An apostille (french for certification) is a special seal applied by a government authority to certify that a document is a true copy of an original.

Apostilles are accessible in countries, which signed the 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization of Foreign Public Documents, popularly recognized as The Hague Convention. This convention replaces the previously applied time-consuming chain certification process, exactly where you had to go to 4 unique authorities to get a document certified. The Hague Convention delivers for the simplified certification of public (including notarized) documents to be employed in nations and territories that have joined the convention.

Documents destined for use in participating nations and their territories should be certified by a single of the officials in the jurisdiction in which the document has been executed. With this certification by the Hague Convention Apostille, the document is entitled to recognition in the nation of intended use, and no certification by the U.S. Department of State, Authentications Workplace or legalization by the embassy or consulate is expected.

Note, though the apostille is an official certification that the document is a accurate copy of the original, it does not certify that the original document’s content material is right.

Why Do You Need an Apostille?

An apostille can be utilised anytime a copy of an official document from a further nation is needed. For example for opening a bank account in the foreign country in the name of your enterprise or for registering your U.S. business with foreign government authorities or even when proof of existence of a U.S. enterprise is necessary to enter in to a contract abroad. In all of these cases an American document, even a copy certified for use in the U.S., will not be acceptable. An apostille have to be attached to the U.S. document to authenticate that document for use in Hague Convention countries.

Who Can Get an Apostille?

Due to the fact October 15, 1981, the United States has been part of the 1961 Hague Convention abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents. Any one who requirements to use a U.S. public document (such as Articles of Organization or Incorporation issued by a Secretary of State) in one particular of the Hague Convention countries may perhaps request and obtain an apostille for that certain nation.

How to Get an Apostille?

Getting an apostille can be a complicated procedure. In most American states, the course of action entails acquiring an original, certified copy of the document you seek to confirm with an apostille from the issuing agency and then forwarding it to a Secretary of State (or equivalent) of the state in question with a request for apostille.

Nations That Accept Apostille

All members of the Hague Convention recognise apostille.

Nations Not Accepting Apostille

In nations which are not signatories to the 1961 convention and do not recognize the apostille, a foreign public document will have to be legalized by a consular officer in the nation which issued the document. In apostille dallas of an apostille, documents in the U.S. ordinarily will acquire a Certificate of Authentication.

Legalization is commonly accomplished by sending a certified copy of the document to U.S. Division of State in Washington, D.C., for authentication, and then legalizing the authenticated copy with the consular authority for the country exactly where the document is intended to be used.