Embassy legalization services involve authenticating your legal documents at an embassy in the US to verify their validity for use in another country. You may need consular authentication services if you are getting married in, are seeking employment in or plan to move to another country. Corporate documents may include certificates of incorporation, certificates of good standing or others.
The embassy authentication process can be complex; missteps can result in rejections and frustrating delays. The process depends on whether the country you need documents certified for is a member of The Hague Convention of 1961. In countries that follow this uniform process, documents may be apostilled to verify their authenticity.
For non-Hague Convention countries, the process depends on whether the documents you are working with were issued by a state government or by the U.S. government. State-issued documents such as birth or death certificates, driver’s licenses, divorce decrees, articles of incorporation and other records require state certification first, before being certified by the U.S. Department of State, and finally receiving an embassy certificate. Federally issued records — such as Social Security records, FBI background checks, Certificates of Naturalization and other federal documents — follow a different legalization process.
