State of Vermont

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Office of the Secretary of State

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Notaries' Responsibilities: Fees; Apostilles

FEES: Vermont law does not establish fees notaries may charge except for protests under seal ($2 per protest) and certificates under seal ($.50 per certificate). 32 V.S.A. §1759.

If you are a notary ex-officio, the law requires that you perform notarial services without charge or fee. 32 V.S.A. §1403(b).

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Apostilles; Foreign Authentication

Occasionally a notary public is asked to notarize documents destined for use in foreign countries.

Prior to October 5, 1961, there was a cumbersome process in place for legalization of these documents, but on that date the United States formally entered the Hague Convention on Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Documents.

Now all documents originating in Vermont, properly certified by a notary public, will be admissible in certain foreign countries without any further certification, by the following process:

The document, with proper notarization, must be brought or sent to our office in Montpelier.

There the notary's signature will be verified by comparing it to the notary appointment form on file and a simple document called an Apostille will be filled out and signed by either the Secretary of State or the Deputy Secretary of State.

The Apostille then will be embossed with the seal of the Secretary of State. A $2 fee per document should accompany the request. Once the process is completed, the document is then considered legalized in the countries on the list below.

(We present this list, complete with its historical idiosyncrasies, as it is given to us by the U.S. State Department. We are instructed that the asterisks below indicate "now independent, no confirmation issued." Please note that Canada does not appear on the list.)

• Andorra
  
• Angola
  
• Anguilla
  
• Antigua and Barbuda
  
• Argentina
  
• Armenia
  
• Aruba
  
• Australia
  
• Austria
  
• Bahamas
  
• Barbados
  
• Belarus
  
• Belgium
  
• Belize
  
• Bermuda
  
• Bosnia & Hercegovina
  
• Botswana
  
• British Antarctic Territory
  
• British Virgin Islands
  
• Brunei
  
• Cayman Islands
  
• Comoros Islands
  
• Croatia
  
• Cyprus
  
• Djibouti
  
• Dominica
  
• El Salvador
  
• Falkland Islands
  
• Fiji
  
• Finland
  
• France
  
• French Guiana
  
• French Polynesia
  
• Germany
  
• Gibralter
  
• Greece
  
• Grenada
  
• Guadeloupe
  
• Guernsey (Bailiwick of)
  
• Guyana
  
• Hong Kong
  
• Hungary
  
• Isle of Man
  
• Israel
  
• Italy
  
• Japan
  
• Jersey (Bailiwick of)
  
• Kiribati
  
• Latvia
  
• Lesotho
  
• Liberia
  
• Liechtenstein
  
• Luxembourg
  
• Macedonia
  
• Malawi
  
• Malta
  
• Marshall Islands
  
• Martinique
  
• Mauritius
  
• Mexico
  
• Montserrat
  
• Mozambique
  
• Netherlands
  
• Netherlands Antilles
  
• New Caledonia
  
• Norway
  
• Panama
  
• Portugal
  
• Reunion
  
• Russian Federation
  
• St. Christopher (Kitts) and Nevis
  
• St. Georgia and South Sandwich Islands
  
• St. Helena
  
• St. Lucia
  
• St. Pierre and Miquelon
  
• St. Vincent and the Grenadines
  
• San Marino, Republic of
  
• Seychelles
  
• Slovenia
  
• Solomon Islands
  
• South Africa
  
• Spain
  
• Suriname
  
• Swaziland
  
• Switzerland
  
• Tonga
  
• Turkey
  
• Turks and Caicos
  
• United Kingdom
  
• United States of America
  
• Vanuatu
  
• Wallis and Futuna

Once you have notarized documents bound for countries not listed above, you should refer the parties to our office, where we can arrange for the more traditional process of authentication through the U.S. Department of State.

END OF NOTARY SERIES