Apostille

Civil or vital records such as birth certificates and marriage certificates are generally only recognized and usable in the country in which they are issued. In order to facilitate recognition of these documents abroad, an international treaty regarding recognition of such documents was signed by many countries, including the United States and Montenegro.

This treaty is called the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirements of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents. According to that treaty, a document originating in one Convention country is recognized in all other Convention countries by the so-called apostille stamp, which is a validation performed by the superior office in the country and state/province where the document was issued.

In the United States, the Secretary of State or the Deputy Secretary of State of the individual U.S. states provide the apostille. If you need an apostille, please contact the state where the document was originally issued. For contact information for the apostille authorities in each state, as well as document request requirements, please click here. 

For even more information about apostilles, please see the Department of State's web site.