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    April 27, 2023

    ABA Urges States to Adopt Electronic Authentication of Signed Documents

    e-Apostilles and e-Registers Would Facilitate Cross-Border Transactions

    So far, only Montana has adopted both e-Apostilles and e-Registers while thirteen other states have implemented one of the two processes.

    So far, only Montana has adopted both e-Apostilles and e-Registers while thirteen other states have implemented one of the two processes.

    On April 20, 2023, ABA President Deborah Enix-Ross wrote to all state and local bar presidents and urged them to contact their states' Secretaries of State and ask them to implement the electronic Apostille Pilot Program (e-APP) to help streamline document authentication and facilitate cross-border transactions. An Apostille is a certification of a signed document's authenticity, and a register helps recipients confirm the validity of the Apostille.

    Authenticated signatures are typically required in connection with conveyances of real property interests and in a variety of commercial, regulatory, civil status, family law, and other contexts. To expedite and streamline the authentication process, the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) drafted the Apostille Convention (formally known as the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents). The Convention, which has been ratified by the U.S. and over 120 other nations, replaced the cumbersome legalization process for authenticating documents with a single formality—the issuance of an Apostille certificate.

    To further streamline the process of delivering original documents and Apostilles certifying their authenticity from a U.S. state to a foreign country—or vice versa—the HCCH and National Notary Association of the United States of America launched e-APP in 2006. The e-APP program promotes the issuance of electronic Apostilles (e-Apostilles) and the use of electronic registers (e-Registers) that can be accessed online by recipients to verify the origin of an Apostille.

    Fifty-one countries, including the U.S., allow electronic certification, electronic registration, or both. In the U.S., each state decides whether to implement one or both processes. So far, only one state (Montana) has adopted the use of both e-Apostilles and e-Registers, while thirteen other states have implemented one of the two processes.

    In her letter to state and local bar presidents, ABA President Enix-Ross explained the many benefits of adopting the e-APP system and urged the bar leaders to send letters similar to the ABA’s sample bar letter to their respective Secretaries of State asking them to implement both e-Apostilles and e-Registers in their states.

    “Adopting and implementing both e-Apostilles and e-Registers will greatly benefit all states, their citizens, and other stakeholders by minimizing the delays, expense, and bureaucratic hassles associated with the cross-border presentation and authentication of documents for business and civil status purposes,” Enix-Ross explained. “The recent COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting restrictions on travel and in-person interactions further underscore the need for—and the benefits of—using electronic certification and registration of signed documents in place of physical paper documents,” she added.

    Please contact your state and local bar leaders and urge them to send letters similar to the ABA’s sample bar letter to your Secretary of State asking them to implement the e-APP program in your state.

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