2023 Notice: New Improved Apostille Certificate

Changes you will notice:

• Use of trilingual Apostille
• Apostille is now on blue paper and offset
• Apostille is affixed to the page that contains the signature and seal that is certified
• Extra ink seal overlaps the apostille and the underlying public document and is ‘blue’ in color
• Apostille is ‘Certified’ and no country is defined on certificate to allow for use in countries that are party to the Apostille convention.

Apostille

General Information

Apostilles are certificates issued by the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) to authenticate the signatures of public officials and notaries public on certain types of public documents issued in Wisconsin to be used outside the United States of America. Some examples of documents DFI may authenticate by issuing an apostille include: birth certificates, adoption papers, marriage licenses, corporate documents, school transcript records and trademarks. Apostilles may be issued for documents issued in one country, for use in another country, but only if both countries are parties to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents. See the list of participating countries (known as “contracting parties”) here, and check the Entry into Force column (EIF). Please note that the effect of an apostille is limited. It does not certify the authenticity of the contents of the underlying document - it attests only to the authenticity of the signature or seal of the person or authority that signed or sealed the public document, as well as the capacity in which the person signing or sealing the document acted.

Note: Apostilles should not be issued by a U.S. state for use in the United States or in U.S. territories: American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Reference Materials

• Apostille Handbook
• ABC’s of Apostilles (FAQ)
• Sample of Notarial Statements
• Issuing & Accepting Apostilles

How to Obtain an Apostille

Prepare Your Request

Each Apostille request must contain some basic information:

• Your public documents that require an Apostille
• Country for document destination (only one country per request form)
• Fee: $10 each standard document, $35 each expedited document
• Method to return your documents: Pickup or Prepaid postage (Priority shipping or US Postal)

Complete the Request Form and Forward Your Documents to DFI

To obtain an Apostille from Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions, you can:

• Complete the request form online, pay with a credit card, then mail or hand deliver your documents and the printed confirmation page (or printer-friendly version of the order) to DFI for processing. Delivery addresses and instructions for the return of your documents and Apostille are shown on the order form.
• Fill out and print the request form, then mail or hand deliver the request form, payment and your documents to DFI. Delivery addresses and instructions for the return of your documents and Apostille are shown on the order form.

Email:    DFIApostille@dfi.wisconsin.gov      Phone: (608) 266-8915