When presenting your paperwork to another country, you need a form of authentication that verifies the attached signatures and seals. There are two types of validation:
- Have your document apostilled
- Have your document legalized by the Embassy/Consulate
The Hague Convention of 1961 established a uniform process of confirming the authenticity of documents. Countries belonging to this convention accept papers that are apostilled, while non-member countries only accept legalized documents that are processed through the Embassy or Consulate.
Don’t worry if you are unsure which verification your destination country requires, we will have your documents properly authenticated and quickly returned to you.
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Specific steps must be taken, and in the correct order, to have your papers successfully apostilled or legalized.
You must first obtain the original or certified copy of the document. Next, depending on your documents, you may need to bring them to the County Clerk’s office in the originating county.
After that, the papers are submitted to the Maryland Department of State for the Apostille. If needed, you may also need to send all of the paperwork to the U.S. Department of State for certification.
If your destination country requires legalization instead of an apostille, the next step is to have all documents submitted to the United States Department of State in Washington, D.C. Then, the final step is to have everything sent to the Embassy or Consulate
