Apostille For Notarized DocumentsApostille For Notarized Documents

Article about Apostille For Notarized Documents

Apostilles and Certificates of Authentication are ways to verify signatures or stamps on important documents such as court orders, contracts, birth or death certificates, educational diplomas, etc. The type of document you have and the country you are using it in determines whether or not you need to authenticate it.

The United States is a member of the 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents. The Convention allows signatory countries to recognize each other’s public documents by certifying them with an internationally recognized form of authentication known as an “Apostille.”

Before a how to apostille documents can be certified as an apostille or Certificate of Authentication, it must first be verified for authenticity by the County Clerk. This is done by comparing the signature on the document to the original signature of the notary on his or her commission card, and it must also be notarized by the notary who signed the document.

Apostille for Corporate Documents and Business Filings

Afterwards, the document can be submitted to the U.S. Department of State Authentication Office in Washington, D.C. for an apostille or full legalization (see their website for costs, requirements and address information). For documents issued by a federal government agency, you will need to contact the issuing department directly for the process of having it authenticated. See our Authentication of Federal Documents article for more information. Apostilles and Certificates of Authentication include the facsimile New York Secretary of State seal, and the apostille is stamped with the wording “authenticated under the authority of the New York Secretary of State.”

…