Terms of Service

1. Who we are

These Terms of Service (the “Terms”) are an agreement between you (“you,” the “customer”) and the business identified below (“we,” “us,” “our,” or “Keystone Apostille”). They govern your use of our website and the services we provide.

By placing an order, paying for our service, or sending us your documents, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use our service.

2. What we are, and what we are not

Keystone Apostille is a private document courier and apostille expediting service. What you are paying us for is the convenience of handling, hand delivery, and return shipping of your documents. In plain terms, you mail your Pennsylvania documents to us, we hand carry them to the competent authority, and we ship them back to you.

We are not a government agency, and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or part of the Pennsylvania Department of State, the United States Department of State, or any other government office or agency. Any references to government agencies on our website are for descriptive purposes only.

We do not issue apostilles. Only the Pennsylvania Department of State and other competent authorities have the legal power to issue an apostille or authentication. We simply deliver your documents to them and bring the finished documents back to you.

3. No guarantee of approval or timing

Whether a document is accepted and apostilled is entirely the decision of the issuing government authority, not ours. Because of that:

• We cannot and do not guarantee that any government authority will approve, accept, authenticate, or apostille any document you send us.
• We cannot and do not guarantee any processing time or turnaround. Government timelines, office hours, holidays, staffing, backlogs, and closures are outside of our control.
• Any timeframes we describe, including any “rush” or expedited option, are good faith estimates of our own handling steps. They are not promises, and they do not include carrier transit time or the time the government takes.

Government processing time is measured in business days and pauses for weekends and holidays. A document that arrives late in the week or before a holiday may not be acted on until the office reopens.

4. Limitation of liability

This section is important. Please read it carefully.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, our total liability to you for any claim arising out of or relating to our service, for any reason, is limited to the amount you actually paid us for the specific service at issue. This is the maximum we will be responsible for, no matter how the claim is framed, whether in contract, warranty, negligence, or any other legal theory.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, punitive, or exemplary damages. This includes, without limitation, lost profits, lost business, lost opportunities, missed deadlines, delays, travel costs, costs of obtaining replacement documents, or any other loss, even if we were advised that such damages were possible.

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain limitations of liability, so some of the above may not apply to you. In that case, our liability is limited to the smallest amount the law allows.

5. Shipping, carriers, and risk of loss

We arrange shipping through third party carriers, which may include the United States Postal Service (USPS), FedEx, UPS, and DHL. These carriers are independent companies and are not under our control.

• We are not responsible for documents that are lost, stolen, damaged, misdelivered, or delayed by a shipping carrier while in transit, in either direction, on the way to us or on the way back to you.
• We are not responsible for documents once they have been submitted to or are in the possession of any government office, or for anything that office does or fails to do.
• Risk of loss transfers to the carrier at the moment we hand a package to that carrier for shipment. While documents are in transit, any claim for loss or damage is between you and the carrier under the carrier's terms.

We provide tracking in both directions so you can follow your documents, but tracking is a convenience and not a guarantee of delivery.

6. Your responsibilities

When you use our service, you agree that:

• The documents you send are accurate, genuine, and lawfully obtained, and you have the right to send them to us and to have them apostilled.
• You are responsible for making sure your documents are actually ready for apostille (for example, properly notarized or properly certified) before you send them.
• You provide complete and correct information at checkout, including the number of documents, the number of signatures, the destination country, and your shipping addresses.
• Wherever possible, you should send certified copies rather than your only original document. Keep a copy of anything you send us.
• You are responsible for purchasing shipping insurance if you want it, unless we have agreed in writing to include insurance. Standard shipping may have little or no built in coverage.

7. We do not verify authenticity

We are a courier and expediting service, not an investigator. We have no duty to verify the authenticity, validity, or legality of any document you send us, and we bear no liability if a document you send is later found to be fraudulent, forged, altered, improperly obtained, or otherwise invalid. Responsibility for the documents you submit rests entirely with you.

8. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Keystone Apostille and its owners, employees, contractors, and agents from and against any claims, demands, losses, liabilities, damages, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorney fees) arising out of or related to: the documents you send us; the information or instructions you provide; your use of our service; or your breach of these Terms or of any applicable law.

9. Payment, pricing, and refunds

Payment is collected in full at checkout before we generate any shipping label. Pricing is shown to you at checkout. Refunds and cancellations are governed by our Refund & Cancellation Policy, which forms part of these Terms.

10. Privacy

Our handling of your personal information and any documents you upload is described in our Privacy Policy, which forms part of these Terms.

11. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will change the “Last updated” date at the top of this page. The version in effect when you place your order is the version that applies to that order. Your continued use of our service after an update means you accept the updated Terms.

12. Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, without regard to its conflict of law rules. Any dispute relating to these Terms or to our service will be handled in the courts located in Pennsylvania, and you agree to that venue.

Placeholder to confirm: confirm the governing law, county, and venue (and whether you want to require arbitration) with your attorney before relying on this section.

13. Contact us

If you have questions about these Terms, please contact us using the business details below.