• Sri Lanka is not a party to the Hague Convention of October 5, 1961, abolishing the requirement of consular legalization for foreign public documents and you will need "Embassy (Consular) Legalization" ( "Chain Authentication"). "Embassy (Consular) Legalization" of official documents is a procedure of confirmation of the validity of originals of official documents or certification of authenticity of signatures of the officials, authorized to certify the signatures on documents, and also the validity of prints of stamps, seals by which the document is fastened. The documents for Sri Lanka are subjected to "chain authentication" in the State, Federal and Embassy levels. The Department of State, Authentications Office is responsible for signing and issuing certificates under the Seal of the U.S. Department of Sate providing authentication services on documents that will be used in Sri Lanka and then they are certified in the Embassy or Consulate of Sri Lanka

Documents Issued by Federal Courts: Documents issued under the seal of a federal court should be preliminary authentication by the Justice Management Division. After the seal of the Justice Management Division is on the document, it may be authenticated by the U.S. Department of State Authentications Office. The final step is to obtain the seal of the foreign embassy or consulate in the United States. Usually, foreign embassies or consulates in the U.S. can only authenticate the seal of the U.S. Department of State. Some foreign embassies and consulates maintain sample seals of state authorities.