Apostille
The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, the Apostille convention or the Apostille treaty is an international treaty drafted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law. It specifies the modalities through which a document issued in one of the signatory countries can be certified for legal purposes in all the other signatory states. Such a certification is called an apostille (French: certification). It is an international certification comparable to a notarisation in domestic law.
ProcedureIn states parties, apostilles are affixed by Competent Authorities designated by the government.[2] A list of these authorities is maintained by the Hague Conference on Private International Law. Examples of designated authorities are embassies, ministries, courts or (local) governments. For example, in the United States, the Secretary of State of each state and his or her deputies are usually competent authorities. In the United Kingdom, all apostilles are issued by theForeign and Commonwealth Office in London.
To be eligible for an apostille, a document must first be issued or certified by an officer recognised by the authority that will issue the apostille. For example, in the US state of Vermont, the Secretary of State maintains specimen signatures of all notaries public, so documents that have been notarised are eligible for apostilles.[3] Likewise, courts in the Netherlands are eligible of placing an apostille on all municipal status documents directly. In some cases, intermediate certifications may be required in the country where the document originates before it will be eligible for an apostille. For example, in New York City, the Office of Vital Records (which issues, among other things, birth certificates) is not directly recognised by the New York Secretary of State.[4] As a consequence, the signature of the City Clerk must be certified by theCounty Clerk of New York County to make the birth certificate eligible for an apostille.[5][6]
The apostille does not give information regarding the quality of the document, but certifies the signature (and the capacity of who placed it) and correctness of the seal/stamp on the document which must be certified.
[edit]ApostilleApostille issued by Norwegian authoritiesThe apostille itself is a stamp or printed form consisting of 10 numbered standard fields. On the top is the text APOSTILLE, under which the text Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961 (French: Hague Convention of 5 October 1961) is placed.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostille_convention
ProcedureIn states parties, apostilles are affixed by Competent Authorities designated by the government.[2] A list of these authorities is maintained by the Hague Conference on Private International Law. Examples of designated authorities are embassies, ministries, courts or (local) governments. For example, in the United States, the Secretary of State of each state and his or her deputies are usually competent authorities. In the United Kingdom, all apostilles are issued by theForeign and Commonwealth Office in London.
To be eligible for an apostille, a document must first be issued or certified by an officer recognised by the authority that will issue the apostille. For example, in the US state of Vermont, the Secretary of State maintains specimen signatures of all notaries public, so documents that have been notarised are eligible for apostilles.[3] Likewise, courts in the Netherlands are eligible of placing an apostille on all municipal status documents directly. In some cases, intermediate certifications may be required in the country where the document originates before it will be eligible for an apostille. For example, in New York City, the Office of Vital Records (which issues, among other things, birth certificates) is not directly recognised by the New York Secretary of State.[4] As a consequence, the signature of the City Clerk must be certified by theCounty Clerk of New York County to make the birth certificate eligible for an apostille.[5][6]
The apostille does not give information regarding the quality of the document, but certifies the signature (and the capacity of who placed it) and correctness of the seal/stamp on the document which must be certified.
[edit]ApostilleApostille issued by Norwegian authoritiesThe apostille itself is a stamp or printed form consisting of 10 numbered standard fields. On the top is the text APOSTILLE, under which the text Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961 (French: Hague Convention of 5 October 1961) is placed.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostille_convention