It's possible that you might not have heard of the term apostille document and you might wonder if you will ever need one. An apostille document is any document created or issued within the United States that needs to be legalized or apostilled before being used in a foreign country. The document goes through an interesting verification process to be considered apostilled.

Examples of legal documents that can be apostilled include a Power of Attorney that gives a person the power to represent an individual or a company and their interests in a foreign country. It can also be documents that a person needs to have to work overseas, including police background checks, school transcripts, degrees, and diplomas.

Will you need to apostille a document? How is a document apostilled?

Where is the Document Going?

Before you attempt to get your document apostilled, you need to know which country it is going to. Not all countries in the world are a part of the worldwide convention that agreed to the terms of admitting legal documents into their country for use. This convention is known as the Hague Convention, and it comprises of hundreds of countries around the world, but it might not include the one you wish to send your document to.

If the document is going to one of the Hague Convention countries than your document can be authenticated using the apostille route, typically issued via the Secretary of State. If it's going to a country that's not a member of the Hague convention, such as Canada, then the document will need to be certified another way and not by the Secretary of State.

How Does it Work?

In order for your document to be sent and used with a member country, it must be verified as an authentic United States document. This means it must go through several verification levels before heading to its destination.

Once you have signed your document - typically in front of a Notary Public after providing proof of your identity, it is then signed by the Notary Public themselves. Their signature is then verified by your state's county clerk office and then onto the Secretary of State.

If the document is going to an embassy for legalization, the Secretary of State's signature will be verified by the US Department of State. This will then be verified by the Embassy of the destination country in which the document is headed. For more information, contact a company like ApostilleInt.