About Apostille For Legal And Official Documents

An Apostille certifies the signatures, stamps and seals on an official legal document so that it can be recognized as authentic in a foreign country. The process of confirming the authenticity of a document for use in another country is often complex and time-consuming. In 1961, a convention was adopted that simplified this process by replacing the chain of legalization with a simple certificate of authentication known as an Apostille. URL https://apostille-usa.com/pennsylvania/

Apostilles are issued for documents that were originally issued in a country that is a signatory to the Hague Convention and which are to be used in a different country that also signs the convention. However, some countries that are not members of the Hague Convention require a full legalization instead of an Apostille. You can check this by checking the list of Hague Convention member countries here.

Apostille Requirements Explained Clearly

The process of getting a document authenticated varies depending on whether it is a private or state/county-issued document or a federally-issued document. If the document is federally-issued, it must be sent to the U.S. Department of State Authentication Office for authentication. The requirements, costs and address for this can be found here.

For private or state/county-issued documents, you will need to contact the Secretary of State for the jurisdiction where the document was issued. Each state has their own apostille and legalization requirements, and Maryland is no exception. You can find the contact information for Maryland’s Secretary of State here.