Legalization of Documents: When It's Necessary and How It's Done

The legalization of documents is a in depth process of ensuring the document is what the document says it is. When conversing legally with other countries, the apostille is often needed by one or more parties before the finalization of any legal proceedings can occur. The most common usage for an apostille is cross country adoptions and opening Swiss bank accounts.




What is an Apostille?




An apostille is the term for a document that has been legalized. The legalized document is most often used for an international proceeding.




What Kinds of Documents Need to be Legalized?




Just about any document can be legalized. The most common forms include birth certificates, marriage certificates, adoption certificates, divorce documents, power of attorney forms, school documents including diplomas and degrees, identity based documents, passports, deeds to properties, wills and proof of ownership documents.




How is a Document Legalized?




In order to ensure the document is processed quickly, there are certain guidelines which must be met for your document to be legalized. The following checklist will need to be followed completely in order to legalize your document for international use: (1)notarize the document, (2)have the notary legalized by taking the document to a local court house to verify the notary is licensed to notarize in your state, (3)obtain a certification of clerk's signature from the Secretary of State, (4)take the document to the United States Department of State for approval, (5)take the document to the consulate for legalization.




Each embassy will need a copy of the document for legalization. This means you will need to follow these procedures for each country you require legalization of the documents for. Steps one through four can take place on all documents. Step five needs to be unique to the country where the documents will be presented.




When is a Legalized Document Needed?




Legalized documents are needed for many situations. The documents can be required by other countries in order to open bank accounts and complete adoption proceedings. Whenever legal agreements are entered into with a country outside of the United States, an apostille may be needed to complete the process. The apostilling of a document can take time, up to 6 months or more, so make sure to start the legalization process well in advance of when you will need the document.




The process for obtaining an apostilled or legalized document requires an in depth knowledge of this legal process. While the individual can obtain the legalization of a document on their own, the process often requires a legal expertise far beyond that of the normal person. When an apostille is requested, the process takes time and this time can increase if there are steps missed or information not provided. This is the main reason to hire an outside company to apostille your documents. Some international businesses will handle the apostille process for you during the legal proceedings; however, this is not the norm. Most often, the individual sees the greatest benefit from asking about which documents need to be legalized and obtaining the apostilles before starting any legal processes.

Jordan Mcpelt is a professional author who specializes in document legalization and obtaining apostilles. For more information on document legalization services please visit http://www.apostilla.com.

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