Verification of Public Documents

Apostile

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    There are two possibilities for verifying a public document.
     
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  • Verification by Means of Apostille

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    In 1978, Israel signed and ratified the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, 1961 (hereinafter: the Hague Convention). The purpose of this Convention was to shorten the processes required for a particular country to recognize the official documents issued by another country, by means of apostille certification.

    Public documents and certificates that were issued in one of the countries that are signatories to the above Convention, and which bear the apostille stamp, are valid for presentation in Israel, without the need for additional verification/certification by the diplomatic/consular representative at the Embassy of Israel.

    Additionally, for countries that are signatories to the Hague Convention, no additional verification is required by the mission consul of the country for which the document is designated, if it was stamped with an apostille in Israel.

    For a list of the countries that signed the Convention, and details about the authority competent to grant apostille certification in each country, as well as additional information: click here.

    Apostille offices in the area:

    Massachusetts:

    ​617-727-2836

    Maine:

    207-287-4181

    New Hampshire: 

    603-271-3242

    Rhode Island:

    401-222-1487

    Vermont:

    802​-828-2308

    Connecticut

    860-509-7700

  • Verification by Means other than Apostille

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    Verification of a document in a country that is not a signatory to the Hague Convention should be implemented as follows:

    After the document is verified by the competent authority in the foreign country (usually the Foreign Ministry or Ministry of Justice), the Israeli consular representative verifies the signature of the competent authority.