Understanding Apostilles as a Notary

Apostilles and authentications are certificates attached by a government official to notarized documents that are being sent to other countries. It’s up to your signer — not the notary — to request one from the appropriate government agency. For more information, visit the Notary Bulletin: https://bit.ly/UnderstandingApostilles

Even though you aren’t responsible for obtaining an apostille, signers often ask about them, so it’s a good idea to understand what they are and how they work.

What's the difference?
1:06 - Apostille certificates: Apostilles are used when public documents are transferred between countries that adhere to the Hague Apostille Convention of 1961. This international treaty streamlined the cumbersome procedure for authenticating documents.

1:46 - Authentication certificates
Authentication certificates are used for those destination nations not part of the Hague Convention. Instead of a single apostille, the document may need several authentication certificates from different agencies, such as your state commissioning agency, the U.S. Department of State, the consul of the destination country and potentially another government official in the destination country.

The Notary’s role
2:48 - Your only responsibility is to notarize the document itself properly, to ensure there aren’t any problems on the receiving end. Documents sent to other countries may be rejected if not properly notarized.

Can Notaries provide apostille services?
3:04 - Yes. You essentially provide a courier service to deliver and return the paperwork to customers. These are not considered "notarial" acts, so the Notary may charge a separate fee to the customer for these courier services.


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