLE /​MANAGE ANY ORGANIZATION WHERE DATA /​INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IS CRITICAL.

I came to the California Secretary of State Notary office for an Apostille on a notarized Power of Attorney document I needed to send to India. The place was easy to find but the parking info on the website was not fully accurate — the recommended garages closest to the building had signs saying they were for monthly pass holders only. I found parking at a public prepay lot a block away on P street between 11^th and 12^th — $ 3 per hour, $ 10 for 3, $ 15 max.
The notary is down a long hallway on the 2^nd floor. I took a number and filled a short form, waiting less than 5 minutes to be called. There was an issue with a typo on my notarized document but the staff member agreed it wasn’t my fault — I was asked to pay the fees (they take credit cards, debit cards, checks, even cash!), and come back in a short while.
When I returned after a leisurely stroll around the State Capitol (just a block away) she had checked with her supervisor that it was ok to proceed with the typo, confirmed that my notary was legitimate (which is what an Apostille does), and readied my documents, stamp and all.
Good experience overall — nothing to worry about if you read all the instructions on the website (which was accurate except for the parking info) and have all your papers with you.

I give this government agency 3 stars because it took entirely too long to process my notary paperwork. 3 Months is entirely too long. I did call the number, and they answered right away, and were very helpful. They do email you to let you know if you passed or failed, so that is nice, but you really cant do much without the official paperwork. Also the state proctors at the test site were really good, and very friendly. It is a little wierd that they have 3 people there eyeballing you while you take the test, to make sure no one cheats. Otherwise, it was an ok experience.