PROCEDURE FOR OBTAINING AN APOSTILLE

According to Art. 9 of the Hague Convention abolishing the requirement of legalization of foreign public documents, this Consulate General no longer legalizes American public documents. For all these documents an Apostille has to be obtained.

A. STATE OF NEW YORK

Birth, Death, Marriage and Certificate of Divorce certificates submitted to the New York De-partment of State for an Apostille or Certificate of Authentication must first be certified by ei-ther a New York State Official or a County Clerk. A birth or death certificate must additionally bear a letter of exemplification. Educational and all other documents all have to be notarized by a notary public and the notary’s signature has to be certified by a County Clerk.

All document types then have to be attached to the filled-out Apostille Request Form and sent to the following address:

New York Department of State
Division of Licensing Services
Apostille and Authentication Unit
One Commerce Plaza
99 Washington Avenue 6th floor
Albany, NY 12201-2001
Tel.: (518) 474-4429
Fax: (518) 473-6648
Hours: 9.00 a.m. - 3.30 p.m.
Website: https://dos.ny.gov/apostille-or-certificate-authentication

Document and Request Form can also be delivered in person to the address above or to:

New York Department of State
Division of Licensing Services
123 William Street, 2nd floor
New York, NY 10038
Hours: 9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Tel.: (212) 417-5747
The fee is US $ 10.- per document

B. STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Vital Records (see notice below) and all other documents certified by a Notary Public should be addressed to the Department of the Treasury in Trenton in order to obtain the Apostille.

USPS Express, Priority, Certified:
Department of the Treasury
Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services
PO Box 452
Trenton, N.J. 08646
http://www.nj.gov/treasury/revenue/apostilles.shtml

FedEx, UPS, DHL or in person:
Department of the Treasury
Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services
33 West State Street, 5th Floor
Trenton, N.J. 08608
Attn: Notary Unit
Hours: 8.30 a.m. – 4.30 p.m.
Tel.: (609) 292-9292

The fee is US $ 5,- if transaction involves an adoption and US $ 25.- in all other cases.
Expedited service is also available for an additional US $ 15,- fee per document.

This expedited service, which will ensure a processing time of 8 ½ business hours, may be re-quested either in person or by any overnight courier service other than the United States Postal Service at the latter address.

Notice:
It is not possible to obtain an Apostille on a vital record (birth, death or marriage certifi-cate) which has not been issued by any authority other than the NJ Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics in Trenton.

C. COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA

Mail or deliver the documents in person to the following address:

Department of State
Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation
Room 210, North Office Building
Harrisburg, P.A. 17120
Hours: 8:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Tel.: (717) 787-5280
http://www.dos.pa.gov/OtherServices/Certifications_Apostilles/
ra-certifications@pa.gov

The fee is US $15.- per document.

With the documents, you must enclose the following:
- cover letter stating your name, full mailing address and the country where the documents will be used. There is a dedicated form that can be used.
- a personal check, money order or cashier's check made payable to “Commonwealth of Pennsylvania” in the amount of US $15.- per document.
- a self-addressed, stamped envelope for return of your documents

PLEASE NOTE

In all cases documents must be accompanied by a letter stating the country where the docu-ments will be used and asking for the Apostille according to the Hague Convention.

All documents to receive the Apostille must be signed with the original signature of the notary public or other official of the competent U. S. state whose term of office is on record with the Secretary of the State, the Department of State or the Department of the Treasury.

Should the signature on the document not be an original but a facsimile signature, the original signature of the official who has signed the document has to be obtained first before obtaining the Apostille.

The above-mentioned details are based on information available to this Consulate General at the time of the drafting of the document. This Consulate General cannot give any guarantee that the aforementioned infor-mation is true and complete and that no changes have been made in the meantime.