public 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, certified translations, affidavits and acknowledgements. ACS provides these services Monday-Thursday 1:30 p.m.- 3:00 p.m., with the exception of American and Ecuadorian holidays.
To have a document notarized, you must come in person with the following documents:
- The document(s) to be notarized (please DO NOT SIGN them until you are in front of a consular officer);
- If your document needs to be witnessed, please bring your witness with you or be prepared to ask other clients in the waiting room help you.
- Notarial service fee US $30.00 per document. (Please keep in mind that some documents such as mortgages may require more than one notarial therefore, you will be charged for each consul's signature required).
- A valid photo ID. (ie, passport, driver license or Ecuadorian national ID card).
Apostilles
Because Ecuador 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 documents issued in the U.S. to be used in Ecuador, or Vice-versa.
This alternative notarization procedure is called an Apostille, and is provided by both Governments. This process legalizes Ecuadorian documents for use in the United States, or American documents for use in Ecuador. Example of this are public documents such as birth, marriage, death, and driver licenses.
For more information about the Apostille process, please visit the following website:
