Articles of Formation Apostille and Authentication

Articles of Formation are an essential tool used to establish a limited liability company within a specific jurisdiction. For example, to establish LLC in Nevada, Articles of Formation must be filed, along with the appropriate duties,  with NV Secretary of State, Division of Corporations. Only after all the documents were filed and registered, will the LLC start its existence and Certificate of Formation, also known as Certificate of Fact will be issued by Nevada SOS.  

WHAT IS CERTIFICATE OF FORMATION?

A Certificate of Formation can be one of the two items:

• A copy of Articles of Formation
• A State of Fact of Formation 

Each state maintains their business records as they deem fit and therefore each jurisdiction will have different documents. For example, ordering a Certificate of Formation in Pennsylvania or Utah, will produce the same document as ordering Articles of Formation. While ordering Certificate of Formation in Delaware will produce statement of fact that the entity was filed, and ordering Articles of Formation will result into a copy of the actual Articles. 

WHAT IS CERTIFICATE OR ARTICLES OF ORGANIZATION?

These are unanimous terms to Articles of Formation and Certificate of Formation. Some states name the documents differently, yet they are identical and serve the same purpose of LLC establishment. 

WHAT ARE CERTIFIED COPIES AND NON-CERTIFIED COPIES?

Plain copies of the Articles of Formation and Certificates of Formation are used for domestic purposes only. If you need to open a business bank account, for example, you will be asked to produce a copy of the articles of formation or certificate of organization. 

Certified copies of the Articles of Formation and Certificates of Formation are official documents produced by the Secretary of State Office with the authentication statement confirming that the photocopy or the fact stated in the document is true, correct and complete. Certified copies often contain seal and signature of the State and in some states an embossed or golden seal. 

WHAT IS APOSTILLE ARTICLES OF FORMATION?

Apostille certificate may only be issued for Certified Copy of Articles of Formation or Certified Copy of Certificate of Formation. Moreover, the Articles or Certificates must be certified and issued no more than six months prior to their submission for apostille. In other words, if you have a certified copy of Articles of Formation issued five years ago, it will not be accepted for apostille processing. 

HOW TO GET CERTIFIED COPY OF ARTICLES OF FORMATION APOSTILLE?

Each state will have different requirements to certification and apostille. For example, in Washington State and in Virginia, if you receive the Certified Copy of Articles or Certificate of Formation, the document is by default no longer eligible for apostille. In states like Massachusetts or California certified copy of Articles of Formation is delivered physically. For apostille the certified copy may be submitted at anytime within next 6 months. 

MY COUNTRY DOES NOT ACCEPT APOSTILLE WHAT DO I DO?

Chain authentication process, known as Embassy Attestation. This will include significantly more steps than apostille. However, the first item will be the same: to get certified copy of the document. Then the authentication certificate is needed. Authentication Certificate is an alternative to apostille. Some states like California, Nevada, Oregon or Colorado will issue apostille regardless of the destination country. Once the document is authenticated on the state level it will most likely will need to go to the Office of Authentication at the US Department of State and then to the target Consulate or Embassy for Attestation.