What an Apostille Is (and Is Not)
An apostille is a standardized certificate under the 1961 Hague Convention that authenticates the origin of a public document — the signature and seal it carries — so that 120+ member countries accept it without consular legalization. It says nothing about the content and it does not replace a translation.
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US Documents Going Abroad
Birth certificates, marriage certificates, diplomas, FBI background checks: to be used in France, Spain, Brazil or any Hague member state, US public documents need an apostille first.
- State-issued documents (civil status, notarized documents, state court records): apostille from the Secretary of State of the issuing state.
- Federal documents (FBI background checks, IRS records, USDA/FDA certificates): apostille from the US Department of State in Washington.
- After the apostille: a sworn translation into the destination country's language — for France, by a translator sworn before a Court of Appeal, which is exactly what Translatorus provides. The translation covers the document AND its apostille.
Order matters. Apostille first, translation second — the translator must translate the apostille page too. A translation done before the apostille exists will have to be redone.
Foreign Documents Coming Into the US
Here is the counter-intuitive part: USCIS does not require apostilles on foreign civil documents. For immigration petitions, what USCIS requires is a copy of the original plus a certified English translation. Apostilles on foreign documents matter for OTHER US uses — state courts, some professional licensing boards, certain state agencies — where the receiving institution explicitly asks for authentication.
The Convention Keeps Growing: China, Canada, Algeria
| Country | Apostille since | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| China | November 2023 | Chinese documents no longer need consular legalization for US use — a Chinese apostille is enough |
| Canada | January 2024 | Canadian documents get apostilles from Global Affairs Canada or provincial authorities |
| Algeria | July 9, 2026 | The newest member: Algerian civil documents switch from consular legalization to apostille |
| Morocco / Tunisia / Brazil / India | 2016 / 2018 / 2016 / 2005 | Long-standing members — apostille only, no embassy legalization |
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