Apostilles & The U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C.

In New Jersey, apostilles are issued by the State Treasurer’s office located in Trenton, the state capital. At the time of writing this document the current State Treasurer is Elizabeth Maher Muoio. Apostilles cannot be issued by the county clerk. Let’s know more about apostilles & the U.S. department

Notarized documents going outside of the United States might require a mandatory authentication process. New Jersey State Treasurer’s office does not issue apostilles for any federally mandated authentication. The latter can only be obtained from the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. Such documents include FBI background extracts, certain Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) documents, dossiers, extraditions, warrants issued by INTERPOL (International Criminal Police Organization), etc.

The term apostille is sometimes loosely used to cover what might otherwise be called an authentication. And both words are sometimes used interchangeably when it come to a federal authentication. Again, the latter can only be obtained from the Department of State in Washington, D.C. What the general public should clearly understand is that an apostille at the state level is the “garden variety” apostille obtained for birth certificates, marriage licenses, death certificates, and so on. However, if for example you do fingerprinting and a background check with the FBI then such documents must be authenticated by the U.S. Department of State.

As you should expect, the turnaround time is usually shorter to get an apostille coming out of Trenton, NJ. Currently the U.S. Department of State’s turnaround time is a few weeks. The Covid-19 crisis has caused the turnaround time to be slightly longer than usual. But the staff work diligently to ensure the public’s needs are being met. This was true even at the height of the pandemic. You can rest assured that your documents will be handled expeditiously by the U.S. Department of State.

Most New Jersey residents will need an apostille for documents sent out of the country. Please note, you cannot get an apostille for a document which will be used in the United States. Again, an apostille can only be obtained for a document that will be used outside of the United States.

In case you are not aware, the United States along with more than 100 other nations subscribe to a treaty commonly referred to as the Hague Convention of 1961. The Convention simplifies authentication of notarized documents exchanged between any of the nations that subscribe to the treaty.

Now you should have a better understanding of apostilles & the U.S department.