Prior to October 5, 1961, there was a cumbersome process in place for legalization of these documents, but on that date the United States formally entered the Hague Convention on Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Documents.

Now all documents originating in Georgia, properly certified by a notary public, will be admissible in certain foreign countries without any further certification, by the following process:

The document, with proper notarization, must be brought (driving directions) or sent to our office: 1875 Century Blvd., Suite 100, Atlanta GA, 30345, 404-327-6023.

There the notary's signature will be verified by comparing it to the notary appointment form on file and a simple document called an Apostille will be filled out and signed by the executive director of the Georgia Superior Court Clerks' Cooperative Authority.

The Apostille then will be embossed with the official seal. A $3 fee per document should accompany the request. Please make checks payable to the GSCCCA. Once the process is completed, the document is then considered legalized in the countries listed below.

Albania Andorra Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria China, People's Republic of (Hong Kong & Macao Only) Colombia Cook Islands Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador El Salvador Estonia Fiji Finland France	Georgia Germany Greece Grenada Honduras Hungary Iceland India Ireland Israel Italy Japan Kazakhstan Korea, Republic of Latvia Lesotho Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malawi Malta Marshall Islands Mauritius Mexico Moldova, Republic of Monaco Montenegro Namibia Netherlands New Zealand Niue Norway	Panama Poland Portugal Romania Russian Federation Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Serbia Seychelles Slovakia Slovenia South Africa Spain Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Vanuatu Venezuela
* Last Revised August 30, 2009

If the destination country is not listed above, you should refer the parties to the Georgia Secretary of State, Elections Division (404-656-2871), to arrange for the more traditional process of authentication through the U.S. Department of State.