Document Certification

Document Authentication, Legalization and Apostille Services

Travel the World Visas, Inc. offers a complete document authentication and consular legalization service. We will take care of the entire process and return to you documents that are ready for use in the designated country.

All that you need to do is:

Send us notarized documents and tell us in which country each document will be used. If a document needs to be legalized for more than one country, then a separate original of the document must be legalized for each country.

OR

Send us documents that have already been certified by the Secretary of State of the state where the document was executed (notarized). We will obtain the U.S. State Department authentication and/or embassy legalization.

DOWNLOAD SERVICE ORDER FORM FOR DOCUMENT AUTHENTICATION AND LEGALIZATION OR APOSTILLE

Benefits of Using Travel the World Visas:

• Convenience. Relieves you of the frustration associated with sending documents directly to the U.S. State Department for authentication/apostille and to consulates/embassies for legalization. Eliminates the need to write multiple checks to Secretary of State (of the State where the documents was notarized), U.S. Department of State or to the consulates/embassies.

• Peace of Mind. With a decade of experience in the document authentication and legalization, and apostille process, we assure that your documents are correctly and promptly processed and hand carried to the U.S. State Department for authentication/apostille, and the embassies/consulates for legalization. With one phone call, we can immediately give you status of your in-progress documents.

• Saves Time. Travel the World Visas will act as courier for direct hand-delivery (in person submission) of your documents to the United States Department of State and embassies/consulates, thus greatly reducing the turn-around time for processing your documents.

• Instant Feedback. Travel the World Visas examines the documents you submit and immediately notifies you whether or not they meet the authentication and legalization requirements for submission to Secretary of State (of the State where the documents was notarized), U.S. Department of State, or consulates/embassies. If there is a problem with your document, the U.S. State Department and the embassy/consulate will not notify you. Rather, they just return your documents.

• Affordable Rates. We offer affordable service fee that covers the handling of the document from the Secretary of State where the document was notarized, to the U.S. State Department and the embassies/consulates. Please contact us for details at 202-223-8822 or e-mail us 

Facts on Document Authentication and Legalization

Documents issued in one country, which need to be used in another country, must be “authenticated” or “legalized” before they can be recognized as valid in the foreign country. This is a process in which various seals are placed on the document.

The number and type of authentication certificates you will need to obtain depend on the nature of the document and whether or not the foreign country is a party to the multilateral treaty on “legalization” of documents.

1. If your document is intended for use in a country which is a party to a treaty called the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (“Hague Legalization Convention”), obtaining a special “apostille” certificate is generally all that is required. Click HERE for List of Counties who have joined “The Hague Convention.”

2. If the country where the document will be used is not a party to the Convention, you will have to begin the cumbersome, time-consuming process of obtaining a series of certifications known as the “chain authentication method”. This is literally a paper chase in which authorities will have to attest to the validity of a succession of seals beginning with your document and ending with the seal of the foreign embassy or consulate in the United States.

The following conditions must be met for all documents requiring Authentication by the US State Department:

1. All seals and signatures must be originals.

2. All dates must follow in chronological order on all certifications.

3. All documents in foreign text must be accompanied with a certified (notarized) English translation.

4. Whenever a copy (if acceptable) is used, it must include a statement that it is a true and accurate copy.

5. Foreign governments require the U.S. Department of State to authenticate documents in order for the documents to be considered legal. Requirements for authentication:

   1. Signed before a notary public;

   2. Certified by the clerk of court of the county in which the notary is commissioned (also known as “notary authentication”)**; and

   3. Certified by the Secretary of State of the state in which the document is executed (notarized).

**Notary authentication on the county level may be omitted if the secretary of state will certify directly to the notary.

Types of documents include (but are not limited to):

Copyright, Trademark and Patent Documentation

Export Documents (Commercial Invoice, Certificate of Origin, Bill of Lading)

Company Bylaws

Transcripts and other letters relating to degrees

Certificates of non-marital status

Home studies

Deeds of Assignments

Distributorship Agreements

Documents related to adoption

Animal Plant

Affidavit of Single Status 

 

STATE AND LOCAL DOCUMENTS

• Certified originals

• Certified by the Secretary of State of the state in which the documents are recorded. The Secretary of State should be requested to certify to the officials signing the document under the impressed Seal of the State.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AUTHENTICATION OFFICE

• Document(s) notarized in the District of Columbia must have a proper certification from the D.C. Office of Notary Commissions and Authentications before submitting to the U.S. Department of State

• We have an in-house notary public, registered within the District of Columbia for the expedited and rush services for Apostilles and Authentications within Washington, D.C.

• Superior Court of the District of Columbia and the District of Columbia Court of Appeals

FEDERAL AGENCY DOCUMENTS

Requirements prior to Certification/Apostille issued by the U.S. Department of State, Office of Authentications for documents issued by federal agencies:

Certified under the official seal of the federal agency issuing the document

Examples of Federally Issued documents include:

U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal/Plant Certifications Animal Health certifications U.S. Department of Justice FBI – Back ground check  U.S. Federal Court Documents  U.S. Bankruptcy Court  US Department of the Treasury – Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau U.S. Department of Homeland Security Immigration Certifications

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Certificate to Foreign Governments  Certificate of Pharmaceutical/Export  Certificate of Free Sale U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Trademark Environmental Protection Agency Social Security Administration Office of Personnel Management US Coast Guard – Certificate of Deletion

ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH CERTIFICATE (APHIS Form 7001)

• Must be certified under the official Seal of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the State in which the document originates, via an Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Form.

Click Here for a List of USDA Regional Offices

STATE APOSTILLE CERTIFICATION

If your document is to be used in one of the countries on “The Hague Convention” member list, it should be:

1. Notarized

2. Certified by the clerk of court*
   This is not always the case. For example, Apostilles for the states of California, Illinois, Texas, Utah, Florida, New Jersey, Louisiana, Indiana, Connecticut, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, North Carolina, Washington do not require Notary verification at the county level.

3. Apostille Certificate by the Secretary of State of the state in which it being executed in.

After the above steps have been fulfilled, the document requires no authentication by the U.S. Department of State. It is ready to go directly to the country of use.

Documents requiring certification with the Apostille by the U.S. Department of State are the ones which have been executed under a Federal agency seal or certified by an American or foreign consul.

We offer rush processing service via courier (in person submission) for documents requiring embassy legalization, or consular certification, when available. Includes but is not limited to:

United Arab Emirates (UAE) Embassy Legalization

Kuwait (Kuwaiti) Embassy Legalization

Saudi Arabia Embassy Legalization

Qatar (Qatari) Embassy Legalization

China (Chinese) Embassy Legalization

Thailand Embassy Legalization

Taiwan Embassy Legalization

Brazil (Brazilian) Embassy Legalization

Ethiopia Embassy Legalization

Iraq Embassy Legalization

Libya (Libyan) Embassy Legalization

Vietnam (Vietnamese) Embassy Legalization

Philippines Embassy Legalization