Apostille for Federal Judgments

Apostille for federal judgments is a document issued by a court of the United States that oversees specific cases like bank fraud, credit card fraud, tax fraud, mail fraud, and other civil rights violations. When a person is going to travel abroad and use one of these documents, they will need it to be verified as authentic and not a forgery by the government that which they are going to present it to. The traditional method for certifying a document to be used in a foreign jurisdiction is called legalization. The apostille process is a simplified version of this that requires fewer steps and less money than the full legalization process.

Apostille for Federal Judgments: Ensure Recognition in Foreign Jurisdictions

The biggest mistake that people make when obtaining apostilles is not understanding the difference between a state apostille and a federal apostille. A state apostille is processed by the Secretary of State in the state that the document originated from. This includes documents like birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, notarized documents, and business filings. A federal apostille is a certificate that is issued by the U.S. Department of State – Office of Authentications in Washington, D.C. This is for documents from federal agencies, such as FBI background checks, IRS Form 6166, USCIS Certificates of Naturalization, FDA/USDA documents, and passport certifications.

Both apostilles are designed to validate the seal and signature of a document for international recognition. The difference is that a state apostille can be obtained for any document, while a federal apostille can only be issued for documents originating from the United States. Both can be certified to be valid in countries that are signatories to the Hague Apostille Convention, but only a state apostille will validate documents for use in a foreign country.