"The purpose of an authentication (or in the case of countries party to the Hague Legalization Convention – an apostille) is to ensure the authorities in one country that a public document coming from another country is genuine so that it may be recognized in that first country. In the case of traditional legalizations this is done through the chain method of authentication, whereby public authorities authenticate the signature and seal serially from the origin of the document through each level of government authority. Finally, diplomatic channels are used to pass the chain of authentication from one country to the other.
In the case of apostilles, the chain is done away with in favor of a single act of authentication carried out by the apostille authority designated in the Hague Convention. For documents coming from U.S. states, the United States has designated the Secretary of State offices in each state to issue apostilles. Therefore, unlike with traditional authentications (e.g., with China, which is not a party to the Hague Convention), the ... state apostille goes directly to the foreign authority without passing through the Department of State (e.g., with Russian, which is a party to the Hague Convention). It must therefore withstand foreign scrutiny without the benefit of Department of State authentication."*
At Target Research, we handle each step of the process needed to authenticate documents for use in a foreign country from any state or jurisdiction in the United States. This includes locating the proper government office wherein the document is filed, complying with laws and rules to acquire copies and authenticating those documents from the lowest governmental level to the appropriate Department of State.
* Excerpts from November 26, 2003 letter by Jeffrey D. Kovar, Assistant Legal Adviser for Private International Law, U.S. Department of State For more information, visit the U.S. Department of State, Office of Authentications