Apostille and document legalization services

What is an apostille?

Apostille is a special form of notarial certification in the procedure of international authentication of documents. It was adopted in the Hague Convention on Exemption from Legalization of Foreign Official Documents at the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) in 1961.

An apostille authenticates an official document, signature or stamp. The authentication process is called apostille.

With the introduction of apostille as a form of notarial certification the international transfer of documents became much easier and faster. For example, documents required to establish a company abroad must be legalized with an apostille to remain valid in other countries.

When can an apostille be used?

Apostille may be used only between states that are parties to the Multilateral Hague Convention.

The legalization procedure largely replaced the Hague Convention (Apostille). For all States parties to the Hague Agreement, it is sufficient to apostille the relevant documents, which represents a tremendous simplification and acceleration of the international exchange of documents. All other States not party to the Hague Convention should continue to certify documents through legalization.

Be careful: even if two states are parties to the Hague agreement, this does not necessarily mean that the state in which the document will be used recognizes an apostille. This is because the state is allowed to raise objections against another state. For example, both India and Germany are members of the Hague Convention, but Germany does not recognize apostilled documents from India. In this case, it is necessary to apply the legalization procedure.

Which countries accept the apostille?

Countries members of the Hague Apostille Convention: Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei. Darussalam, Bulgaria, China (Macao and Hong Kong), Colombia, Cook Islands, Cook Croatia, Cyprus, Dominica, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Korea, Republic of Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Namibia, Netherlands…

Both apostille and legalization are official assurances. However, the apostille protocol was created to replace the difficult and long process of legalization

Legalization shows that:

• document issued by official body
• signature, seal and/or stamp on the document are authentic
• document format is correct.

Legalization does not confirm the correctness of the content of the document. It should be checked by the body that requested the document.

What steps are included in this process?

The actions to be taken to legalize the document vary from country to country. This depends on the agreements concluded between the country where you want to use the document and the country that issued it.

Legalization without apostille

1. The authority of the country A checks whether the document is signed by the appropriate official body of the country A. This is usually done by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country A. After approval, the document is stamped or sticker. This shows to country B that the document was issued by the competent authority of country A.
2. Country B checks and legalizes the document with a stamp or sticker. This is usually done by the embassy, consulate general or honorary consul of country B in country A. After legalization, the document can be used in country B.

Legalization is not required

Legalization is not required if country A has an agreement with country B exempting your type of document. If yes, you can use your document in country B without legalization. Some countries also have mutual agreements. For example, under the EU Regulation on Official Documents, official documents issued in one EU Member State do not require legalization for use in another.

Legalization is impossible

Sometimes legalization is not possible in a particular country. For example, because of the war or conflict in A. Or because there are no bodies that can verify the document. If so, Country B authorities will check and evaluate the document.

Thanks to our team you will be able to receive apostille, legalization and notarization of documents in the chosen jurisdiction. If you are interested in individual information and apostille, do not hesitate to contact us! Order a call today!