Certification and Authentication with Apostille

Apostilled Documents Requiring Official Signatures

The state of Delaware provides authentication of official signatures on documents. Before the Apostille can be issued, the country of destination must be identified to determine as to whether the certification is an apostille or authentication. Since October 15, 1981, the United States has been part of the 1961 Hague Convention abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents. The Convention provides for the simplified certification of public (including notarized) documents to be used in countries that have joined the convention (see the list of countries). Documents destined for use in participating countries and their territories should be certified by one of the officials in the jurisdiction in which the document has been executed. Said official must have been designated as competent to issue certifications by "apostille" (usually in the office of the State Secretary of State of his/her counterpart) as provided for by the 1961 Hague Convention. The text of the Convention may be found in T.I.A.S. 10072; 33 U.S. Treaty Series (UST) 883; 527 U.N. Treaty Series (UNTS) 189, and Martindale-Hubble International Law Digest. With this certification by the Hague Convention apostille, the document is entitled to recognition in the country of intended use, and no certification by the Authentications Office or legalization by the embassy or consulate of the foreign country where the document is to be used is required. The Authentications Office only certifies documents from other federal agencies and officials from foreign governments with the apostille.

Apostille Authentication

May foreign countries require documents to be authenticated by the state of Delaware either using Apostille Authentication or if not a member of the Hague "Gold Sealed". In order for us to provide you with Apostilled Certification, you will have to order online individually the following:

• Certificate of Incorporation or Formation
• Certificate of Good Standing
• Certificate of Incumbency (Requires either a Corporate or Membership Resolution Attestation by the state of Delaware) (LINK)
• Attestation by a Foreign Embassy (LINK)

CONVENTION COUNTRIES The following countries are parties to the Hague Adoption Convention. We refer to these countries as Convention Countries. Intercountry adoptions between the United States and Convention countries are governed by Hague adoption procedures. Andorra Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria China, People's Republic of Costa Rica Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Ecuador Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland India Ireland Israel Italy Japan Korea, Republic of Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Mauritius Mexico Monaco Montenegro Netherlands New Zealand Norway Panama Paraguay Peru Poland Portugal Romania Russian Federation Serbia Slovakia Slovenia South Africa Spain Suriname Sweden Switzerland The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland United States of America Uruguay Venezuela Countries absent from the list are not party to the Hague Adoption Convention. We refer to those countries as Non-Convention countries. Intercountry adoptions between the United States and countries not listed below must follow non-Hague adoption procedures. Non-Convention countries Antigua and Barbuda Bahamas Bahrain Barbados Belize Botswana Brunei Darussalam Burundi Cape Verde Colombia Cook Islands Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Fiji Grenada Honduras Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Lesotho Liberia Liechtenstein Malawi Marshall Islands Mongolia Namibia Nicaragua Niue Oman Republic of Moldova Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Seychelles Swaziland Tajikistan Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Uzbekistan Vanuatu Territories Anguilla Bailiwick of Guernsey Barbados Bermuda British Antarctic British Soloman Islands British Guiana (Guyana) Cayman Dominica Falkland Islands Gibraltar Gilbert & Ellice Islands (Kiribati) Grenada Hong Kong The Isle of Man Jersey Montserrat New Hebrides (Vanuatu) Saint Christopher & Nevis Saint Helena Saint Lucia Saint Vincent Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) Turks & Caicos Virgin Islands Departments in Europe French Guiana Guadeloupe Martinique