Let’s get them done right the first time.
As one more consequence of the pandemic, the turnaround times for apostilles became dramatically longer than pre-pandemic. Facing a difficult situation, which often entailed expiring documents, companies sometimes cut corners getting their documents authenticated.
Overseas markets were awaiting their products, factories waited for the go-ahead to start production—and the pressure to expedite sales and production, sometimes by extra-regulatory means, became intense.
Today, turnaround times at the U.S. Department of State and other authorities have dramatically improved. Soon, they will return to pre-pandemic standards.
The practice continues, however, of seeking bypasses.
Unfortunately, in numerous cases, the available workarounds invite the risk of rejection by destination countries. And a rejected document causes a reset of the clock for getting an apostille completed.
The cleanest, safest strategy for doing global business is to start by have your documents properly apostilled with the necessary stamps.
This principle holds true for electronic documents, as well, issued with a verifying QR code. While scanning the QR codes supports the documents’ validity, there is a high likelihood of confusion and ultimate rejection by the destination authorities, if a standard apostille is not attached to the document.
At WCS, we fully support digital document-transfer—and we routinely receive documents by electronic means. But the crucial, last step in the authentication process is the Hague-approved apostille stamp.
Let’s ensure we get it right the first time and confidently enter global markets.
