In 1961 many nations joined together to create a simplified method of "legalizing" documents for universal recognition. Members of the conference, referred to as the Hague Convention, adopted a document referred to as an Apostille that would be recognized by all member nations.

Documents sent to member nations, completed with an Apostille at the state level, may be submitted directly to the member nation without further action.

If your document is going to one of the 69 member countries of the Hague Convention then your document will simply require an apostille issued at the state level. Once the apostille is attached the document may be sent directly to the member nation with no further action.

Documents going to a non-member countries will be issued a certification and then must be transmitted to the Authentication Office of the Department of State in Washington, D.C. for further processing: http://www.state.gov/m/a/auth/

The most common types of documents include:

• Marriage Licenses, Divorce agreements, Divorce decree
• Birth Certificates, Marriage Certificates, Death Certificates
• Single Status to Marry, No record of a Marriage
• Criminal Record
• Power of Attorney - General, Special, Finance, Real Estate etc.
• Notarized copies of Passport, Affidavits, and other documents
• Papers for ADOPTION purposes
• Transcripts (School, College, University, or any other issuing agency)
• Diploma, Degree Certificates, Graduation Records
• Corporate documents, such as
  • Articles of Incorporation, Certificate of Incorporation
  • Merger Agreements
  • Authorization letter for Bank, Finance, Office, and related company matters
  • Certificates of Amendment
  • Certificate of good standing
  • Power of Attorney
  • Certificate of Incumbency
  • Corporate Resolution
  • Certificate of Origin
  • Corporate Forms
  • Joint Venture Agreements
  • Stock Purchase agreement in foreign companies
  • Business Letter of Invitation
  • Permission to Travel, Consent by Parent(s) to travel with Minor Children

Please note that the list above is just illustrative of some of the more common documents that we receive. There are thousands of other document types that require an Apostille.

Santa Monica Notary offers fast, local Apostille service for Los Angeles county.

Notarized Documents

Documents need to be notarized before receiving an Apostille.

For a single service fee of $150.00 (filing fees not included) Santa Monica Notary will obtain an Apostille for up to 10 documents.  In addition to Santa Monica Notary  service fee, you pay the fees required by the offices of the County Clerk ($9) and the Secretary of State ($20) per document, plus $6.00 counter fee per signature authenticated.*

Federal Documents

If you have a document issued by a federal agency of the United States of America, then you must obtain an Apostille from the U.S. Department of State -- this cannot be done locally unless you receive instructions from the State Department to perform a copy certification.