Notaries
Using Public Documents from One Country in Another: the Apostille
“Apostille” is an unfamiliar term to many people, but it is an essential requirement for any public document, such as a birth or marriage certificate, that was issued in the United States and is to be used in Colombia, or vice-versa. An apostille is simply a cover page that is placed on the document by a designated government office in the country where the document came from. With an apostille, along with a translation, a document from the United States will be recognized in Colombia, and a Colombian document will be recognized in the United States.
The apostille process was created by an international agreement called the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalization of Foreign Public Documents. Despite the complicated title, the agreement is relatively easy to understand: it says that if two countries have signed the agreement, as have Colombia and the United States, each country will recognize the other’s public documents if an apostille – and a translation, where appropriate – have been attached.
Obtaining an apostille can require significant time and effort, especially if you are not in the country where the apostille must be issued. It is therefore important to plan far ahead.
For Colombian documents that are to be used in the United States, the apostille-issuing office is the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Apostilles are issued by the Ministry in-person only, at the following address:
Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores
Oficina de Legalizaciones
Transversal 17 A No. 98-45
Bogotá
Phone: (1) 520-1146
Further information from the Ministry, including costs and hours of operation, is available directly from the Ministry’s Spanish-language website.
For U.S. documents to be used in Colombia, there is an apostille-issuing office for each U.S. state and territory. Please see the website for the Department of State for a list of each office and its contact information. Specific questions, including costs, timing, and delivery arrangements, should be addressed directly to the apostille-issuing office in the appropriate state or territory. The U.S. Embassy in Colombia does not issue apostilles and cannot help you get one.
For further information about the international agreement that created the apostille process, including a list of countries that participate in that agreement, please visit the website for the Department of State.