[10][11] The European Union also has a regulation eliminating the legalization requirement for certain documents of its member states to be accepted by each other.

[19][20] The governments of Iran, Lebanon, Malaysia and Vietnam have expressed interest in acceding to the Apostille Convention.

Examples of designated authorities are ministries, courts, subnational governments, notaries and registries.

In some cases, additional intermediate certifications may be required; for example, for notarized or municipal documents in some U.S. states, the notary or municipal official must be certified by the respective county or court, which may then be certified by the respective state with an apostille.

[91] In some states, the fee also varies by location, authority, quantity, purpose or type of document.

The numbered fields contain the following information:[1][3] Each competent authority must maintain a register of apostilles issued, for verification on request by anyone.

The convention requires that contracting states direct their embassies and consulates to no longer perform legalizations of documents where the convention applies,[3] so in this case the apostille is the only method available to certify the document, not only an alternative to consular legalization, even if the latter would be simpler or less expensive.

For example, before Brazil acceded to the Apostille Convention, to legalize an educational document from the United States for academic use in Brazil, it was sufficient for the document to be certified by a Brazilian embassy or consulate in the United States, for a fee of 5 USD.

[514] In some U.S. states, an apostille of an educational document requires more certifications or a higher fee than the Brazilian consular legalization did.

[4][86][87][93] This result is an unintended consequence, as the convention still allows states to further simplify or eliminate the legalization requirement.

The Hague Conference also encourages contracting states to eliminate the need for additional certifications before issuing an apostille, and to ensure that any fees are reasonable.

[3] The apostille only certifies that the signature, signer's capacity, and seal or stamp on the document are from the stated issuer.