Additional Information

Apostille

An Apostille is a validation stamp used by countries that have signed the Hague Convention on Civil Documents that enables a legal document issued in one such country to be recognized as legal in another.   Both the U.S. and Slovakia have signed this particular convention. 

According to the Hague Convention, a document originating in one Convention country is recognized in all other Convention countries if it bears something called an “Apostille”.  (For details on the Convention itself and a list of countries that have signed it, please click here.)  An Apostille is a certification by a superior office in the country where the document was issued attesting that the official who issued it had the authority to do so.

EXAMPLE:
Joe was born in Florida and needs to submit a legal copy of his birth certificate to the Slovak government in order to apply for a residency permit.  He has already obtained a Certified Copy of his birth certificate from the appropriate office in Florida.  Now he needs to obtain an authentication from the “Secretary of State of the State of Florida”.

A list of where and how one can request authentications in each of the states of the U.S. can be found at http://travel.state.gov/law/info/judicial/judicial_701.html
and information about the U.S. State Department’s apostille process can be found at http://www.state.gov/m/a/auth/