- Apostille
- The standardized certificate under the 1961 Hague Convention that authenticates the signature, capacity and seal on a public document for use in another member country.
- Authentication certificate
- The certificate a U.S. competent authority issues instead of an apostille when the destination is not a Hague member; must be followed by embassy legalization.
- Competent authority
- The office designated by a country to issue apostilles. In the U.S.: state Secretaries of State (or equivalents), federal court clerks and the U.S. Department of State.
- Certified copy
- A copy issued by the agency that holds the record, bearing its signature and seal and a statement that it is a true copy.
- Certificate of incumbency
- A certificate confirming that an official (e.g. a clerk of court) held office on the date of signature; attached by some states before an apostille.
- County certification
- A county clerk's certificate authenticating a notary's signature, required in some states before the state apostille.
- e-Apostille
- An apostille issued electronically as a digitally signed PDF under the Hague e-APP.
- e-Register
- An online register where an apostille's number and date can be verified.
- Exemplified copy
- A court copy with triple certification: the clerk certifies the record, the judge attests the clerk's authority, and the clerk attests the judge's signature.
- Great seal
- Informal term for a state authentication certificate bearing the state's great seal.
- Hague Conference (HCCH)
- The intergovernmental organization in The Hague that produced the Apostille Convention and keeps the status table of members.
- Jurat
- A notarial certificate stating the signer swore or affirmed the contents and signed before the notary; used for affidavits.
- Acknowledgment
- A notarial certificate stating the signer acknowledged signing voluntarily; used for POAs, deeds and contracts.
- Legalization
- Certification by a destination country's embassy or consulate that a foreign document is authentic; required only for non-Hague countries.
- Letter of exemplification
- A letter from the NYC Department of Health required before the New York Department of State will apostille a New York City vital record.
- Notarial act
- A notary's official act — acknowledgment, jurat, copy certification, oath — recorded on a notarial certificate.
- Office of Authentications
- The U.S. Department of State unit that issues apostilles and authentication certificates for federal documents.
- Public document
- Under Article 1 of the Convention: court documents, administrative documents, notarial acts and official certificates on private documents.
- Remote online notarization (RON)
- Notarization performed over audio-video technology with electronic signatures, authorized in most states.
- Sworn translator
- A translator licensed by a court or ministry in the destination country whose translations are accepted by its authorities (traductor jurado, perito traductor, tradutor juramentado).
- Vital record
- A birth, death, marriage or divorce record kept by a state or local registrar.
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Glossary
The vocabulary of apostilles and document authentication, in plain English.