In accordance with the Hague Convention of October 5, 1961, in which both the Russian Federation and the United States of America are participants, documents authenticated by an Apostille of a participant country are exempted from validation (i.e., from verification of the authenticity of the signatures, the authority of the persons signing, and the authenticity of the seals and stamps) by the Consular offices of other participant countries. Documents with apostilles do not require any further legalization.

The Apostille is a stamp introduced by the Hague Convention. It is stamped on documents by a competent authority of the country in which the document was issued. In the USA, the Apostille is issued by the Office of the Secretary of State in the respective state.

The following documents are considered official documents in accordance with the Hague Convention (documents for public use), and an Apostille may be stamped on them:

    Documents issued by organizations or officials associated; with courts or        state tribunals, including documents issued by a public prosecutor, court        secretary, or bailiff; 
    Documents of administrative (executive) authorities; 
    Documents certified by a notary public; 
    Official validating endorsements, placed on documents signed by        individuals acting in a personal capacity, such as official certificates of the        registration of a document or of its existence on the date indicated, as well        as official and notarial verification of signatures. 

The Hague Convention does not refer to:

    Documents issued by diplomatic missions or consular offices; 
    Documents of administrative authorities that have direct bearing on        commercial transactions or customs operations.