An apostille for affidavits is a certification from the State Department that confirms that your signature and seal on the document have been properly authenticated by a New York notary public. If your document will be used in a country that is a member of the 1961 Hague Convention, an apostille is required. The apostille is also needed for documents certified by a notary public, such as a power of attorney or other notarized personal document.

An Apostille for Documents to be Used in a Foreign Country

The Hague Convention of 1961 abolished the requirement of legalization for foreign public documents, and standardized the process for obtaining a certificate that will make your document valid in any country that has signed the treaty. In some cases, you may need to have both the original document and the translation of your document apostilled before it will be recognized in the foreign country.

Our office can only authenticate documents that were signed and notarized in New York. If your document was notarized in another state, the apostille must be obtained from that county. Emailed copies of documents are not eligible for a New York apostille. Power of attorneys that are signed and notarized remotely have special requirements for a New York apostille.

When you visit the NDNY to submit your documents for authentication, you will see a banner that says, “Apostille Services are to the right.” Follow the banner until you get to the Notary Desk. After that, you will need to fill out a form that is specific to the number of documents and the country in which the document(s) will be used.