How to prepare for your visit to the U.S. Embassy for a notarial service:
- Before you come to the Embassy, read your document(s) through carefully and make sure you understand the document(s). If a document is not clear, check with the office or organization requiring the notarized document or your legal advisor. Consular staff cannot explain your document(s) to you.
- Mark every page where the notary needs to sign, with a marker sticker sticking out of the document. Also make clear which pages should be attached to each other, for instance with a paper clip.
- Fill in the document(s) with the appropriate names, places, and dates. However, do not sign your document – you will sign under oath at the Embassy, in front of a Consular Officer.
- Schedule a Notarial Appointment through our ACS Navigator.
- Bring a valid government-issued photo ID.
- Bring the entire document(s), even if only one page is to be notarized.
- If your document requires witnesses in addition to the notary, you must bring these witnesses with you. Consular staff cannot serve as witnesses. Witnesses must also have valid government-issued photo ID.
- The fee for notarial services is $50.00 per notary signature. The notary services fee must be paid by credit card or USD cash.
True Copy
To obtain a certified copy of your national passport when applying for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number or ITIN, make an appointment for a notary service. The fee for a certified copy is $50. The fee must be paid by credit card or USD cash.
Swedish Documents
The Government of Sweden has chosen Swedish notaries public as their officials, who are designated to certify the authenticity of Swedish public documents, seals, and signatures. Under the Convention, the standard certification provided to authenticate documents is called an apostille.
Google “notarius publicus” to find the officer nearest you to authenticate Swedish documents for use in the U.S. or another foreign country.
American Documents
Authentication (certification) of U.S. documents destined for use in countries that are parties to the Hague Convention (such as Sweden) should be certified by one of the officials in the jurisdiction in which the document has been executed. There are three levels of U.S authorities competent to issue an Apostille certificate depending on what jurisdiction executed the documents:
- States, territories, and other jurisdictions: Each state and other jurisdiction in the U.S have an office that can issue an Apostille certificate. Listings of competent office in individual states and other jurisdictions.
- U.S. Courts: Clerks and Deputy Clerks of the Federal Court System can issue Apostilles. Please see the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts, Statement of Effect of Apostille (PDF – 50KB) (AO 393) and other related documents (AO 390, AO 391, AO 392). The United States Courts website has a Federal Court Finder which holds contact information for the different courts.
Apostille – Authentications
An “apostille” is a certificate issued by a designated authority in a country where a treaty called the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalization of Foreign Public Documents applies. See a model Apostille (PDF – 9KB).
Both the United States and Sweden are currently signatory parties to this Convention. This means that the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm cannot authenticate any U.S. or Swedish documents. You can see the full text of the Convention at the Hague Conference on Private International Law website, where you can also find a list of all signatory countries.
The Hague Legalization Convention is a multilateral treaty, the main purpose of which is to facilitate the circulation of public document issued by a country party to the Convention to be used in another country party to the Convention.
U.S. Embassies and Consulates in countries participating in the Hague Conventions are thus not equipped or authorized to provide Apostille Certificates (certifications and authentications) of U.S. documents.