Apostille for Certificate of incorporation is essential for any business dealing of a US company with a company in another country. Getting an apostille stamp from the respective state secretary makes the document legally valid in another Hague country.
If you are submitting the certificate of incorporation issued in the United States to a foreign country, an apostille seal is required. This guide covers everything from what an apostille is to how to make your certificate of incorporation legal in a country that is a member of the Hague apostille convention.
Certificate of incorporation which is also known as articles of incorporation is a document confirming the formation of the company as per the corporate law of the respective state. In the United States it is generally issued by the secretary of the respective state.
A certificate of incorporation includes following details:
4 Easy steps to get US Apostille on the documents
An apostille is a certification to authenticate foreign documents as per the guidelines of Hague Apostille Convention. Apostille verifies official documents such as a certificate of incorporation with a stamp/certificate making it legal in a Hague Apostille country without any further steps.
Any document issued by the US while used in another country is foreign and authorities from those countries have no guarantee about the originality of the document. Thus, a system of verification was in practice ever since the documents were used in other countries. Earlier, an embassy attestation was mandatory for legalizing foreign documents. However, the Hague apostille convention made the process easier. Now a member country needs to submit a document with an apostille to legalize in another member country.
Since, United State of America is a member of the Hague Apostille convention, an apostille is enough to legalize US documents such as Certificate of Incorporation abroad.
The reasons why you need to get an apostille for a US state issued certificate of incorporation are:
The apostille usually includes:
Cost of getting an apostille for Certificate of Incorporation Apostille varies depending on factors such as:
For non Hague countries the secretary of the state issues an Authentication Certificate verifying the signature and seal on your corporate document. Instead of an apostille, this certificate is called a Certificate of Authentication. Then follow below steps to legalize COI for a non Hague country.
Finally, the authenticated document must be legalized at the embassy or consulate of the destination country (located in the U.S.). For example, if it is submitted in the UAE, attestation should be obtained from the UAE embassy in the USA.
If you are submitting the documents in a country where English is not the official language, you may need to translate your document with an apostille into their official language. Most common requirement for apostille translation is required in the following scenarios:
Obtaining an apostille for your US certificate of incorporation is critical for legitimate international business activities in Hague-member countries. With the help of an authorized apostille service in the US, you can get an apostille for a US issued certificate of incorporation fast and secure from anywhere in the world.
| Name of the state | Email ID for Apostille Application | Apostille Application form |
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Apostille for Alabama State issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Alaska State issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Arizona issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Arkansas issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for California issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Colorado issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Connecticut issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Florida issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Georgia issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Hawaii issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Idaho issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Illinois issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Indiana issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Iowa issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Kansas issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Kentucky issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Louisiana issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Maine issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Maryland issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Massachusetts issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Michigan issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Minnesota issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Mississippi issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Mississippi issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Montana issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Nebraska issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Nevada issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for New Hampshire issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for New Jersey issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for New Mexico issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for New York issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for North Carolina issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for North Dakota issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Ohio issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Oklahoma issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Oregon issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Pennsylvania issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Rhode Island issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for South Carolina issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for South Dakota issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Tennessee issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Texas issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Utah issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Vermont issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Virginia issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Washington issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for West Virginia issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Wisconsin issued Certificate of Incorporation |
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Apostille for Wyoming issued Certificate of Incorporation |
Processing time to get an apostille for US issued certificate of incorporation will vary depending on the state. however, the standard time is between 3-10 working days.
No. You can not use notarized copy of certificate of incorporation to get an apostille from a US state. Only a certified copy issued from the secretary of the state is eligible for an apostille.
The secretary of the state where the company was incorporated issues an apostille for a certificate of incorporation.