Apostille
An Apostille is a way for foreign governments to validate that an official document you have was actually granted by the document granter's home government or institution. It's a form that is filled in by that document's home government, and it contains a standard set of information which helps other governments accept and understand each other's official documents.
Some governments may require a Translation of your documents once they are aspostilled.
Who Grants Apostilles?
All apostilles are issued by their corresponding government of origin. So if, for example, you were born in Hoboken, NJ but married in Albany, NY, then your birth certificate would be apostilled by the New Jersey Department of Revenue and your marriage certificate would be apostilled by the York Department of State.
Any "original" or "certified copy" of a document granted and signed by a state government agency (e.g. birth certificates, marriage licenses, other vital records) can be directly apostilled by the state. University diplomas or certified transcripts are apostilled by the state government the institution is located in but usually need to be notarized first (see "when to notarize" below).
The state department has a list of which authorities can apostille which documents (archived here). Generally, documents signed by U.S. federal officials, U.S. consular officers, Foreign consuls registered with the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Protocol and Military notaries or judge advocates need to be apostilled by the state department.
Requirements for Apostilles
We are receiving reports that some countries require the apostilled documents be less than 3-6 months old at time of arrival. We will continue to investigate if this is the case and update here.
For example, the Spain consulate (as of May 2025) will accept birth certificates generated at any time, but official copies of marriage certificates must have been generated less than 6 months ago[1].
When to Notarize
In general, an original document or certified copy of a document issued by a government entity do not need to be notarized. In fact, adding a notarization stamp can prevent you from getting it apostilled.
Other documents like university diplomas and contracts will need to be notarized (certified) before being apostilled. In essence, the document has to be notarized by a notary recognized by the state, and then the state adds the apostille as a way to authenticate the notary.
When requesting school diplomas/transcripts, make sure they know you need a certified copy. Some universities may offer to get apostilles for you as a service.
When in doubt, always double check with the state agency that grants apostilles on their website or (better yet) by calling to confirm what type of documents and notarizations are needed.
Alternative Authentication
There are a handful of countries that do not accept apostilles and use alternative authentication mechanisms, a list of those is available here.
How to Request Apostilles
Some jurisdictions will allow you to get apostilles when you request certified copies of your vital records.
Some jurisdictions will offer walk in service for apostilles. This may be a good option if you live near the capital or a major city in the state that issued the original document, but not all states will allow this.
The most common way to get Apostilles is via mail or via a third party expediter who can show up in person for you.
What is a Hague Apostille?
Many countries are party to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention, which was an attempt to create a simplified system for notarizing documents for use abroad. Any Hague Apostille country will request any document issued by a foreign government - if the document is used within that country - to have an apostille included with it. While visa applications made within the US do not always require an apostilled document, many others do. And applications made within Hague Convention countries, such as for residency, will often require an apostille. An apostille is valid for any country that is a signatory to The Hague Convention on Apostilles. An authentication, which is used by countries that are not signatories to this convention, is not valid for any country but the target country. Applications for apostilles and authentication will generally ask for the name of the target country for this reason (so documents can be properly certified for non-apostille countries).
Currently, 127 countries are members of the Hague Convention. Countries which are not Hague Convention members, which primarily are located in Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, as well as the Carribean, will require authentication and legalization.
The Hague has a list of signing authorities for finding the right place to get an apostille from.