The literal meaning of apostille is certification. The apostille is a result of the Hague Convention, a treaty between over 100 countries which allows documents issued in one country to be accepted in another. The Convention provides for the simplified certification of public documents to be used in countries that have joined the convention. Under the Hague Convention, signatory countries have agreed to recognize public documents issued by other signatory countries if those public documents are authenticated by the attachment of an internationally recognized form of authentication known as an Apostille. The Apostille ensures that public documents issued in one signatory country will be recognized as valid in another signatory country. Apostille only pertains to public documents. Primary example of public instruments are marriage, birth and death certificates, court documents, patents and transcripts, diplomas or certificates.
You should first confirm that the country to which you are forwarding the document is a party to the Hague Convention Treaty. This can be done by requesting the requirements for acceptance of foreign documents by the receiving country (the country to which you are sending your documents). If that is not possible, you may check the list of countries by going to http://riga.usembassy.gov/hague_list.html.
Canisius University (formerly Canisius College) transcripts, diplomas or certificates must be certified by the Registrar's office as official records of Canisius University. The registrar's signature must be notarized.
How to obtain an Apostille