Apostille Services for Any Country or US State

Order Apostille for Any Country Online

RCD Wealth’s Apostille Services offer clients the convenience of ordering and obtaining an apostille online for any country that is a member of the Hague Convention Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents. For non-member countries, we provide services for the facilitation of the highest level of document legalization as prescribed.

Simply send your notarized or public document to our office, and we will handle the process of obtaining the appropriate apostille. Once obtained, we will promptly return the document with the apostille to you or the designated party, whether it be a bank, government office, or any other destination.

Apostille Convention

The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, also known as the Apostille Convention or the Apostille Treaty, is an international treaty that establishes the modalities through which a document issued in one signatory country can be certified for legal purposes in all other signatory states. The certification, known as an apostille, is an internationally recognized validation comparable to domestic notarization.

Procedure

Apostilles are affixed by Competent Authorities designated by the government of each state party to the convention. These authorities, which can include embassies, ministries, courts, or local governments, are responsible for issuing apostilles. In the United States, for example, the Secretary of State of each state and their deputies normally serve as competent authorities. In the United Kingdom, all apostilles are issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

To be eligible for an apostille, a document must first be issued or certified by an officer recognized by the authority that will issue the apostille. In some cases, intermediate certifications may be required before a document is eligible for an apostille. For example, birth certificates from New York City must be certified by both the Office of Vital Records and the County Clerk of New York County before they can receive an apostille.

Information

The apostille itself consists of a stamp or printed form with 10 numbered standard fields. These fields include the country, the signatory’s name and capacity, the seal or stamp, the certification location and date, a unique identification number, the seal or stamp of the authority issuing the apostille, and the signature. This information can be placed directly on the document or attached as an allonge.

Eligible Documents

The convention covers four types of documents: court documents, administrative documents (such as civil status documents), notarial acts, and official certificates placed on private documents, such as certificates of registration or certificates of existence.

Legalization

For countries that have not signed the Apostille Convention, the process of certifying foreign legal documents for use varies. In some cases, special bilateral conventions exist between two countries. Otherwise, the document must be certified by the foreign ministry of the issuing country and then by the foreign ministry of the receiving country. Sometimes, these certifications are performed at embassies or consulates. This means the document must be certified twice before it can have legal effect in the receiving country.

States Party to the Convention

The Apostille Convention has 112 parties, including all members of the European Union and all but 10 members of the Hague Conference on Private International Law. The most recent state to accede to the convention is Chile.