An apostille is a certification from the California Secretary of State’s office verifying the authenticity of a legal document. The term is used to refer to the legalization of a document for international use under the terms of the Hague Convention of 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (Convention de La haye du Octobre 1961).
An apostille authenticates the signature of a public official on a document that is intended for use outside of the United States of America. An apostille does not bear witness to the authenticity of the actual contents of the document, but rather to the authenticity of the signature of the official who signed the document and the authority in which that official acted. This is known as the process of authentication. In essence, an apostille is an extra step of precaution that is taken in order to ensure the integrity of the identity of the signatory and the official certifying his or her identity.
The issuance of an apostille issued in California can be verified at: www.sos.ca.gov/business/notary/apostille-search/
Image of the California apostille
