INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENT SERVICES:
NATIONWIDE STATE-LEVEL APOSTILLE & AUTHENTICATION SERVICES IN ADDITION TO US DEPARTMENT OF STATE APOSTILLES, ATTESTATIONS & EMBASSY LEGALIZATIONS.
For decades, our team has successfully facilitated and expedited State & Federal level Apostilles, Authentications, Attestations and Embassy Legalizations.
Generally speaking, an apostille is an authentication certificate, issued by a competent authority in the United States, for the purposes of authenticating the credentials of the person who signed the document, which will be used and recognized in a foreign country.
In most US states, the Secretary of State is the sole issuing authority of state-level documents and apostilles.
The US Department of State, in Washington DC is the competent authority for Federal documents and apostilles.
In both cases, the apostille is attached to a document, like a coversheet, using a security feature, such as a staple or a grommet, which secures the apostille to the document. Tampering with or removing the security feature will render the document null and void.
State-level apostille example. Someone is requesting an apostille from the Secretary of State, often a courier who lives and or works nearby. They are responsible for indicating in which country the document will be used and recognized. For example, if the document is a vital record like a birth certificate, and the person who was born in Florida, it must be apostilled in Florida, even if they now live in Alaska! There are no exceptions.
Most people have never heard of apostilles, until they or someone they know NEEDS one! In summary, an apostille is the authentication of a document, originating in the United States and requiring recognition for use in any of the 93 foreign countries, currently party to the Hague Convention.
Click here to find a detailed list of the countries who are current members of the Hague Convention in English, Español and Français. https://www.hcch.net/
Successfully facilitating state-level apostilles and authentications, in Florida, since 2007.
Across the United States, we have appointed local courier services, who have the authority to appear in-person to expedite the processing and delivery of your important documents. This significantly reduces the overall turnaround time, much to the satisfaction of our regular clients who continue to refer our services around the world.
