Apostille

Apostilles from the US Federal Government

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Federally issued documents such as FBI Background checks, documents issued by the IRS, Birth Certificates of US Citizens born abroad and any other document that has been issued by a federal agency must receive an Apostille from the U.S. Department of State.

The U.S. Department of State provides authentication services to U.S. citizens and Greek nationals on documents that will be used in Greece. For the requirements of Apostille by the federal government, click here.

U.S. Department of State
Authentications Office
518 23rd Street, NW SA-1
Columbia Plaza
Washington, DC 20520

202-663-1848

If you require authentication by the US Federal Government, other than Apostille, click here.

 

Apostilles for the State of Illinois

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The State of Illinois Index Department certifies by Apostille the validity of an Illinois notary public, county clerk, local registrar or circuit clerk. This special official certification is accepted by Greece as proof that specific documents are official.

Main Office:
Illinois Secretary of State’s Office
Index Department
111 E. Monroe
Springfield, IL 62756
(217) 782-7017		 Chicago Office (Walk-in):
Illinois Secretary of State’s Office
Index Department
17 N. State St.
Suite 1030
Chicago, IL 60602
(312) 814-2067

What is an Apostille (Επισημείωση) certification

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Image of Apostille
Click for a full view of the Apostille

After WWII, countries around the world came together to decide on a uniform document certification that they could all accept as official. The result was the Convention of October 5, 1961 under the formal name “Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents”. This convention brought about a basic simplification of the series of formalities which complicated the utilization of public documents outside of the countries from which they issued.

The Apostille certification basically certifies a document for international use. It certifies the document as valid to be used by other government agencies. It is issued for the specific document it is attached to and has a serial number.

You can read more about it on the official Hague Conference on Private International Law website.