Document Authentication for Passports and Visas

Ambassador Passport and Visa Services, Inc. is a California Corporation with nearly 15 years of experience located in the city of Santa Monica, CA. We can provide you with fast, reliable, efficient and secure document authentication, legalization and apostille services.

Official documents that are produced in the U.S. and have the seal of a notary public, state or federal official, are usually not valid in other countries unless they have been authenticated by the U.S. Government and legalized by the consulate of the desired country.

About 50 countries have signed the Hague Convention on Documents, which allows for an abbreviated legalization process called an apostille. An "apostille" is an official state-issued stamp or attachment to any public or private document that makes the document legal for use in any country that has signed the Hague Convention on Documents.

The full authentication and legalization and the apostille process can involve several different government agencies and can be time-consuming.

In order to authenticate or legalize a document the following steps must be taken:

• The document should be notarized.

• The notarized document should be taken to the local court house or county registrar office to obtain a notary certification. This notary certification confirms that the notary public that endorsed the document is authorized to do so in your state.

• The document should be submitted to the Secretary of State to obtain verification of the county clerk's signature.

• The document should be taken to the relevant embassy or consulate for the apostille seal.

• Some countries require the document to be submitted for verification to the State Department before obtaining the apostille seal.

Ambassador Passport and Visa Services can provide you with full service assistance in the authentication, legalization, and apostille process.

In order to use Ambassador Passport and Visa Services for authentication of documents, please send us the notarized documents and a cover letter indicating the services you require. If a document needs to be legalized for more than one country, send a separate original of the document for each location.