Apostille Express Service Inc

1. Apostille Express Service Inc 1215 Main St Unit 115T, Tewksbury, MA 01876, United States +1 978-424-4629 Apostille Service What Is an Apostille? The word 'apostille' is a french word which has a very specific meaning in terms of the legalisation of international documents. In most jurisdictions around the world, this refers to a certificate giving by the ministry for foreign affairs of a country that a document has been signed by a notary according to the department's record of the notary's signature. There are a number of countries around the world which are a signatory to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961. Article 1 of Clause 4 of this convention said that from the day of commencement of the treaty, international documents no longer needed to be legalised but that they need to have an apostille attached to them. So if the country you are in is a signatory to this convention and the country receiving an international legal document is also a signatory there is no need for the process known as legalisation of a notarial signature, it may simply be dealt with through the process of getting an apostille. The documents covered by the convention are set out in Article 1 of the convention and basically include what are known as 'notarial acts'. Instead of legalisation, a certificate called an apostille needs to be obtained. In Australia, these can only be issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The issue of an Apostille means that the document does not need to be recertified in Australia by the foreign mission of the country where the document is to be used. When a document is to be used in a foreign country that is not a convention country, the consular officer or agent needs to be contacted to verify that the requirements of the particular country are met effectively. The most common procedure followed by a consulate is to affix a signature of the consul or a certificate to the document certifying the signatures of the notary and the representative of the department of foreign affairs and trade. It is important to remember that only the department of foreign affairs for the country issuing the apostille can prepare a document of this nature. Also, most of the time a foreign ministry will only issue a certificate where there is a signature of the notary on every page of the document. Some of the common documents which receive notarial seals are affidavits, land registration, filing of patents, trademarks, company registration and tendering documents. The exact requirements for each country around the world vary and are usually specific to each country.