TYPES OF DOCUMENTS
Certificate of Authorization
A Certificate of Authorization is a vital corporate document that is issued by the State's Secretary of State to provide conclusive evidence that certifies the business is compliant within the State of Incorporation and therefore is in "good standing." The Certificate of Authorization is also known as the Certificate of Existence, the Certificate of Good Standing, the Certificate of Fact, and the Certificate of Status.
A company's formation documents are always stored in the state's archives. These documents only certify that the organization was duly formed. However, these documents do not certify the organization's current status with the State. A Certificate of Good Standing certifies the current existence of the organization. Therefore, in most cases the Certicate of Authorization is valid for up to three months.
In many foreign countries a different system of State corporate records is implemented, thus the Certificate of Authorization is a very unique document to the the United States. In the United States, in order for a business to receive a Certificate of Authorization from the Secretary of State, the entity needs to:
- Be registered (chartered) by a government agency, such as the State and
- Be up to date with filing all appropriate paperwork and taxes to the sponsoring government agency.
Apostilles only certify the authenticity of the signature of the official who signed the document, the capacity in which that official acted, and when appropriate, the identity of the seal or stamp which the document bears. The Apostille does not validate the contents of the document. Therefore, documents submitted to the Secretary of State for an Apostille (signature authentication) must have a current certification date by the appropriate public official or their deputy, otherwise they must be notarized by a Notary Public in the State the document originated and was signed. ONLY THE ORIGINAL CERTIFIED DOCUMENTS OR NOTARIZED DOCUMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED. A Photocopy is not acceptable. Documents issued by the State and bear the signature and/or the stamp of an elected or appointed official such as the Certificate of Authorization must be an original Certificate or a Certified Copy. IT CANNOT BE NOTARIZED.
Once the original English Certificate of Authorization is retrieved you can mail them to us to be Apostilled. We can also provide Certified Translation Services into the language required by the Country of Designation.
Here at Ezra Notary and Apostille,