An “apostille” is a form of authentication issued to documents for use in countries that participate in the Hague Convention of 1961. A list of countries that accept apostilles is provided by the US State Department.

If the country of intended use does not participate in the Hague Convention , documents being sent to that country can be “authenticated” or “certified”.

The Office of the Secretary of State provides authentication certificates to U.S. citizens and foreign nationals on documents that will be used overseas. Types of documents include corporate documents such as company bylaws and articles of incorporation, power of attorney, diplomas, transcripts, letters relating to degrees, marital status, references and job certifications, home studies, deeds of assignments, distributorship agreements, papers for adoption purposes, etc. The U.S. State Department provides general information about document authentications and apostilles under the Hague Convention of 1961 .

Apostille only pertains to public documents. Primary examples of public instruments are marriage, birth and death certificates as well as court documents, patents and even diplomas.

Getting documents apostilled can be complex, especially if it is your first encounter with the entire document authentication subject. Our Apostille specialists will review your documents, advise of any required steps on your part and confirm apostille eligibility within one business day and, in most cases, even sooner.

We service individuals, corporate, legal firms, and government organizations.

Examples of documents that may require authentication for use abroad include:

• company bylaws
• dossiers
• powers of attorney
• trademarks
• diplomas
• transcripts
• treaties
• warrants
• extraditions
• agreements
• certificates of good standing
• courier letters
• adoption paperwork
• wills

• Have the document you need Authenticated in hand
• Have your ID or DL on hand
• Call to set an appointment – 539-302-7499
• Contact Us via Fast Quote

Legalization is the official process of document authentication granted by international governments. Presently, more than 200 countries accept foreign documents certified by Apostille. However, there are certain restrictions regarding its acceptance. Some countries still reserve the right to deny the acceptance of Apostilled documents issued by other countries, which are also parties to the Convention. For example, documents apostilled in Albania, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Mongolia, and the Dominican Republic are not recognized by Germany, Belgium, Greece, and Spain, despite all these States having signed the international agreement. In cases such as this, and case the documents are intended to be presented in a country that is not a party of the Apostille Convention,  an embassy or consular legalization of documents must be done by a foreign authority to be recognized.