An apostille (french for certification) is a special seal applied by a government authority to certify that a document is a correct copy of an original.
Apostilles are available in nations, which signed the 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization of Foreign Public Documents, popularly identified as The Hague Convention. This convention replaces the previously employed time-consuming chain certification method, exactly where you had to go to 4 distinctive authorities to get a document certified. The Hague Convention delivers for the simplified certification of public (which includes notarized) documents to be applied in countries and territories that have joined the convention.
Documents destined for use in participating countries and their territories need to be certified by 1 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 Office or legalization by the embassy or consulate is required.
Note, while the apostille is an official certification that the document is a true copy of the original, it does not certify that the original document’s content is right.
Why Do You Have to have an Apostille?
An apostille can be utilised anytime a copy of an official document from another country is necessary. For instance for opening a bank account in the foreign country in the name of your organization or for registering your U.S. organization with foreign government authorities or even when proof of existence of a U.S. corporation is necessary to enter in to a contract abroad. In all of these circumstances an American document, even a copy certified for use in the U.S., will not be acceptable. An apostille will have to be attached to the U.S. document to authenticate that document for use in Hague Convention countries.
Who Can Get apostille services ft worth ?
Because October 15, 1981, the United States has been component of the 1961 Hague Convention abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents. Anyone who wants to use a U.S. public document (such as Articles of Organization or Incorporation issued by a Secretary of State) in a single of the Hague Convention countries might request and receive an apostille for that certain nation.
How to Get an Apostille?
Acquiring an apostille can be a complicated method. In most American states, the procedure entails obtaining 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.
Countries Not Accepting Apostille
In nations which are not signatories to the 1961 convention and do not recognize the apostille, a foreign public document have 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 typically 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 nation exactly where the document is intended to be utilised.