Documents authenticated
and on their way.

What Is an Apostille?

An apostille is a form of document certification recognized by every country that belongs to the 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents. In plain terms, it's a standardized certificate — usually a single page attached or stamped directly onto your document — that confirms the signature, seal, or stamp on a public document is genuine. It does not verify the contents of the document itself; it verifies that the official who signed or sealed it was authorized to do so.

Apostilles exist to remove a step. Before the Hague Convention, a document issued in one country and intended for use in another had to go through a lengthy chain of authentications — first by a local authority, then by that country's foreign ministry, and finally by the receiving country's embassy or consulate. For member countries, the apostille replaces that entire chain with one certificate issued by a single designated authority. In the United States, that authority is typically the Secretary of State's office in the state where the document was issued or notarized.

If you're in Maryland and need an apostille for a document notarized in Maryland — a power of attorney, a diploma, a background check, an adoption record — the certificate is issued by the Maryland Secretary of State, not by a federal agency. That's an important distinction, because it's the single most common point of confusion for people ordering their first apostille.

An apostille is only valid for use in countries that are also members of the Hague Convention. As of this writing, that includes most of Europe, much of Latin America, and a growing list of countries across Asia and Africa. If your destination country is not a Hague member, an apostille won't be accepted — you'll need federal authentication instead, which is covered in the next section.

What Is Federal Document Authentication?

Federal document authentication is the certification process used when a document is headed to a country that has not joined the Hague Apostille Convention. Instead of a single apostille certificate, the document goes through a two-step legalization chain: first authentication by the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., and then — in most cases — legalization by the embassy or consulate of the destination country.

This process exists for the same underlying reason as an apostille: it confirms that a signature, seal, or stamp on a document is authentic and that the signer had the authority to issue it. The difference is procedural. Because non-Hague countries never agreed to accept a single standardized certificate, each document has to be verified by the U.S. government and then separately accepted by the destination country's diplomatic mission before it carries legal weight abroad.

Federal authentication is also required for documents issued directly by a federal agency, regardless of destination country in some cases — for example, an FBI identity history summary (commonly called an FBI background check), a federal court record, or paperwork issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). These documents bypass the state-level apostille process entirely and go straight to federal review because they were never issued or notarized at the state level to begin with.

Because federal authentication frequently involves coordination with a foreign embassy, it generally takes longer than a state-level apostille — which is why our federal authentication service is quoted at nine business days rather than one.

Apostille vs. Federal Authentication: Key Differences

The two processes are often confused because they accomplish the same basic goal — proving a document is legitimate for use abroad — through different legal pathways. Here's how they compare side by side.

If you're not sure which category your destination country falls into, the safest approach is to call before you order. Filing the wrong type of certification is one of the most common and most costly mistakes people make, because it means starting the entire process over from scratch once the error is discovered — often after the document has already traveled internationally.

Documents That Typically Require an Apostille

Almost any public or notarized document can be apostilled, provided it's headed to a Hague Convention country. The most common categories we process include:

• Vital records — birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates, and divorce decrees, usually needed for immigration, dual citizenship, or family matters abroad.
• Educational documents — diplomas, transcripts, and degree verifications, commonly required for international study, credential evaluation, or overseas employment.
• Legal and notarized paperwork — powers of attorney, affidavits, single-status declarations, and adoption paperwork.
• Corporate documents — articles of incorporation, certificates of good standing, and board resolutions, often needed when a business is registering a subsidiary or signing contracts overseas.
• Background checks issued at the state level — Maryland State Police background checks, for instance, as opposed to FBI checks, which fall under federal authentication.

One detail that trips people up: a document usually has to be notarized (or be an original certified copy from a government office) before it's eligible for an apostille. A photocopy of a diploma, for example, typically won't qualify on its own — it needs to be notarized first, or you need a certified copy issued directly by the school registrar.

Documents That Typically Require Federal Authentication

Federal authentication applies in two overlapping situations: when the destination country isn't a Hague member, or when the document itself was issued by a federal agency. Documents we regularly process through this track include:

• FBI Identity History Summaries — frequently required for work visas, long-term residency applications, and international adoptions in non-Hague countries.
• USCIS documents — naturalization certificates and other immigration paperwork.
• Federal court records — judgments, orders, and filings from U.S. District Courts.
• Documents bound for non-Hague countries — even a state-issued birth certificate needs the federal route instead of an apostille if it's headed somewhere like the United Arab Emirates, China, or Vietnam, none of which are Hague Convention members.
• Documents requiring embassy legalization — after Department of State authentication, many countries also require their own embassy or consulate in Washington, D.C. to add a final legalization stamp.

Because embassy requirements vary widely by country — some require an appointment, some charge their own separate fee, some require translation into the local language first — federal authentication orders often need a short conversation up front so we can map out the exact chain your document requires.

How the Apostille Process Works, Step by Step

For most documents headed to a Hague Convention country, the process breaks down into four stages:

• 1. Notarization. If your document isn't already a certified original from a government office, it needs a notary's signature and seal first. Many documents we receive have already been notarized by the client; for others, we can advise on where to get this done.
• 2. Intake and compliance review. We check the document against current Maryland Secretary of State requirements — correct notary language, valid commission dates, proper margins and formatting — before it's ever submitted. This step is what prevents same-day rejections.
• 3. Filing with the Secretary of State. The document is hand-delivered to the Maryland Secretary of State's office, where the apostille certificate is issued and attached.
• 4. Return shipping. Once the apostille is issued, the document is packaged and shipped back to you with tracking, typically within one business day of filing for standard apostille orders.

How Federal Authentication Works, Step by Step

The federal route has more stops along the way, which is reflected in the longer turnaround:

• 1. Intake and eligibility review. We confirm the document type and destination country, and identify whether embassy legalization will be needed in addition to Department of State authentication.
• 2. Notarization or certification, if required. As with apostilles, some documents need to be notarized or obtained as certified originals before they're eligible.
• 3. Authentication by the U.S. Department of State. The document is submitted to the Department of State's Authentications Office in Washington, D.C., where it's verified and certified.
• 4. Embassy legalization, if applicable. For countries that require it, the authenticated document is then taken to the relevant embassy or consulate for a final legalization stamp.
• 5. Return shipping. The fully authenticated document is shipped back to you with tracking.

Common Reasons Documents Get Rejected

Rejected filings are the single biggest cause of delay in this process, and almost all of them are avoidable with the right review up front. The recurring issues we see include:

• Expired or incorrect notary commissions. If a notary's commission has lapsed, or their seal doesn't match state records, the document will be rejected.
• Missing notarial wording. Some states require specific certificate language (acknowledgment vs. jurat, for instance) that not all notaries include by default.
• Photocopies where originals are required. Many document types need to be original certified copies, not photocopies of an original.
• Name mismatches. A document listing a maiden name where the notary block lists a married name, without supporting documentation, can trigger a rejection.
• Wrong certification type entirely. Sending a document to the apostille track when the destination country requires federal authentication (or vice versa) means starting over.

Our compliance review step exists specifically to catch these issues before filing, rather than after — which is the difference between a document that clears in one pass and one that bounces back and forth for weeks.

Why Location Matters: The Annapolis Advantage

A lot of document authentication services operate entirely by mail, batching documents and sending them to state or federal offices on a fixed weekly schedule. Being based in Annapolis, Maryland changes that math in two ways.

First, the Maryland Secretary of State's office — the authority that issues Maryland apostilles — is a short drive from our office. Documents can be hand-delivered and hand-collected the same day rather than sitting in a mail queue, which is a large part of why we can offer one-business-day turnaround on standard apostille orders.

Second, Annapolis sits close enough to Washington, D.C. that federal authentication orders don't require a multi-day shipping leg just to reach the U.S. Department of State's Authentications Office or the relevant foreign embassy. That proximity shortens the federal authentication timeline compared to services located further from the D.C. metro area.

Turnaround Times and What Affects Them

Our standard turnaround estimates — one business day for apostilles and nine business days for federal authentication — reflect typical conditions. A few factors can extend either timeline:

• Document volume at the issuing office. State and federal offices process higher volumes during certain seasons, particularly late spring and late summer, which align with study-abroad and visa application cycles.
• Embassy-specific requirements. Some embassies require in-person appointments or additional translated copies, which adds time beyond our control.
• Document corrections. If a document fails compliance review and needs to be re-notarized, the clock effectively restarts for that document.
• Shipping distance. Return shipping time depends on your location; our quoted turnaround covers processing, not transit after it leaves our office.

If your timeline is tight, mention it when you call — in some cases we can flag a document for priority handling within the standard process.