Apostilles USA - 1-888-256-1404- Toronto Canada - Buffalo, NY - Nashua, NH - Oakland, CA Assignments accepted in USA Apostilles Apostilles are used when public documents are being transferred between countries that are party to the Hague Apostille Convention of 1961. This international treaty streamlined the cumbersome, traditional procedure for authenticating documents. An apostille is issued by your Secretary of State’s office or Notary commissioning agency. The single apostille is the only certification needed. Once prepared and verified, the apostille is attached to and sent along with the notarized documents. This all happens after the notarization, and requires no action on your part. Authentication certificates are used for destination nations that are not party to the Hague Convention. Instead of a single apostille, the document needs several authentication certificates, including those from your commissioning agency, the U.S. Department of State, the consul of the destination country and potentially another government official in the country. The requirements and processing time for authentication certificates will vary from country to country. What’s is he Notary’s Role? Your only respsibonility is to notarize the document itself. Because the document is destined for another country, the notarization must be performed accurately to ensure that there aren’t any problems on the receiving end. For example, some judges presiding over adoption cases in other countries may reject documents not properly notarized. Keep in mind, also, that as with any notarized documents passing through a Notary regulator’s office, the paperwork will command particularly close scrutiny. Any notarial errors discovered may result in an enforcement action against you.