Consular Services

Notary Services and Apostilles

Notary services are available to all U.S. citizens and to foreign nationals for documents destined to be used in the United States. Notary services are executed by consular officers and may include documents to be signed before them, statements made under oath, powers of attorney, affidavits and acknowledgements. ACS provides these services Monday-Thursday 1 p.m.-4 p.m.; Friday 9 a.m.-12 p.m. and 1 p.m.-4 p.m., with the exception of Hungarian and American national holidays.

To have a document notarized, you must come in person with the following documents:

• A valid passport or identification card;
• The document(s) to be notarized (please DO NOT SIGN the documents until you are in front of a consular officer);
• The fee of 30 USD (or HUF equivalent) for the first seal, and 20 USD for each subsequent seal(s), in cash or travelers checks (personal checks are not accepted);
• If your document needs to be witnessed, please bring your witness with you or be prepared to ask other clients in the waiting room to be your witness.

Signature Guarantees: We do NOT provide this service. Because we are unaware of any place in Budapest that provides a signature guarantee service, please ask your financial institution whether or not they will make an exception and accept a notarization from the U.S. Embassy in lieu of a signature guarantee.

Apostilles

Because Hungary and the United States are parties to the Hague Convention on the Legalization of Foreign Public Documents, there is an alternative procedure for the notarization of Hungarian-origin documents destined for use in the United States. This alternative notarization procedure is called an Apostille, and is provided by the Hungarian Government. This process legalizes Hungarian documents for use in the United States.

For more information about the Apostille process, please telephone the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Consular Department at Tel.: 458-1706. Also, the Hungarian Ministry of Justice/International Legal Department can be reached at Tel.: 441-3117.

Last updated: 08/12/2005