HOW TO FACILITATE YOUR DOCUMENT(S) THROUGH THE APOSTILLE/AUTHENTICATION PROCESS

Our concierge Apostille and Authentication Services

• Review your US issued documents for use in a foreign country for proper notarization documentation and signature.
• Obtain apostille or authentications the state's Secretary of State.
• Obtain a US State Department apostille/authentication if required
• Obtain the legalization from the correct foreign embassy or consulate for legalization of the document (authentication) if required.
• Track the progress of your paperwork and maintaining close contact with you during the process.
• Return apostilled, authenticated and/or legalized documents to your US Address when completed. Or, for an additional charge, we can send it to a foreign country.

Believe it or not, a majority of our Apostille business comes from ex-pats who are looking to get permanent residency in the European Union.  We do a Remote Online Notarization with the American living abroad and then print the documents out and expedite the Apostille process.  An example of this would be a 5 Year Certified Motor Vehicle Record from the AZ Dept of Motor Vehicles.  Some documents for expats require an Affidavit w/Jurat to certify the truth and correctness of the document.  As Commissioned Remote Online Notaries, we can notarize the Affidavit w/Jurat, print out the document, fill in the proper paperwork for the Apostille and send it off to the AZ Secretary of State for processing.  All in one stop.

At the AZ Roving Notary Agency, we do a lot of work for Corporate Legal Departments who have intellectual property being used all over the world.  We help the corporation remotely notarize the Power of Attorney, send it to the AZ Secretary of State for Authentication, forward the authenticated document to the US Department of State for their authentication and finally, obtain legalization of the documents from the various embassies.  We can even send the final legalized documents to the end user in a foreign country if that is required.  

And, we retrieve a lot of documents for clients from the AZ Corporate Commission such as Certificate of Good Standing and a Certified copy of the Articles of Organization.  We even send our agents to the courthouses to pick up certified copies of recorded documents.  Other states and documents are also downloaded and notarized with you, then sent for an Apostille or Authentication based on the country of destination.

If a US document is going to be used in a foreign country, then that document has to be apostilled if the country is a member of the Hague Convention, authenticated if it is not a member.  And some documents require legalization by their embassy or consulate to be legal in their respective country.

Here is a list of the most common reasons to get your document apostilled, authenticated and/or legalized:

• Assigining a power of attorney to a foreign individual
• Applying for Dual Citizenship
• Education Requirements for Studying Abroad
• Work or Business being performed out of country
• Real Estate Transactions - Buying/Selling/Inherited
• Intellectual Property Protection of Copyright, Trademark or Patent
• Establishing a business in a foreign country
• Destination Wedding paperwork
• Overseas adoption paperwork.

Many times a document is needed in more than one country.  For example a manufacturing company that manufactures a product in Brazil, Argentina and Peru. The document would need to be apostilled, authenticated and/or legalized three times - one for each country.  

At AZ Roving Notary we employ notaries and lay persons who specialize in document expediting. 

Our staff and contracted personnel are not attorneys, paralegals or doc preparers. 

We cannot create, alter or add to any document.

We cannot give any legal advice or answer questions other than explaining the process. 

All questions should be referred back to the document issuing agency, company or law firm that created the documents, or to the Arizona Secretary of State or proper government agency.

You have a choice of four methods to get your documents to us.

1.  You can meet us at our pickup point in downtown Scottsdale.  We will notarize your documents if required and take them to the AZ Secretary of State for Apostille/Authentication expediting. (Included in Base Price)

2.  If we are notarizing the documents via remote online notarization, you can upload the documents in a pdf format to our secure server link. (Included in Base Price)

3.  If you need us to come to your home or other Arizona location, we will notarize and take your documents to the AZ Secretary of State for Apostille/Authentication expediting.  The notarization cost is included in the base price, but the mileage is charged at $0.655/mile round trip plus a $25 pickup charge.

4  You can send the documents at your expense via US Postal Service Priority or Express Mail with tracking. Or, you can send the documents via Federal Express.  We will provide you with an address once the invoice for the apostille/authentication has been paid. (No additional charges).

5. If any of the above do not work for you - we can customize a solution for an additional fee.

There are four ways we return documents to you after they have gone throught the apostille, authentication and/or legalization process.

1.  We will send your finalized document to you at a US address via US Priority Mail with Tracking.  (This is included in the price of the apostille/authentication.)

2.  We will ship your finalized documents to you at a foreign address via Federal Express. (This is an extra charge of $100.00).

3.  We will meet you at drop off point in downtown Scottsdale. (This is included in the price)

4.  We will drop off your documents at your location in Maricopa County for a $25.00 drop off charge plus mileage.

In most cases - the answer is yes. 

If the notarization is part of the document pickup or server upload, then the traditional "wet", iPEN (In Person Electronic Notarization) or RON (Remote Online-Virtual Notarization) is included in the price of the apostille/authentication at the state regulated rate of $10.00 per notarial act. All mileage is charged additionally at the state regulated rate of $0.655 per mile round trip.

Sometimes a document is from another state and requires that a notarization and apostille/authentication is provided by a commissioned notary from that state. AZ Roving Notary provides these services throughout the 48 contiguous United States and in most cases this is included in the document fee.

Some documents need to be retrieved from a government agency.  The charge for this service depends on if an AZ Roving Notary team member needs to pick up the document from the agency or if the document can be mailed or downloaded to our office. We add into the charge any fees/charges imposed by that government agency.

Sometimes a Limited Power of Attorney is required. We will give you instructions and add an additional charge if this is required.

In some cases, only the authorized person will have the ability to retrieve the document and send it to us. If this is the case, we will give you specific instructions. 

Apostilles, Authentications and Legalizations are used to standardize the method of proving the document is a real document and has been notarized or certified by the proper authorities. 

Therefore, apostilles (authentications and legalizations) are used by corporations, businesses and individuals equally.  

ABSOLUTELY NOT!  If you are submitting the multipage document to us to obtain an Apostille or Authentication - please do not staple but use a paper clip to hold the pages together and in order.  The secretary of state's office will affix the apostille and staple the document in the correct place.  

If you remove the staple - even to make copies - you might invalidate the apostille.  We would be happy to make copies or scan the apostille and email it to you without invalidating the apostille. Scanning is inlcuded in the price of the apostille or authentication. 

ABSOLUTELY NOT!  Only the original is a valid document.  Any copies can be used to show your recipient in advance that the official document is on its way or can be used for your records.

Note: The secretary of state office does not keep a copy, nor does the office record in their records any information about the apostille.  They enter the information into an online database.

There is no reason why you can't do the paperwork yourself for the apostille, authentication and/or legalization process.  It certainly is a lot less expensive.  But just like most things - haste is waste and especially if your documents are time sensitive you don't want to risk rejection. In 2023, the AZ Secretary of State's office noted that over 50% of self-processed apostilles in their office were rejected for many reasons.

1.  Rejections - as of October 15, 2024 we have a 100% acceptance rate of our submissions. With our expediting service you can avoid the majority of reasons for rejections and delays.

2.  Save Time: With mail-in service taking almost 2-1/2 weeks and in-person visits requiring a trip to the state capital and then waiting in line, our expediting service can get this done on time. For most states we have same day service.

3.  Seamless Notarizations:  When a notarization is required we incorporate the notarization in our pricing.  Improper notarizations are the number one cause for rejections. We can do an in-person notarization or remotely online, so don't worry about where you are located - anywhere in the country, world or even the universe as long as there is internet service!

4.  International Shipping:  Shipping to an address within the US is included using US Priority mail with tracking.  International shipping is done through Federal Express International Priority and is an additional $100.00. 

5.  Translation Services:  We can offer you notarized, certified translation services if required.  Please contact us for specific pricing.