How do you prepare a high school, college, university diploma, a transcript, an enrollment or graduation verification letter for foreign use?
Contact your school and request a certified notarized copy of your school record. New York colleges and universities issued certified notarized copies upon request. This document needs to be signed by a school official (original signature), and his/her signature must be notarized. Make sure the document is properly notarized by a New York notary public (see below).
In the State of New York the authentication of documents such as diplomas, transcripts, verification letters, etc. is a three step process. First, the signature of the school official on the document needs to be notarized. Then, the signature of the notary needs to be authenticated by the County Clerk's office in the county where the notary is commissioned. And only then, the document is submitted to the Secretary of State who either attaches an apostille (if the country of intended use joined the Hague Apostille Convention) or a foreign certification (if the document is intended for a non-Hague country).
You could save significant amount of time, if you email a copy of your document to us for a free evaluation. We will check if the notary is active (in good standing), if the document has been notarized properly, and will advise if any corrections are needed.
Hague apostille or Embassy seal? Check what kind of legalization your document requires.New York apostille: price, processing time, order form
New York apostille: $175
Processing time: app. 1-1,5 weeks + mail
Please complete the Order Form and mail it with your original document(s) to
If you are sending your document(s) from a foreign country, please use FedEx, DHL, UPS or TNT, and email the tracking number so that we can watch for your package.
No hidden fees.
Our guarantee: If we are unable to get your documents apostilled or legalized, we will issue a 100% refund, we do not keep any service fees.
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Want to double check before shipping your document? Email a copy for a free evaluation.
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What does a New York apostille look like?
If you cannot get a certified notarized copy from your school...
We can have a copy of your diploma/transcript notarized and apostilled in Washington DC: ORDER ONLINE.What does a "proper notarization" mean?
Make sure the notary follows the requirements:
The signature of the notary public must be original. It must exactly match the sample signature filed with the office of the County Clerk in the county where the notary public is qualified. This is important because if the notary's signature on the document does not match the sample signature on file with the County Clerk's office, the document will be rejected.
The notary's stamp must indicate the notary's name, license number, the name of the county where the notary is qualified, and the expiration date of the notary's license. If the notary does not have an ink stamp, the above information must be printed or typed in black ink.
The notary must include a Certificate of acknowledgment or Jurat basically of the following form:
Acknowledgment:
State of New York )
) ss.:
County of . . . . . . . )
On the . . . . . . day of . . . . . . in the year 20 . . . . before me, the undersigned, personally appeared . . . . . ., personally known to me or proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence to be the individual(s) whose name(s) is (are) subscribed to the within instrument and acknowledged to me that he/she/they executed the same in his/her/their capacity(ies),
_______________ [Notary stamp]
Notary Signature
[Notary's name] Date:
Notary Public, State of New York
Registration.....
Qualified in ....... County
My commission expires ...
Jurat:
State of New York )
) ss.:
County of . . . . . . . )
Subscribed and sworn to before me this ........ day of ........, 20 ......
_______________ [Notary stamp]
Notary Signature
[Notary's name] Date:
Notary Public, State of New York
Registration.....
Qualified in ....... County
My commission expires ...
