Managing international documents is often tedious and time-consuming. Rather than spending valuable time dealing with various government agencies, let us apostillize and/or legalize your documents on your behalf.
We have worked with the various government agencies, many of the local consulates, as well as the embassies in Washington DC. For both families and businesses, we will help you accomplish your goals efficiently and with care and professionalism.
Depending on the destination country, a document that is intended for international use needs either an apostille or authenticated legalization certificate. Without these certificates, your document may not be recognized in a foreign country. Generally speaking, documents that can be notarized can be apostillized or legalized.
An apostille, (a-pos-TEE, French for certification), is a certificate that authenticates the origins of a public document. In the Untied States, apostilles are issued by the US Department of State and the relevant Department of State. The apostille verifies the authenticity of a public official’s signature and seal.
Countries that are signatories of the Apostille Convention (the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents) will accept the apostille as proof of authentication.
For more information on what an apostille is and its purpose, view this pdf.
You can check this site to see if your country is part of the Apostille Convention click here.
If the document is to be used in a country that does not accept apostilles, a more complex process for an authentication legalization certificate is required. In most cases, after being authenticated by the New York Department of State, the documents will require further processing at the federal level and/or consulates, embassies and chamber of commerce.
As the authentication legalization process varies from country to country, the time and cost of obtaining an authentication can differ. Please contact us for more details.
We have worked with various countries such as:
*Notary New York is not a law firm and cannot give legal advice. Only an attorney can give legal advice. Please contact the receiving party / destination country for specific questions regarding your document(s).
*In order to legalize business documents, some consulates/embassies may require a Certificate of Good Standing, business license, and/or a Certificate of Incorporation (Articles of Incorporation) or Articles of Association.
*Please note that successful submission of the application does not guarantee approval/authentication of the documents.
We have obtained apostilles and/or authentications/legalizations for the following countries. If your country is not on this list, please call us for more information.