What is the Difference Between an Apostille and a Certification?

There is a difference between an Apostille and a Certification.  To legalize a document by Apostille is a two step process, depending on the type of document submitted for an Apostille certification.

The first step is to have the document notarized in front of a Certified Notary Public licensed in your state.  The purpose of the notarization is to authenticate the signer.  However, notarizations do not apply to government issued documents such as Certified Birth Certificates, Death Certificates, Marriage Certificates or any other document issued by the appropriate State or Federal agency,  For example, if you are submitting a Power of Attorney to be used overseas, it has to be notarized and then submitted to the State Secretary of State for the Apostille.  Once the State Secretary of State issues the Apostille, your document is ready to be used in the destination country as all the signatory countries have agreed to this one step process.

With the Document Certification, the legalization of the document can be a four step process as these documents are for use in countries that do not adhere to the Hague Convention of Apostille Certifications.  With a standard document certification, the document in question first has to be notarized.  Next, it requires a Certification from the appropropriate State Secretary.  Subsequently, the document has to be mailed in the United States Department of State for their official certification of the document as well.  Lastly, after all this is completed, the document needs to be presented to the appropriate consulate or embassy of the country to which the document will be used, for their official stamp as well.

As you can see, obtaining an Apostille is a much easier process.  However, as stated earlier, not all countries adhere to the Hague Convention of Apostilles.  For a list of countries that adhere to the convention, visit: http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=states.listing.  Any country that is not listed on this page means that you will have to go through the document certification process.

About the author:
Varouj Asdourian is the owner / operator of A-1 Apostille and CA Express Apostille Service located in Los Angeles, CA.  His company has completed thousands of document Apostille and Certifications for California issued / notarized documents since 2005.

What is an Apostille and Why is it Important for Documents Being Used Overseas

     

The term "Apostille" is a French term which literally means "to certify."  The purpose of an Apostille is to certify that the notary or the government official who signed off on the document and certified it, is a legitimate authority designated to do so.  It is to establish the validity of the document authenticator.

When a document is to be used overseas, most nations require that the document be notarized or certified and the signature of the individual certifying the document, be validated by the office of Secretary of State from one of the fifty United States or by the United States State Department in Washington D.C.  

Not all nations are member of the Hague Convention of 1961, which established the rules for Apostille certification.  If a nation is not a signatory of the Hague Treaty, the document can still be certified or authenticated however, it is not an Apostille.  It is referred to as simply an Authentication.  You can refer to the following link to see which nations adhere to the Hague Convention:  Hague Convention Members.  If the nation you are sending the documents to is not listed here, it means that you will need an Authentication only.

Why is an Apostille Important?

An Apostille is important because it gives the receiver of the document the knowledge and the confidence that the document being presented to them is authentic and actually signed by the individual whose signature appears on the document.  With the authentication of the signature of the notary, and the certification of the notary, the document is ready to be utilized in the designated country to which it is headed.

About the Author:

Varouj Asdourian is the owner / operator of A-1 Apostille and CA Express Apostille Service located in Los Angeles, CA offering Apostille services for all California Documents and Federal documents,