In some countries, such as the Netherlands, France, Italy, or Québec (Canada) among others, they also retain and keep a minute copy of their instruments—in the form of memoranda—in notarial protocols, or archives. Notaries generally hold undergraduate degrees in civil law and graduate degrees in notarial law.
In countries that are part of the Hague Convention, get your document notarized by a local notary. You can have the document authenticated for use in the United States. U.S. embassies and consulates may authenticate documents in countries not in the Hague Convention.
The short answer is yes, notary publics are legally allowed to notarize documents from any state as long the notarial act is conducted within the geographical boundaries of the notary's state of commission.
Write the name of the person swearing to the truthfulness of the contents of the documents. Sign your name exactly as it appears on file with the Secretary of State and affix the official notary seal so that all the required elements of the notary seal appear legibly.
One of the most common mistakes that notaries make is not printing or signing their name exactly as it appears on their notary commission.
Remember, you can still notarize a document written in a foreign language provided the signer understands the document and your notarial certificate is written in English.
Can a U.S. notary notarize a foreign document? Yes, but as before, the notarial certificate is required to be in English.
An apostille is a certificate authenticating the signature and seal of the officer performing the notarization on a document being sent between countries that have ratified The HCCH Apostille Convention.