Hague service convention international process server








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Authentification Foreign Documents

There are generally two ways to authenticate documents from, and for use in, foreign countries. The first is through use of the Hague Convention Abolishing the Legalization of Foreign Public Documents which applies a standardized certificate, APOSTILLE, to a document verifying its authenticity. The APOSTILLE is a document in which form and content has been agreed to by the nations that have chosen to become signatory. Legalisation convention countries.

The second method is chain authentication which is a sequence of authorized signatures, beginning with the original signature, such as a notary or court officer, then verified by a state, federal or judicial agency, and then the state, federal or judicial agency's verification is further verified by the foreign country's consular representation in the United States, or the United States' consular representation in the foreign country.

There are many circumstances where authentication is required or recommended.

There are a few countries signatory to the Hague Service Convention, Hague Evidence Convention and Inter-American Convention that require authentication of all documents being forwarded for formal execution.

Documents from abroad to be used in a foreign court are required to be authenticated. Additionally, many state courts require that personal service affidavits be authenticated if not provided by a foreign judicial authority in connection with formal service through one of the Conventions.

Our office can provide all methods of authentication, both for documents from the United States to be used in a foreign country, or documents from a foreign country to be used in a court of the United States. We are also able to obtain documents from foreign authorities (if legally available) such as court documents, vital statistic documents, education certificates, etc.