Apostille Document Authenication & Certification

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 Apostille's 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.
  
  Member Nations

Albania	Andorra	Antigua	Argentina	Armenia	Aruba	Australia
Austria	Azerbaijan	Bahamas	Barbados	Barbuda	Belarus	Belgium
Belize	Bosnia Herzegovina	Botswana	Brunei Darussalam	Bulgaria	China Macau	China Hong Kong
Columbia	Cook Islands	Croatia	Cyprus	Czech Republic	Denmark	Dominica
Ecuador	El Salvador	Estonia	Fiji	Finland	France	Georgia
Germany	Greece	Grenada	Honduras	Hungary	Iceland	India
Ireland	Israel	Italy	Japan	Kazakhstan	Korea	Latvia
Lesotho	Liberia	Liechtenstein	Lithuania	Luxembourg	Macedonia	Malawi
Malta	Marshall Islands	Mauritius	Mexico	Moldova Republic of	Monaco	Montenegro
Namibia	Netherlands	New Zealand	Niue	Norway	Panama	Russia
Saint Kitts and Nevis	Saint Lucia	Saint Vincent Grenadines	Samoa	SanMarino	Serbia	Seychelles
Slovakia	Slovenia	South Africa	Spain	Suriname	Swaziland	Sweden
Switzerland	Tonga	Trinidad and Tobago	Turkey	Ukraine	United Kingdom U.K.	U.S.A.
Venezuela

  Non Member Nations

Afghanistan	Algeria	Angola	Bahrain	Bangladesh	Benin	Bhutan
Bolivia	Brazil	Burkina Fasso	Burma	Burundi	Cambodia	Cameroon
Canada	Cape Verde	Chad	Chile	China	Comoros	Congo
Costa Rica	Cuba	Djiboutti	Dominican Republic	East Timor	Egypt	Eritrea
Ethiopia	Gabon	Gambia	Ghana	Guatemala	Guinea	Guinea Bissau
Guyana	Haiti	Indonesia	Iran	Iraq	Ivory Coast	Jamaica
Jordan	Kenya	Kiribati	Kuwait	Kyrgyzstan	Laos	Lebanon
Libya	Madagascar	Malaysia Maldives	Mali	Mauritania	Micronesia	Moldova
Morocco	Mozambique	Myanmar	Nauru	Nepal	Nicaragua	Niger
Nigeria	North Korea	Oman	Pakistan	Palau	Palestine	Mission PLO
Paraguay	Peru	Philippines	Qatar	Rwanda	Saudi Arabia	Senegal
Sierra Leone	Singapore	Solomon	Somalia	Sri Lanka	Taiwan	Tajikistan
Tanzania	Thailand	Togo	Tunisia	Turkmenistan	Tuvalu	United Arab Emirates
Uganda	Uruguay	Uzbekistan	Vanuatu	Vietnam	Yemen	Zambia
Zimbabwe