804.01(a)(i) Verification Made in Foreign Country
Verification (with oath) made in a foreign country may be made: (1) before any diplomatic or consular officer of the United States; or (2) before any official authorized to administer oaths in the foreign country. In those foreign countries that are members of The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, opened for signature Oct. 5, 1961, 33 U.S.T. 883, 527 U.N.T.S. 189, a document verified before a foreign official should bear or have appended to it an apostille (i.e., a certificate issued by an official of the member country).
An apostille must be square shaped with sides at least 9 centimeters long. The following is the prescribed form for an apostille:
See 1013 TMOG 3 (Dec. 1, 1981).
If a verification is made before a foreign official in a country that is not a member of the Hague Convention, the foreign official’s authority must be proved by a certificate of a diplomatic or consular officer of the United States. 15 U.S.C. §1061.
Declarations under 37 C.F.R. §2.20 and 28 U.S.C. §1746 by foreign persons do not have to be made before a United States diplomatic or consular officer, or before a foreign official authorized to administer oaths. A declaration under 28 U.S.C. §1746 that is executed outside the United States must allege that "I declare (or certify, verify, or state) under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that the foregoing is true and correct." See TMEP §804.01(b).
See http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=conventions.text&cid=41 for updated information about the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents.