DOCUMENT LEGALIZATION

TO APOSTILLE OR NOT TO APOSTILLE: SPECIALS AND PROMOTIONS

Do you plan to run your business overseas? Are you going to establish your business entity somewhere else in the world? Do you need your personal documents issued in the United States be accepted in another country? If you do, you most probably will need your personal or corporate documentation be legalized for use in a foreign country in accordance with an internationally recognized procedure more known as apostillization or certification. However, practices of legalization of the documents for foreign use significantly differ from country to country, even from a part of the country to another part of the same country. Each authority tends to add its own rules and regulations into the internationally accepted treaties and agreements.

WHAT IS THE HAGUE CONVENTION AND APOSTILLE?

Since October 15, 1981, the United States has been part of the 1961 Hague Convention abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents. The Convention provides for the simplified certification of public (including notarized) documents to be used in countries that have joined the convention. Documents destined for use in participating countries and their territories should be certified by one of the officials in the jurisdiction in which the document has been executed. Said official must have been designated as competent to issue certifications by "apostille" (usually in the office of the State Secretary of State of his/her counterpart) as provided for by the 1961 Hague Convention. The text of the Convention may be found in T.I.A.S. 10072; 33 U.S. Treaty Series (UST) 883; 527 U.N. Treaty Series (UNTS) 189, and Martindale-Hubble International Law Digest. With this certification by The Hague Convention apostille, the document is entitled to recognition in the country of intended use, and no certification by the Authentications Office or legalization by the embassy or consulate of the foreign country where the document is to be used is required. The Authentications Office only certify to documents from other federal agencies and officials from foreign governments with the apostille. If a particular country has not joint the Hague Convention yet, the procedure of a document’s legalization is called “certification”, which includes two more steps, namely: Upon certification with a state of the document’s jurisdiction (the place where the document was executed and notarized) it is being sent to the U.S. Department of State in Washington D.C. for authentication by the U.S. Secretary of State; then it has to be registered with the target country’s Consulate in the United States.

WHAT CAN WE DO FOR YOU?

The key of our services is to identify the needs of our clients. Our approach is based on the client's objectives and the applicable laws and regulations currently in effect in foreign countries.
    • Depending on your goal in a foreign country, our experts will advise you on the local laws and requirements of the receiving organizations.
    • We will furnish samples of applications, powers of attorney, certificates, resolutions, etc., or draft documents to avail your needs.
    • We will obtain official (certified) copies of your articles of incorporation, certificate of incorporation, formation, dissolution, amendment, merger, etc. from the appropriate U.S. state agencies.
    • We will have your documents legalized – obtain Apostilles (for Hague Convention countries) or foreign certification (for non-Hague countries) from any state of the United States.
    • We will translate your documents into the language of the required country, or proof-read and edit (if necessary) third party translations.
    • For non-Hague Convention countries, we will have the documents authenticated by the Consulate or Embassy of the target country.
    • We will bind and ribbon the documents in accordance with standard requirements of foreign organizations.

WHAT DOCUMENTS CAN WE PROCESS AND PREPARE FOR YOU?

Personal documents:
    • Marriage, Divorce, Birth, Death, Adoption certificates and documents;
    • International adoption set;
    • Powers of attorney, affidavits, applications, statement, certifications;
    • State and federal court decrees and decisions;
    • Other individual documents.
Corporate documents:
  • Certificate of incorporation, formation, dissolution, merger, disassembly, amendment, incumbency, articles of incorporation;
  • By-laws, Statute;
  • Corporate powers of attorney;
  • Resolutions, minutes of the meetings of Board of Directors, shareholders;
  • Statements, applications, certifications, affidavits;
  • State and federal court decrees and decisions;
  • Bank letters.
Corporate documents can be prepared by sets or on an individual basis depending on the request of receiving organizations and your particular needs. We provide in-depth and exclusive consultations on such issues as how to establish a representative or branch offices; to acquire a foreign company (with 100% foreign investment and joint venture); to renew an accreditation for a branch office; to purchase stock in foreign companies; to sell and purchase property in a foreign country; to avoid double-taxation; to obtain licenses and product certification, etc.

RUSSIAN NATIONAL GROUP US OFFICE

Phone: (877) 221 7120, (646) 473 2233 Fax: (646) 473 2205 Address: 224 West 30th Street, Suite 701, New York, NY 10001 E-mail: info@rnto.org