Why US apostille is not valid for use in US?

I've got an apostille and bottom line says: ". this apostille is not valid for use anywhere within the United States of America. " What was the reason for this? Is it applicable for all countries signed the "Apostille Convention" or just US? upd: The document is a birth certificate. Apostille was done in Georgia US.

This copy of the certificate is valid for all countries abiding by the convention except the US (where other requirements apply, and you can get another copy).

@TimLymington the authenticated document is perfectly valid for use in the US. It is the apostille that is only valid outside the US. But that makes perfect sense, since the point of the apostille is to attest to the validity of the official endorsement on the document for the benefit of foreign officials. Within the US, there are no foreign officials, so there's no need for an apostille.

2 Answers 2

An apostille is a certification set up by a treaty, to streamline the recognition of documents that were created in one country but used in another. The text of the treaty is available online. I don't know the specific reason it can't be used within a country, or even if the assertion Hedgehog mentioned is even true. But certainly the treaty establishing apostilles was not signed for the purpose of getting documents recognized within the country where they were created.

If you describe the type of document, the US state where it was created, and the US state where it is to be used, someone may know what requirements exist to make the document acceptable in the state where it is to be used. It may also matter what agency will be receiving the document; an office of vital statistics might have different requirements than a court.

A birth certificate or official copy of a birth certificate issued by a US state, or authorized town/city/county within a state, is usually accepted by all US federal, state, and local agencies throughout the country. The apostille is unnecessary. But due to limited training of many clerical government employees, submitting the birth certificate with the apostille may cause the certificate to be rejected.

does it mean that now I can't use this Birth certificate in US? Would you recommend to get another copy of BC?

I think it would be safer to get another certified copy of the BC. The clerk receiving it may not understand what an apostille is, see the wording about the apostille not being valid in the US, and reject the BC.