Notary Public Legalization

Notarization refers to a notary formally confirming your signature of a document. Notaries do not verify the veracity of the facts contained in the document. Only certain persons may be notaries, including lawyers, clerks of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, chancellors-general, attorneys general and magistrates. When you have a notarized document, the notary will ask you to take an oath or confirm the elements contained in the document, and the notary will sign and stamp the document with his seal after observing that you are signing it and verifying your identity. A government-issued document with an apostille does not require additional legalization by the U.S. Department of State or legalization by a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad to be recognized in a participating country. The U.S. State Department will not issue apostilles for government-issued documents. The Sacramento public counter is currently closed. Instead of a personal service, apostille requests can be submitted in the designated mailbox in the lobby. After processing, the customer will be informed by telephone that his request can be collected between 14:00 and 14:30 in the lobby of the first floor. Please note that if the country where you wish to use the document is a party to the Hague Convention, you only need an apostille, not legalization.

An apostille indicates the certification of the notary`s seal by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is indicated by the attachment of a certificate to the document. Unlike legalization, nothing is needed after that. Documents that may require an apostille or legalization for use outside the country include certificates of incorporation, powers of attorney, and marriage certificates. The apostille is a creation of an international treaty, the Hague Convention of 1961. The United States of America acceded to the Hague Convention in 1981. The Convention provides, inter alia, for the certification of public documents to be used in acceding countries. In accordance with the provisions of the Convention, this Office issues apostilles only for documents intended for use in other countries that are also signatories to the Convention. This document corresponds to a certificate of authority used in countries not participating in the Hague Treaty. These types of “public records” include, but are not limited to, birth or death certificates, marriage certificates, divorce decrees, school reports and diplomas. An apostille request can be made in person or by mail. The documents are processed by the competent department within this agency. Requests for corporate documents that require an apostille should be directed to the Companies Section.

Apostille applications for documents issued before a Texas notary, documents issued by state officials (such as the state registrar, district judges, motor vehicle administrators, etc.), and certified true copies issued by county officials and local registrars within the past five years must be filed with the authentication unit. The Texas Secretary of State may issue an apostille on documents issued by persons registered with that agency, including county officers, notaries, and state officials. Birth/death certificates recently issued by local registrars must have been issued within the last three (3) years in order for the Secretary of State to issue an apostille. There are, of course, discrepancies, so please visit the National Association of Notaries (www.nationalnotary.org/) for more information or download the notarial manuals that are sometimes issued by the Secretary of State to their notaries. Alternatively, you can also find this link on the National Association of Secretaries of State website to find information pages for state notaries by selecting a state or territory from the drop-down menu. Knowledge of the Commission`s district is sometimes more or less important to the notary, as some states require notarized documents to be brought to the clerk of the Circuit Court (county) for legalization in the county where the notary was appointed for apostille or legalization of documents by the Secretary of State. The purpose of the apostille is to “remove the requirement of diplomatic or consular legalization for foreign public documents”. The completed apostille certifies the authenticity of the signature, the capacity in which the person who signed the document acted and identifies the seal/stamp bearing the document. The California Secretary of State provides an apostille to certify the signatures of California officials on documents for use outside the United States of America. In the Bahamas, legal documents can be authenticated by different methods, depending on their use for the authenticated document: legalization, legalization, or apostille. This article explains what these three methods are and the differences between them.

If a document needs to be translated, a notary will attest to the translator`s signature on the translation and the document to be translated will be submitted for certification along with the notarized translation. Registrable documents are issued by an official of the State of Texas. Writable documents cannot be notarized. This includes certified copies of birth/death certificates, vehicle title histories, etc.; documents issued by a district official, including certified copies of marriage certificates, divorce decrees, probate wills, judgments, birth or death certificates, etc.; Documents issued by a municipal or local registrar, including certified copies of birth/death certificates. You must submit the complete document for authentication. The originals and/or certified true copies submitted for certification must have been issued within the last five years. Application for an official certificate or apostille – DO NOT use in procedures concerning the adoption of one or more children – Form 2102. For the public recognition of documents abroad, notarization is an important step before the actual apostille or legalization. It is often necessary to provide certified true copies or notarized originals (e.g. depending on the requirements of the foreign embassy/consulate/mission) with certified (notarized) translations if the language of the document is not English.

To use certain legal documents outside of the Bahamas, you may need legalization or an apostille.