Apostille
Also called: Hague apostille, certificate of authentication
A certificate issued by the Pennsylvania Department of State authenticating a PA notary's signature and commission for use in a foreign country that is party to the 1961 Hague Convention. An apostille makes further consular legalization unnecessary between Convention member states.
Under § 314(e), an apostille in Hague Convention form conclusively establishes the genuineness of a notary’s signature and that the notary held office at the time of the act. PA’s Department of State (Bureau of Commissions, Elections and Legislation) is the competent authority for issuing apostilles on PA-notarized documents. For documents destined to non-Convention countries, the document must instead be authenticated by the DOS and then legalized by the destination country’s consulate; a § 314(f) consular authentication performs the equivalent function for documents coming into PA from abroad.
Source: 57 Pa.C.S. § 314(e) — Hague Convention apostille — link
See also: commission, stamp
This page is educational information, not legal advice. Pennsylvania notary law changes; always verify against the current version of RULONA (57 Pa.C.S. §§ 301–331) and 4 Pa. Code at pa.gov. Consult a PA-licensed attorney for specific situations.