Notary Services and Apostille
The Consular Section of the U.S. Embassy Riga provides notary services by appointments only. For more information please see: Hours and Contact Information.
Consular Officers may perform the following notarial services for documents which will be used in the United States.
- Affidavits/Acknowledgements. The witnessing or notarizing of a signature on a document. The person signing the document must have photo identification and sign the document before the consular officer.
The fee for this service is $50 or the equivalent in Latvian Lats. - Certification of a True Copy. Consular Officers may perform the following notarial services for documents which will be used in the United States.
The fee for this service is $50 or the equivalent in Latvian Lats.
If you need to sign a document in front of a public notary and a witness(-es), you must appear at the Consular Section togather with them. The witness must be personally known to you, because their function is to be available to testify in the event a dispute arises at a later date concerning the circumstances surrounding the execution of a document.
If you require services of a Latvian notary, you can find a list of notaries on the website of the Latvian Council of Sworn Notaries. The Embassy assumes no responsibility for the professional ability or integrity of the individuals or firms listed there. However, if you encounter unsatisfactory services from any of the notaries, please set forth the circumstances in writing so that we can note your complaint in our files.
Apostille and Authentication of Documents
The U.S. Embassy in Riga does not provide authentication of documents issued in the USA. The embassy does not issue, nor can confirm authenticity of an Apostille.
Please consult the following links as relevant for information on authentication of the U.S. issued and notarized documents:
- U.S. issued documents to be used in Hague Convention countries (including Latvia)
- U.S. issued documents to be used in non-Hague Convention countries
- The Hague Convention and the list of countries that are signatories
Documents issued in Latvia should have an Apostille attached to be recognized in the United States. In Latvia, the authority to issue the Apostille on Latvian documents belongs to the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia.