DOCUMENT LEGALIZATION

Note: The Consulate in Washington, D.C. can only authenticate documents originating from the states of: Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Ohio and the District of Columbia.

7.1 Cases that do not require legalization
7.2 Secretaries of State in the jurisdiction of this Embassy’s Consular Section:
7.3 Consular Legalizations

7.1 Cases that do not require legalization

As of March 16, 1999, the Hague Convention Abolishing the Legalization of Foreign Public Documents, established at The Hague on October 5, 1961, came into effect, as noted in Federal Registry Number 36,446 of May 5, 1998.
The Convention eliminates or abolishes the need to legalize documents issues abroad by the diplomatic representation of the country in which the documents will have legal effects, and only requires that they be stamped with the apostille placed by the Secretaries of State. Nevertheless, the Convention states that documents issued by consular agents or diplomats, as well as those with commercial or customs ends, are not exempt from the legalization requirement.

If the document you require has no commercial or customs ends in our country, we recommending presenting it to a notary public and having the Secretary of State of your resident state place an apostille, which provides legal effects, and as such, does not require legalization from the Consular section. Please review the Secretaries of State of this jurisdiction.

7.2 Secretaries of State in the jurisdiction of this Embassy’s Consular Section:

Virginia

Secretary of the Commonwealth
1111 East Broad St
1st floor
Richmond, VA 23219
Tlf: (804) 6920114 (Spanish)
(804) 6920115 (English)
Fax: (804) 3710017
socmail@governor.virginia.gov

West Virginia
Secretary of State
State Capitol
Charleston, WV 25305
Ph: (304) 345 4000

District of Columbia
Acting Secretary of the District
441 4th St NW Room  810A
Washington DC
Ph: (202) 727 4116

Maryland
Secretary of State
State House
Annapolis, MD 21401
Ph: (410) 974 2800

Ohio
Secretary of State
30 E Broad St
Columbus, OH 43266-0418
Ph: (614) 466 2655

US Department of State
Office of Authentication
Columbia Plaza
518 23rd St NW
Washington DC 20520
Ph: (202) 647 5002

Kentucky
Secretary of State
700 Capital Avenue,
Suite 156. PO Box 718.
Frankfort, KY 40602
Ph: (502) 564 3490

7.3 Consular Legalization

For a document to have full legal effect in Venezuela, excepting those that have an apostille and is not among those made exempt by the Convention, the Consular Office must attest to the authenticity of local authorities’ signatures. As such, any document legalized by the Consular Section (such as Debt Certificates, Receipts, Power of Attorney, etc.) must:

• Be signed in front of or presented to a notary public in the states within our jurisdiction.
• Be submitted to certification by the corresponding County Clerk in one of the states previously mentioned.
• Include a money order for $70 for each document to be legalized.
• If the legalization process is done by mail, include a stamped envelope in order to receive the legalized document.