Apostille Services
In 1961 many nations joined together to create a
simplified method of "legalizing" 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 nations. Since
October 15, 1981, the United States has been part of the 1961 Hague
Convention abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign
Public Documents (Only). The Convention provides for the simplified
certification of public (including notarized) documents to be used in
countries that have joined the convention. Documents destined for use
in participating countries and their territories should be certified by
one of the officials in the jurisdiction in which the document has been
executed. Said official must have been designated as competent to issue
certifications by "Apostille" (usually in the office of the State
Secretary of State of his/her counterpart) as provided for by the 1961
Hague Convention.
An Apostille (pronounced
"ah-po-steel") is simply the name for a specialized certificate, issued
by the State Government. The Apostille is attached to your original
document, to verify it is legitimate and authentic, and therefore it
will be accepted internationally.The
apostille consists of 10 elements. The Convention requires that all
apostilles be numbered consecutively, with individual numbers applied
to each apostille issued.The recognized standard Apostille contains a
seal and 10 mandatory references: name of country from which the
document emanates, name of person signing the document, the capacity in
which the person signing the document has acted, in the case of
unsigned documents, the name of the authority that has affixed the seal
or stamp, place of certification date of certification, the authority
issuing the certificate, number of certificate, seal or stamp of
authority issuing certificate and signature of authority issuing
certificate.
Under no circumstances should customers detach the Apostille to photocopy the documents.
Documents
sent to member nations, completed with an Apostille at the state level,
may be submitted directly to the member nation without further action.
Documents sent to non-member nations requiring a Certification of the
signature of the state's public official at state level, then must be
tramitted to Authenication Office of the Departnment of State in
Washington, D.C. for authenication of the State Official's Signature.
The
California Secretary of State provides authenication of public official
signatures on documents to be used outside the United States of
America. The country of destination determines whether the
authentication is an Apostille or Certification
An Apostille is
a certificate issued by the California Secretary of State that proves
the authenticity of a public official signature and seal. The
Apostille is typically attached to a notarized document as proof of
authentication when that document is being sent to a country which
abides by the Hague Convention.
The Apostille certification is
from the office of the Secretary of State, after reviewing the
document's signature and validating it's legitimacy. It is an official
state government certification. It is a full 8 1/2" x 11" page
certificate, not simply a seal. The Apostille is permanently attached,
and you cannot remove the staples or separate it from your original
document.
All Apostille certificates will look the same for all
the countries you request an Apostille for. There is no difference
between an Apostille which will be used for Mexico and an Apostille for
Russia. Similarly, there is no difference between an Apostille for a
Birth Certificate and an Apostille for a Marriage Certificate, or a
Power of Attorney or a Court Divorce Decree. The Apostille verbage made
change due to destination county for Apostille.The Apostille will look
the same. However, a few countries have a different requirement other
than an Apostille, and your document would receive a Legalization
Certificate instead.
Documents notarize by us or need Orange County Public official authenicated will normaly
take between 1 to 2 business days to get an Apostille attached to it.
Documents notarize by notaries outside of Orange County or Documents
with Public Officials outside of Orange County may take longer,
depending on what Southern California County they are register with.
Apostille Common Documents
Power of Attorney
Articles of Incorporation
Articles of Organization
By Laws
Certificates of Good Standings
Merger Agreements
Deeds of Assignment
Trademarks
Adoption Papers
Distributorship Agreement
Marriage Licenses
Birth Cerftificates
Schools Records
References and Job Certifications
Background Checks
Patent Applications
Authenication of Schools records (e,g., college
transcripts) must obtain a notarized copy of the record from the high
school, university, etc., before submitting documents for authenication.
Any document executed by County Health Officers and County Local Registrars can be authenicated only
if the document is first certified by the county clerk/recorder.
Documents certified by a county official (e.g. county clerk) should
have a certification date within the last five years or a new certified
copy should be obtained from appropriate county official.
Apostille
Services offer require documents to be submitted to Secretary of State
for Apostille must be Authenicated by local County Clerk/Recorder
Office and sign by appropriate public official or must be notarized by
a California Notary Public.
| County Clerks or Recorders | Court Administrators | Excecutive Clerks | Judges of Superior Court |
| Notaries Public | State Officials | Executive Officers | Officers whose authority is not limited to any particular county |