State Certification of Documents to be Sent to a Foreign Country
APOSTILLE – AUTHENTICATION
The Montana Secretary of State’s office can provide state certification for documents that are to be sent to, or used in, a foreign country. Both types of certification – apostille and authentication – verify that the Notary Public, Clerk of Court, Clerk & Recorder, or Vital Records Administrator is authorized to provide the notarization or certification and that he/she has done so in accordance with the Montana Code Annotated. Additional certification of a notary public by an official at the local or county level is not provided in Montana.
If you are asked to notarize something that will be submitted for either type of certification, there is nothing special that you are being asked to do – except do the notarial block 100% correctly! As long as you follow the appropriate instructions as provided here and complete a full notarial block, the requested state certification can be provided.
Based on the experience of the Secretary of State’s office, there are some common errors that cause the documents to be returned. Be aware of the following:
- If you are asked to certify a document, refer to the information on Certified Copies before complying with the request. Be sure you are authorized to certify the document and then be sure to do so according to statutory regulation.
- In most cases you will be notarizing someone’s signature; all the notary rules apply:
- Make sure there is a signature to notarize.
- Make sure you witnessed the signing or the acknowledgment of the signature. The person who signed the document must have appeared in front of you.
- Complete a full notarial block – even if the preprinted form does not require certain information.
- If there is no preprinted notarial block, ask the customer what kind of notarization is required (see Fundamental Notarial Acts). If the customer does not know, advise them to find out from the entity requesting the document or the author of the document.
SPECIAL NOTE: Notarizing and/or Certifying Official School Records for Foreign Use
State certified copies of school transcripts and diplomas are frequently requested for foreign exchange students. These require an additional step before the apostille or authentication can be issued.
- An authorized school official (Principal, Registrar, etc.) must certify the document:
Sample wording for school official certifying an original school document:
On ____(date)__, I the undersigned, do hereby certify that this is a true and original _(specify the type of document)__ issued by __(name of school)___.
[Signature of school official]
[Printed name and Official Title]
Sample wording for school official certifying a copy of a school document:
On ___(date)__, I the undersigned, do hereby certify that this is a true and unaltered copy of the original _(specify the type of document)__ issued by __(name of school)___.
[Signature of school official]
[Printed name and Official Title]
- A notary public must then notarize the school official’s signature using an appropriate form as shown on the Short Forms.
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