Apostille Services

An Apostille, pronounced as "ah-po-steel," originates from the French term for certification. An Apostille is a specialized certificate issued by the Secretary of State that is attached to your original document to confirm its authenticity and legitimacy, ensuring its acceptance in countries that are members of the Hague Apostille Convention.

In 1961, many countries joined together to create a simplified method of authenticating documents for universal recognition. Members of the conference, referred to as the Hague Convention adopted a document referred to as an Apostille that would be recognized by all member countries. There are two categories of destination countries: those that are part of the Hague Convention and those that are not. Apostilles can exclusively be obtained for countries within the Hague Convention. If your intended destination falls outside the scope of the Hague Convention, it is categorized as a non-Hague Country. In such cases, authentication is required through the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington D.C. and/or embassy legalization for the specific country. If you are unsure what the process is for your specific document, give us a call.