Authentication & Apostille for Belgium citizens in the United States — 2026

Belgium has been a party to the Hague Apostille Convention since 9 February 1976, which makes this simpler than most people expect: a U.S. public document needs one apostille and nothing more. No consular legalisation and no step after it — and no reason to pay anyone as if there were.

What to do, in order

1. If the document is private — a power of attorney, a declaration, a company paper — have it notarised first. The apostille certifies the notary.
2. If it is already a public record — a birth or marriage certificate, a court order, an FBI check — order a certified copy from the office that holds it.
3. Send it to the Secretary of State of the state that issued it, or to the U.S. Department of State for federal documents such as an FBI background check.
4. That is the end of it. The apostille is recognised without any further step.

Never apostille a photocopy you made yourself: the certificate attaches to an original or to a certified copy from the record keeper.

Belgian consular offices in the United States

Belgium maintains a comparatively large consular network in the United States: seventeen offices across sixteen cities — Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, Doral, Honolulu, Houston, Jacksonville, Los Angeles and eight more. That is a help and a trap at once, and the trap catches more people than the distance does.

Documents this usually applies to

• Birth, marriage and death certificates.
• Court orders, including divorce decrees.
• FBI background checks and other federal records.
• Diplomas and academic transcripts.
• Powers of attorney and company documents.

Two things to settle first

Ask the receiving institution what it will accept. It is the only authority on its own requirements, and a document certified the wrong way has to start again from the beginning.

Ask whether a translation is needed, and into what. For Belgium that normally means Dutch, French or German. Some offices require the translation itself to be certified alongside the original.

Office names, addresses and telephone numbers on this page come from our directory, and the count above is taken from the same records as the listing. Procedural rules come from the authority itself — always confirm with the office that covers you. Apostille status checked against the HCCH official status table on 2026-10-05.