Apostille Convention


The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, the Apostille Convention, or the Apostille Treaty, is an international treaty drafted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law. It specifies the modalities through which a document issued in one of the signatory countries can be certified for legal purposes in all the other signatory states. A certification under the terms of the convention is called an apostille or Hague apostille. It is an international certification comparable to a notarisation in domestic law, and normally supplements a local notarisation of the document. If the convention applies between two countries, such an apostille is sufficient to certify a document's validity, and removes the need for double-certification, by the originating country and then by the receiving country.

Procedure

Apostilles are affixed by Competent Authorities designated by the government of a state which is party to the convention. A list of these authorities is maintained by the Hague Conference on Private International Law. Examples of designated authorities are embassies, ministries, courts or governments. For example, in the United States, the Secretary of State of each state and his or her deputies are usually competent authorities. In the United Kingdom all apostilles are issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Milton Keynes.
To be eligible for an apostille, a document must first be issued or certified by an officer recognised by the authority that will issue the apostille. For example, in the US state of Vermont, the Secretary of State maintains specimen signatures of all notaries public, so documents that have been notarised are eligible for apostilles. Likewise, courts in the Netherlands are eligible to place an apostille on all municipal civil status documents directly. In some cases, intermediate certifications may be required in the country in which the document originates before it is eligible for an apostille. For example, in New York City, the Office of Vital Records is not directly recognised by the New York Secretary of State. As a consequence, the signature of the City Clerk must be certified by the County Clerk of New York County to make the birth certificate eligible for an apostille. In Japan all official documents are issued in Japanese; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs can then provide an apostille for these documents. In India the apostille certification can be obtained from the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, after authentication by the administration of the Indian state where the document was issued.

Information

The apostille itself is a stamp or printed form consisting of ten numbered standard fields. At the top is the text Apostille, under which the text Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961 is placed. This title must be written in French for the apostille to be valid. In the numbered fields, the following information is added,which may be in the official language of the authority that issues it or in a second language:
  1. Country...
This public document
  1. has been signed by
  2. acting in the capacity of
  3. bears the seal/stamp of
Certified
  1. at
  2. the...
  3. by...
  4. No...
  5. Seal/stamp...
  6. Signature
The information can be placed on the document itself, on the back of the document, or attached to the document as an allonge.

Eligible documents

Four types of documents are mentioned in the convention:
A state that has not signed the Convention must specify how foreign legal documents can be certified for its use. Two countries may have a special convention on the recognition of each other's public documents, but in practice this is infrequent. Otherwise, the document must be certified by the foreign ministry of the country in which the document originated, and then by the foreign ministry of the government of the state in which the document will be used; one of the certifications will often be performed at an embassy or consulate. In practice this means the document must be certified twice before it can have legal effect in the receiving country. For example, as Canada is not a signatory, Canadian documents for use abroad must be certified by the Deputy Minister of in Ottawa or by a Canadian consular official abroad, and subsequently by the relevant government office or consulate of the receiving state.

States that are party to the convention

The convention has 118 parties and is in force for all members of the European Union and all but nine members of the Hague Conference on Private International Law.
StateEntry into forceApostille not recognised inComment
Albania9 May 2004Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, Spain
Andorra31 Dec 1996
Antigua and Barbuda1 Nov 1981
Argentina18 Feb 1988Kosovo
Armenia14 Oct 1994Kosovo
Australia16 Mar 1995
Austria13 Jan 1968Burundi, Dominican Republic, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Philippines, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Uzbekistan
Azerbaijan2 Mar 2005Germany, Hungary, Kosovo, Netherlands
Bahamas10 Jul 1973
Bahrain31 Dec 2013
Barbados30 Nov 1966
Belarus31 May 1992Kosovo
Belgium9 Feb 1973Albania, Dominican Republic, India, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
Belize11 Apr 1993
Bolivia7 May 2018
Bosnia and Herzegovina6 Mar 1992
Botswana30 Sep 1966
Brazil14 Aug 2016
Brunei3 Dec 1987
Bulgaria29 Apr 2001
Burundi13 Feb 2015Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Poland
Cape Verde13 Feb 2010
Chile30 Aug 2016
Colombia30 Jan 2001
Cook Islands30 Apr 2005
Costa Rica14 Dec 2011
Croatia8 Dec 1991
Cyprus30 Apr 1973Kosovo
Czech Republic16 Mar 1999
Kingdom of Denmark26 Dec 2006Does not apply for Greenland and the Faroe Islands
Dominica3 Nov 1978
Dominican Republic30 Aug 2009Austria, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands
Ecuador2 Apr 2005
El Salvador31 May 1996
Estonia30 Sep 2001
Fiji10 Oct 1970
Finland26 Aug 1986Philippines
France24 Jan 1965
Georgia14 May 2007Germany, Kosovo, Greece
Germany13 Feb 1966Albania, Azerbaijan, Burundi, Dominican Republic, Georgia, India, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
Greece18 May 1985Albania, Georgia, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Peru, Philippines, Tunisia, Uzbekistan
Grenada7 Apr 2002
Guatemala18 Sep 2017
Guyana18 April 2019
Honduras30 Dec 2004
Hong Kong25 Apr 1965The convention is still applicable to Hong Kong despite the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong on 1 Jul 1997.
Hungary18 Jan 1973Azerbaijan,
Iceland27 Nov 2004
India14 Jul 2005Belgium, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Kosovo
Ireland9 Mar 1999
Israel14 Aug 1978Kosovo
Italy11 Feb 1978Albania,
Japan27 Jul 1970
Kazakhstan30 Jan 2001
Kosovo14 Jul 2016Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Cyprus, Germany, Georgia, Greece, India, Israel, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Mexico, Moldova, Namibia, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Russia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Venezuela
Kyrgyzstan31 Jul 2011Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece
Latvia30 Jan 1996
Lesotho4 Dec 1966
Liberia8 Feb 1996Belgium, Germany, the United States
Liechtenstein17 Sep 1972
Lithuania19 Jul 1997
Luxembourg3 Jun 1979
Macau4 Feb 1969KosovoThe convention is still applicable to Macau despite the transfer of sovereignty over Macau on 20 Dec 1999.
Malawi2 Dec 1967
Malta3 Mar 1968
Marshall Islands14 Aug 1992
Mauritius12 Mar 1968Kosovo
Mexico14 Aug 1995Kosovo
Moldova16 Mar 2007Germany, Kosovo
Monaco31 Dec 2002
Mongolia31 Dec 2009Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany, Greece
Montenegro3 Jun 2006
Morocco14 Aug 2016Germany
Namibia30 Jan 2001Kosovo
Kingdom of the Netherlands8 Oct 1965Azerbaijan, Dominican Republic, India,Aruba, Curaçao, Netherlands, Sint Maarten
New Zealand22 Nov 2001
Nicaragua14 May 2013Kosovo
Niue2 Mar 1999
North Macedonia17 Nov 1991
Norway29 Jul 1983
Oman30 Jan 2012
Palau23 Jun 2020
Panama4 Aug 1991
Paraguay30 Aug 2014Germany, Kosovo
Peru30 Sep 2010Germany, Greece, Kosovo
Philippines14 May 2019Austria, Finland, Germany, Greece
Poland14 Aug 2005Kosovo
Portugal4 Feb 1969
Romania13 Mar 2001Kosovo
Russia31 May 1992
Saint Kitts and Nevis14 Dec 1994
Saint Lucia31 Jul 2002
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines27 Oct 1979
Samoa13 Sep 1999
San Marino13 Feb 1995
São Tomé and Príncipe13 Sep 2008
Serbia27 Apr 1992KosovoRatified as the
Seychelles31 Mar 1979
Slovakia18 Feb 2002Kosovo
Slovenia25 Jun 1991
South Africa30 Apr 1995
South Korea14 Jul 2007
Spain25 Sep 1978Albania, India, Kosovo
Suriname25 Nov 1975
Swaziland6 Sep 1968
Sweden1 May 1999
Switzerland11 Mar 1973
Tajikistan31 Oct 2015
Tonga4 Jun 1970
Trinidad and Tobago14 Jul 2000
Tunisia30 Mar 2018Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece
Turkey29 Sep 1985
Ukraine22 Dec 2003Belgium, Greece, Kosovo
United Kingdom24 Jan 1965Includes Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories
United States15 Oct 1981Liberia
Uruguay14 Oct 2012
Uzbekistan15 Apr 2012Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Kosovo
Vanuatu30 Jul 1980
Venezuela16 Mar 1999Kosovo

Abuse

The apostille does not give information regarding the quality of the content in the underlying document but certifies the signature and correctness of the seal/stamp on the document which must be certified. In 2005 the Hague Conference surveyed its members and produced a report in December 2008 which expressed serious concerns about diplomas and degree certificates issued by diploma mills. The possible abuse of the system was highlighted: "Particularly troubling is the possible use of diploma mill qualifications to circumvent migration controls, possibly by potential terrorists." The risk comes from the fact that the various government stamps give the document an air of authenticity without anyone having checked the underlying document. "An official looking certificate may be issued to a copy of a diploma mill qualification, and then subsequently issued with an apostille, without anyone having ever verified the signature on, let alone the contents of, the diploma." Further member states indicated "they would be obliged to issue an apostille for certification of a certified copy of a diploma issued by a diploma mill". The evaluation commission of the Hague Conference expressed concern as to whether this issue could affect the entire convention. "... the apostille does not 'look through the certification' and does not relate to the diploma itself... There is a clear risk that such practices may eventually undermine the effectiveness and therefore the successful operation of the apostille Convention".
In February 2009 the Hague Conference recommended to amend the wording on the apostille to make it clear that only the seal and the signature were authenticated. The wording to be added is:

Validity

Technically, an apostille never expires once issued. However, there are some factors which may render an apostilled document unusable in certain situations. If you intend to use a document or certificate you have acquired an apostille on outside of the convention, you may be required to re-process the document. For example, if you are applying for a work permit in China, the apostille on your documentation must have been issued within the past six months in order to be valid for your application

Further stages of legalisation

Some Apostille Agreement member states will require additional stages after an apostille, dependent on use. If you are intending on marrying in Greece, for example, you will require a translation of your apostilled documents which must be verified at the Greek Consulate before you can present them for your marriage licence in-country. It's advisable to check with whomever you are presenting the documents to what the requirements will be in each and every case.