What is an Apostille
An apostille is a special certificate issued by a government to authenticate the origin of a public document. It essentially certifies the authenticity of the signature, the capacity in which the signatory acted, and, where appropriate, the identity of the seal or stamp on the document.
The primary purpose of an apostille is to make a document (like a birth certificate, school transcripts, marriage license, court order, diploma, or notarized other notarized documents) issued in one country legally recognized and valid in another country, without the need for further diplomatic or consular legalization.
This simplified authentication process is established by the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (1961). If both the country where the document was issued and the country where it will be used are members of this Hague Convention, then an apostille is the correct and sufficient form of authentication.
(1) important to note that an apostille does not validate the content of the document itself, only the official’s signature and seal.
(2) an apostille does not include translation services, if the country requires translation, a separate certified translation will be needed
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the process
documents you need
costs
- determine if an apostille or authentication is needed
- determine if document(s) are public or private
- ensure all signatures and seals are original, clear and legible
- submit to the “correct” authority
- documents are returned (may take up to 6 weeks)
- expedited services are available
- the original document to be apostilled; if it is a public record (birth certificate, marriage license, death certificate, court order, etc.) it must be certified
- valid photo ID (state-issued ID or passport
- info about the document (issuing state, date, exact destination country
- any specific instructions from the receiving country or entity (is translation required, is wet seal required on the apostille, any specific format requirements)
- payment for service (money order, credit card & cash are accepted
- state filing fee (mandatory)
- US Dept of State fee (for federal documents)
- notary fee
- translation fee (if required)
- shipping / courier fees (standard vs expedited)
- cost per document
- document retrieval (if assistance is needed in obtaining original, certified copies of vital records)
- Red Ribbon legalization fee (for non-Hague Convention countries)
- resubmission fee if document is rejected due to client error