What is an Apostille?
I often get requests for people who are getting married in Hawaii and need to have their marriage certificate “Apostilled” to present to another country, like Philippines, Mexico, etc.
If you’re getting married abroad or need to use your original marriage certificate for a legal purpose, it may be necessary to authenticate your document. This process is called an apostille and it certifies the signature and capacity of the official who signed your document. An apostille is required for marriages and other public documents that will be used in a foreign country or territory.
If you need to get apostilled, there is a service that can facilitate the whole process and get it done in about 1-2 weeks vs. the Hawaii Department of Health which can take 3 months or more to do it. It’s the same Apostille, however, the Hawaii Department of Health is very backed up so they take a long time to do the same Apostille that can get done in 1-2 weeks.
There are three steps to get an Apostille:
- Have the document certified and notarized (if needed) by the document custodian. (For vital records, the Hawaii Department of Health signs off on it. For other documents, the document holder signs off)
- Have the notary signature authenticated at the circuit court, if required.
- Have the document stamped and signed off by the Lt. Governor.
Purpose of an Apostille
The purpose of the Apostille is to certify the Notary or the Hawaii Department of Health person signing off on the document. In simplest terms, it is a certification issued by the state in order to present the document to another country.
On most occasions, the document has to be notarized first in order to be authenticated. When not notarized by a third party, the Hawaii Department of Health signs off on it.
I hope this helps to better understand the Apostille process. It’s not very common people ask for this, but if you do get this request please contact Nico Vargas at World Class Notary.
You can also reach him at : 808.304.6900.
They also do online notary as well so you can contact them even if you’re not in Hawaii.
