How to get a Marriage Certificate Apostille

An Apostille is an official document that legalizes official and copied documents in states (countries) which accept the Apostille stamp according to the Apostille Convention 1961. Often times, Apostille certificates such as marriage certificate Apostille are needed when one or more spouse is moving into a particular state, needs to seek employment, etc.

How to get a Marriage Certificate Apostille

Once a marriage document gains an Apostille and is accepted, then that document becomes legal for use in that country and does not require any further legislation unless required under special circumstances. Some other common reasons why a country might request a marriage certificate Apostille may be:

• Moving to that country
• Seeking employment in that country
• Inheritance
• Death of spouse
• Interest and/or ownership of property in that country
• Dual citizenship

Many countries who are a signatory to the Apostille (Hague Convention 1961) will automatically require an Apostille for any of the above reasons. If the requesting country is not a signatory, they will require some additional legislation in addition to the marriage certificate Apostille. Fortunately, the US is a signatory to the Apostille convention and would accept the marriage certificate Apostille in almost all circumstances.

Furthermore, if the requesting country is not a signatory to the Apostille convention, then the marriage certificate Apostille will require additional legislation through the U.S. Department of State in Washington D.C. and must be legalized through the Embassy or Consulate Offices of that country in the US. Embassy legalization will be required especially if you are going for work or educational purposes. Employers will often need to obtain your Criminal Record Checks which have gained legislation from the respective Embassies. Otherwise your Apostille applications might be rejected.

However, there are some rules within the US that all persons seeking an Apostille must abide by. For instance, marriage certificates issued by a state must be authenticated from the same state. Take for example, if a spouse married in California, then the California marriage certificate will need to be apostilled by the California Secretary of State (no exceptions).

With that said, it does not need to be emphasized enough that documents such as marriage certificates with official signatures on will need to be original in order to gain an Apostille for that document through the respective states/embassies. Any copied documents of the marriage certificate will not be accepted as the signatures on the copied documents cannot be classified as original.

If you need to travel abroad for education, work, travel or citizenship, you will need to provide a marriage certificate Apostille for several documents. That is why you must abide to the rules for a marriage certificate Apostille strictly.

In order to successfully apply for an Apostille, you will need to mail in the original and certified copy issued by the respective County Clerk to our office in addition to filled Apostille forms in order for processing. Also, obtaining a marriage certificate Apostille is a complicated process which requires careful navigation according to each state’s requirements.

At Apostille Near Me, you can seek help to apply for a marriage certificate Apostille for all 50 US states – no matter how complicated the process.

**Remember that only the original signed marriage certificates will be accepted in order to process an Apostille document.