What is Apostille?

If the document is intended for use in a country which is a party to a treaty called the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents ('Hague Legalization Convention') obtaining a special 'apostille' certificate is generally all that is required. The procedure is explained in detail in Hague Convention Legalization Procedure.

Since the authorities designated by the U.S. to affix the apostille can only attest to the validity of certain seals, it may be necessary to obtain some intermediate seals on the document, depending on the origin of the document, before the apostille can be affixed. There is no single U.S. competent authority to issue the Convention apostille. There are different authorities for documents originating in state and local jurisdictions, Federal courts and Federal government agencies. There are three levels of U.S. competent authorities, one for Federal agencies, one for U.S. (federal) courts, and one for state documents, including documents executed before notaries.