Overview
When the U.S. Department of State, Office of Authentications reviews a federal document, it issues one of two certificates. The choice is not up to the document holder and is not based on document type. It is based solely on whether the destination country belongs to the Hague Apostille Convention. For background on what these certificates confirm in the first place, see what is an apostille.
Apostille, for Hague countries
If your document is headed to a country that belongs to the Hague Apostille Convention, the Department of State issues an apostille. An apostille is a single certificate that the receiving country agrees to accept on its own, with no further review. Over one hundred countries belong to the convention, including most of Europe, much of Latin America, and countries such as Japan, Australia, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.
Once the apostille is attached, the document is finished. It can be sent directly to the foreign school, employer, bank, or government agency that requested it, with no embassy visit required.
Authentication, for non Hague countries
If your document is headed to a country that has not joined the Hague Convention, the Department of State issues an authentication certificate instead of an apostille. An authentication confirms the same fact as an apostille, that the signature or seal on the document is genuine, but it is only the first of two steps.
After we hand deliver the document and it comes back authenticated, the destination country's embassy or consulate in the United States still needs to add its own legalization stamp before the document is fully accepted abroad. We complete the authentication step and the embassy legalization step for you, priced by quote per order. Read more on our embassy legalization page.
- Hague country example: a federal document going to France, Mexico, or Japan receives an apostille from the Department of State and needs no further steps.
- Non Hague country example: a federal document going to the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, or Nigeria receives an authentication from the Department of State, then requires an embassy legalization step, which we also complete for you, priced by quote.
How to know which one you need
Look up the destination country on our Hague Convention member countries page. If it is listed as a member, expect an apostille. If it is not listed, expect an authentication followed by an embassy legalization step. If you are not certain, tell us your document type and destination country when you start your order, and we will confirm which outcome applies before anything is submitted.
What we do
Either way, our part of the process is the same. We hand deliver your document in person to the U.S. Department of State, Office of Authentications in Washington, DC, which is what allows most orders to be completed in about a week once the document reaches us, compared to the 5 to 6 weeks a mailed submission commonly takes. See our processing times page for details, and pricing for current rates. If your destination country requires an authentication, we also complete the embassy legalization step for you, priced by quote per order. We are not affiliated with any government agency or embassy.
Frequently asked questions
- How do I know if I need an apostille or an authentication? It depends entirely on the country the document is going to, not on the document itself. If that country belongs to the Hague Apostille Convention, your document receives an apostille. If it does not belong, the U.S. Department of State issues an authentication certificate instead, and an embassy legalization step follows. Check our list of Hague Convention member countries or contact us and we will confirm before you place an order.
- Does an authentication certificate mean my document was rejected? No. An authentication is a normal, accepted outcome. It simply applies to destination countries that have not joined the Hague Convention, so the process has one more step than an apostille. The Department of State confirms your document is genuine, then the destination country's embassy or consulate adds its own legalization stamp.
- Can you handle the embassy legalization step too? Yes. We hand deliver your document in person to the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC for the authentication step, then take the authenticated document to the destination country's embassy or consulate ourselves and ship the fully legalized document back to you. This is priced by quote per order. See our embassy legalization page for details.
- Does the list of Hague member countries ever change? Yes. Countries occasionally join the Hague Apostille Convention, which changes whether a destination requires an apostille or an authentication plus embassy legalization. If you are unsure whether your destination country is currently a member, contact us and we will confirm before you place an order.
- Is getting an apostille faster than getting an authentication? The federal review itself takes about the same amount of time either way, since both go through the same office. The difference is what happens afterward. An apostille is ready to use as soon as you receive it back. An authentication still needs an embassy legalization step, with its own timeline, before it is ready to use abroad.