Send the document
Send the document, destination country, deadline, and any recipient instructions.
Need an e-Apostille for a U.S. document?
An e-Apostille is issued electronically as a digitally signed PDF by the proper government authority. Send the document and recipient instructions so we can check whether the electronic route is available and accepted.
We check the U.S. route
We identify the proper authority and check whether an e-Apostille is available and accepted.
Get the right next step
We explain the supported electronic, paper, authentication, or legalization route.
The finished e-Apostille is a digitally signed PDF.
The e-Apostille is issued electronically by the designated government authority. It is the apostille certificate itself in electronic form, not merely a digital copy of a paper certificate.
A notarized PDF or remote online notarization may be part of the document route, but neither one becomes an e-Apostille unless the proper authority issues the apostille electronically.
It is not
- A scanned paper apostille
- A notarized PDF
- A remote online notarization
- A notary's digital certificate
- A scan-back of a physical apostille
We check the route before promising an electronic result.
Notary Geek reviews U.S. state, federal, notarized, certified, company, court, and school documents for use abroad. Whether an e-Apostille is possible depends on the document, the authority responsible for the signature or record, and the receiving office's requirements.
If the electronic facts do not fit, the supported route may require a paper apostille, state or federal authentication, embassy or consular legalization, or another document-specific step.
Notary Geek can review and coordinate an eligible route, but the proper government authority issues the e-Apostille.
What to send
- The document or a clear copy
- The issuing state, agency, or notary state
- The destination country and receiving office
- Your deadline
- Any written paper or electronic delivery instructions
Technical definitions, role boundaries, and official sources
How the electronic Apostille Programme works
The HCCH e-APP separates e-Apostilles issued electronically by a Competent Authority from e-Registers used to verify issued apostilles.
Who does what
Notary Geek reviews the route and coordinates supported document handling. A notary may perform a separate notarial act when required. The competent state or federal authority issues the apostille. The receiving office controls whether it accepts the electronic result.
Common digital-document confusion
- Electronic or remote notarization: a notarial act, not the apostille.
- Tamper-evident PDF: not the apostille unless the authority issued it as the apostille.
- Scan-back: a digital copy of a paper apostille, not an e-Apostille.
- Notary digital certificate: separate from the issuing authority's apostille signature.
Why HCCH, X.509, and JSON still matter
Most customers do not need these terms to request service. Technical reviewers can use HCCH e-APP guidance to understand the international framework, X.509 certificate data to inspect the digital signer and certificate chain, and machine-readable JSON to evaluate route and source information without relying only on page layout.
Route boundary
For signer-created U.S. documents, the notary state can determine the apostille route. For official records, the issuing public authority often determines it. Foreign-issued documents generally require the foreign issuing country's route and may fall outside Notary Geek's U.S. handling scope.