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 obtainable 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 course of action, where you had to go to four various authorities to get a document certified. The Hague Convention supplies for the simplified certification of public (such as notarized) documents to be made use of in countries and territories that have joined the convention.
Documents destined for use in participating countries 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 country of intended use, and no certification by the U.S. Division of State, Authentications Office or legalization by the embassy or consulate is essential.
Note, although 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 Want an Apostille?
An apostille can be used anytime a copy of an official document from yet another country is required. For apostille near me for opening a bank account in the foreign country in the name of your firm or for registering your U.S. corporation with foreign government authorities or even when proof of existence of a U.S. business is needed to enter in to a contract abroad. In all of these instances an American document, even a copy certified for use in the U.S., will not be acceptable. An apostille should be attached to the U.S. document to authenticate that document for use in Hague Convention nations.
Who Can Get an Apostille?
Since October 15, 1981, the United States has been aspect of the 1961 Hague Convention abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents. Any one who needs to use a U.S. public document (such as Articles of Organization or Incorporation issued by a Secretary of State) in one of the Hague Convention countries may request and receive an apostille for that certain country.
How to Get an Apostille?
Acquiring an apostille can be a complex course of action. In most American states, the procedure entails getting 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 query with a request for apostille.
Countries That Accept Apostille
All members of the Hague Convention recognise apostille.
Countries Not Accepting Apostille
In countries which are not signatories to the 1961 convention and do not recognize the apostille, a foreign public document need to be legalized by a consular officer in the country which issued the document. In lieu of an apostille, documents in the U.S. typically will obtain a Certificate of Authentication.
Legalization is ordinarily achieved by sending a certified copy of the document to U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., for authentication, and then legalizing the authenticated copy with the consular authority for the nation exactly where the document is intended to be utilised.