DEAR PROSPECTIVE CLIENT!
Welcome to Apostille.US! At Foreign Documents Express.
Besides making sure that your documents will be accepted abroad by obtaining an Apostille or Consular Legalization, we can also play an important role in helping you create, retrieve and translate your documents. Our company has extensive experience in the preparation of all sorts of personal and corporate documents.
In order to help you locate the service you require, our website's easy to navigate sidebars are broken down into documents meant for Personal and Corporate use. Each link provides a thorough description of the purpose of the document as well as step-by-step instructions detailing what information we require from you in order to complete your request.
Whether you require a translation, legalization, an evaluation or any other type of service, you can always contact us by e-mail, fax or telephone (212) 233-7061. Experts are standing by to quickly answer your queries and help you decide what you require in order to achieve your goals.
Apostille.us - addresses the needs of people who choose to save hundreds of dollars on legal and expert fees when preparing their documents for use abroad.
If you ever used legal or specialized services for drawing a document for a foreign country, for getting an
APOSTILLE or
CONSULAR LEGALIZATIION, you'll probably know at least two things: number one, they are outrageously expensive, and number two, after you have spent a lot of money you still do not know any better how to do it the next time.
Apostille.us features:
Easy to follow instructions on the retieval of all kinds of personal and corporate documents from state and federal agencies
Thousands of sample documents (e.g. powers of attorney, affidavits, contracts, etc.) you can download and customize for your own needs
Concise explanation of procedures of authentication of different types of documents for all foreign jurisdictions
Full information on governmental and embassies' fees
What is an "Apostille" or "Authentication?"
Since October 15, 1981, the United States has been part of the 1961 Hague Convention abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents. The Convention provides for the simplified certification of public (including notarized) documents to be used in countries that have joined the convention.
Under the Hague Convention, signatory countries have agreed to recognize public documents issued by other signatory countries if those public documents are authenticated by the attachment of an internationally recognized form of authentication known as an "
apostille". The
Apostille ensures that public documents issued in one signatory country will be recognized as valid in another signatory country.
The sole function of the
Apostille is to certify the authenticity of the signature on the document; the capacity in which the person signing the document acted; and the identity of any stamp or seal affixed to the document.
An
Apostille issued by the Secretary of State is a one page document embossed with the Great Seal of a State. The
Apostille includes the facsimile signature of the individual issuing the certificate.
There are currently over 60 member states of the Hague convention and in addition to those countries many other countries will also recognize an
Apostille certificate (follow the link to a
list of these countries).
The Convention applies only to
public documents. These are documents emanating from an
authority or official connected with a court or tribunal of the State (including documents issued by an administrative, constitutional or ecclesiastical court or tribunal, a public prosecutor, a clerk or a process-server);
administrative documents; notarial acts; and official certificates which are placed on documents signed by persons in their private capacity, such as official certificates recording the registration of a document or the fact that it was in existence on a certain date and official and notarial authentications of signatures. The main examples of public documents for which
Apostille are issued in practice include
birth,
marriage and
death certificates; extracts from
commercial registers and other registers; patents; court rulings; notarial acts and notarial attestations of signatures; and
academic diplomas issued by public institutions. Diplomas issued by private institutions may not receive an apostille (apostillised) directly; however, a "private" diploma may, however, bear an official certificate issued by a notary, Solicitor, Agency or any other person or authority competent under the law of the State of origin of the diploma to authenticate the signature on the diploma. This official certificate is a public document under the Convention and thus may receive an apostille. In such a case the
Apostille does not relate to the diploma itself; instead it certifies the authenticity of the certificate on or accompanying the diploma.