What’s the Difference Between Apostille and Embassy Legalization?

An Apostille stamp will make your travel document valid for legal purposes in countries that have signed Hague Apostille Convention or the Apostille Treaty of 1961, of which there are 105 signatory countries.

Authentication and legalization will make your document valid only in the country of which the consulate has legalized the document. This means that people of certain nationalities need to visit a consulate or an embassy of the country the plan to visit, move to, do business in or marry in.

Getting your document authenticated and legalizing your document can be baffling, time consuming and bureaucratic. To make the process easier for you, Apostille World NYC can assist you with each step from start to finish with your international document needs.

Apostille Definition

An apostille is a certification provided by a designated authority in a country where the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents. The Convention applies only to public documents

Embassy Legalization

Getting your document authenticated and legalizing your document can be baffling, time consuming and bureaucratic. To make the process easier for you, Apostille World NYC can assist you with each step from start to finish with your international document needs.

There are a lot of countries that have not signed the Apostille Treaty, for example, Canada. Countries that have not signed the Apostille Treaty still use the original process of making a document valid for legal purposes; this is commonly referred to as legalization or embassy legalization.

This is the process of ensuring a document or signature is genuine, making it valid for use in the intended country. In a country like Canada, this can only be done at The Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development in the capital, Ottawa. Processing time ranges from 15 to 25 business days. Once completed, the document will receive an official stamp and signature.

The second step is legalization, which is the process of authenticating the document to make it valid for use in another country. This can only be done at an embassy or consulate of the country in which the document will be used, and – it goes without saying – can only be done with authenticated document.

Every embassy has its own specific requirements when it comes to legalizing a document. After accepting the document and its requirements, the embassy or consulate will verify the authentication stamp of Foreign Affairs and stamp, seal and sign the document. After which the document is valid for legal purposes in the country that legalized the document.

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