Do you plan on doing business outside of the US? How about getting married in another country? Do you plan on working, studying, or teaching abroad? In today’s world, countless documents are signed and sent between countries, many of them notarized or including the signature of an authorized official. The challenge for individuals receiving the documents is knowing whether the Notary’s signature is legitimate.
An apostille is a certificate issued by a government agency verifying the authenticity of the signature of a Notary Public or other public official. In other words, an apostille confirms that the seal and signature of the Notary on a document is valid, and the notarization can be accepted by the receiving agency in the foreign country.
They are specifically used for documents going to the 156 countries that are signatories to the Hague Apostille Convention. Documents sent to countries that are not part of the Hague Convention may require additional certification from the U.S. Department of State.
An apostille agent assists customers in obtaining apostilles or authentications.
However, it’s important to make one thing clear: the Notary does not issue the apostilles or attach them to documents. That is the role of the state agency authorized to issue apostilles, usually the Secretary of State’s office.
Only an authorized government agency can place the actual certificate of apostille on the document. However, an apostille agent can provide other valuable services to assist customers in need of apostilles, as described below.
Apart from notarizing the signatures on a document, an apostille agent can provide a variety of services.
For example, an agent can provide courier services to deliver notarized documents requiring apostilles to the appropriate agency. This might entail sending the notarized document, a check for the processing fee, the apostille request form, and a return mailing label to the apostille-issuing agency on the customer’s behalf. The agency would then process the request, attach the apostille, and mail the document with the apostille back to the Notary or the customer.
Apostille agents also may contact the issuing agency on the customer’s behalf to request instructions related to obtaining an apostille.
For example:
Every apostille is issued by the government agency (usually the Secretary of State’s office, however, some states may have alternate issuing agents) in the state where the document ORIGINATED. For example, let’s say our customer went to school in California, now lives in Pennsylvania, and needs an apostille for his California school diploma. Because the diploma was issued in California, the apostille must be obtained from the California Secretary of State office.
The destination country may affect whether the customer needs authentication documentation instead of an apostille. In 1961, many countries joined the Hague Convention, which allows expedited authentication of documents sent between member nations. Most countries in the world are members of the Hague Convention, but some are not.
If the destination country is NOT a member of the 1961 Hague Convention, the document may require additional paperwork from the U.S. Department of State in addition to the apostille. In some instances, a customer may also want you to present the documents to an embassy of the destination country on their behalf.
All of the details mentioned will ensure that your document can and will receive the appropriate authentication (apostille) for its use abroad.
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Note: Legal Document Assistants are governed
by the following Sections of the California
Business and Professions Code: 6400-6401.6,
6402-6407 and 6408-6415. 8200-8232.4
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