The Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, also known as the Apostille Convention, is an international

treaty A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between sovereign states and/or international organizations that is governed by international law. A treaty may also be known as an international agreement, protocol, covenant, convention ...

drafted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH). The Apostille Convention is intended to simplify the procedure through which a document, issued in one of the contracting states, can be certified for legal purposes in the other contracting states of the convention. A certification under the convention is called an apostille or Hague apostille (from French ''apostille'', meaning a marginal or bottom note, derived from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''post illa'', meaning "after those ords of the text). An apostille is an international certification comparable to a notarisation, and may supplement a local notarisation of the document. If the convention applies between two states, an apostille issued by the state of origin is sufficient to certify the document, and removes the need for further certification by the destination state.

Background

Many states require the verification of the authenticity of foreign documents, in a procedure called ''legalisation'', for the document to be legally valid there. This legalisation is generally a chain of certifications, by one or more authorities of the state where the document was issued and of the destination state. The first authority certifies the issuer of the document, and each subsequent authority certifies the previous one, until the final certification is made by an authority of the destination state that can be recognised by the final user there.Apostille Handbook
Hague Conference on Private International Law, 2023. For example, to be accepted in

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, a document from the U.S. state of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

not issued by a government official must be certified by a

notary public A notary public ( notary or public notary; notaries public) of the common law is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with general financial transactions, estates, deeds, powers- ...

, who must then be certified by the

clerk A clerk is a white-collar worker who conducts record keeping as well as general office tasks, or a worker who performs similar sales-related tasks in a retail environment. The responsibilities of clerical workers commonly include Records managem ...

of the circuit court in the notary's

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

, who must then be certified by the Maryland Secretary of State, who must then be certified by the U.S. Department of State, which must finally be certified by the Embassy of Thailand in the United States. In many cases, the legalisation procedure is simplified or exempted altogether. For example, some states have agreements eliminating the legalisation requirement for certain documents issued by each other, such as between

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, between

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, between parties of the Convention on the Issue of Multilingual Extracts from Civil Status Records, and between parties of the Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations of the

Commonwealth of Independent States The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional organization, regional intergovernmental organization in Eurasia. It was formed following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. It covers an ar ...

. The

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

also has a regulation eliminating the legalisation requirement for certain documents of its member states to be accepted by each other. Some states such as

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

generally accept documents from any state without any certification. The Apostille Convention, drafted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), is intended to simplify the legalisation procedure by replacing it with a certification called an apostille, issued by an authority designated by the state of origin. Ideally the apostille would be the only certification needed, but in some cases additional certifications in the state of origin may be required before the apostille is issued. In any case, after the apostille, no certification by the destination state is required.

Contracting states

The convention permits certain states to sign and

ratify Ratification is a principal's legal confirmation of an act of its agent. In international law, ratification is the process by which a state declares its consent to be bound to a treaty. In the case of bilateral treaties, ratification is usuall ...

the convention, becoming contracting states. For each of these states, or for an extension to one of its territories, the convention enters into force 60 days after the deposit of its ratification or territorial extension. Other states are also permitted to become contracting states by acceding to the convention, but without signing it. For each of these states, during the period of six months after it deposits its accession, the other contracting states may object to it, and the convention enters into force 60 days after this period, between the acceding state and all other contracting states that did not object to it. Later, if a contracting state withdraws its objection, the convention enters into force between these two states at that time. A successor state of a previous contracting state may declare to continue to be bound by the convention without a waiting period or accede later as a new state. , 127 states are contracting states of the Apostille Convention.

Potential accessions

The governments of

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

have expressed interest in acceding to the Apostille Convention.

Procedure

Eligible documents

The convention mentions four types of documents eligible for apostilles: * court documents * administrative documents (e.g. vital records) * notarial acts * official certificates which are placed on documents signed by persons in their private capacity, such as official certificates recording the registration of a document or the fact that it was in existence on a certain date and official and notarial authentications of signatures. However, the Apostille Convention does not apply to documents issued by diplomatic or consular officers, or to administrative documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations. The reason for this exclusion is that these documents are usually already exempt from legalisation.

Competent authorities

Each contracting state designates one or more authorities to issue apostilles. Examples of designated authorities are

ministries Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...

court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

s, subnational governments, notaries and registries. In some states, each authority is designated to issue apostilles only on certain types of documents. For example, in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, apostilles are issued on court documents by the Ministry of Justice, on notarial documents by the Chamber of Civil Law Notaries, and on other documents by the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

; in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, apostilles on federal documents are issued by the federal Secretariat of Governance, and on

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

documents by the respective state government. In general, documents issued by a government official can be certified directly with an apostille, while other documents must be certified by a

notary A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is distin ...

, who may then be certified with an apostille. In some cases, additional intermediate certifications may be required; for example, for notarised or municipal documents in some U.S. states, the notary or municipal official must be certified by the respective

or court, which may then be certified by the respective state with an apostille.

Cost

The fee for issuing an apostille varies widely by state. In 2016, the HCCH compiled fees of 54 states and calculated an average of 15.43

EUR The euro (symbol: €; currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the euro area or, more commonly, the eurozone. The euro is divided into 10 ...

. Some states, such as Italy and Japan, do not charge a fee, while the

Cayman Islands The Cayman Islands () is a self-governing British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory, and the largest by population. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, which are located so ...

charge 150 KYD (180

USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

), one of the highest. In some states, the fee also varies by location, authority, quantity, purpose or type of document. For example, in the United States,

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

does not charge a fee for an apostille of a birth certificate, while

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

charges 40 USD for an apostille not related to

adoption Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, fro ...

Format

The apostille is a stamp or printed form, placed on the document itself or attached to the document as an allonge. At the top is the title ''Apostille'', followed by ''(Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961)'' (French for "Hague Convention of 5 October 1961"). The convention specifies that this text must be in French. After this text, the apostille contains ten numbered fields, which may be in English, French or the language of the competent authority, and may be repeated in one or more additional languages. The numbered fields contain the following information: # Country: .g. Hong Kong, China">Hong_Kong.html" ;"title=".g. Hong Kong">.g. Hong Kong, China]
This public document # has been signed by [e.g. Henry CHO] # acting in the capacity of [e.g. Notary Public] # bears the seal/stamp of [e.g. High Court of Hong Kong]
Certified # at [location or authority issuing the apostille, e.g. High Court] # the .g. 16 April 2014# by .g. Louis TANG, Registrar, High Court# No. .g. 2536218517# Seal/stamp: Emblem of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region">Emblem of Hong Kong">Emblem of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region# Signature: f the official issuing the apostille

Verification

Each competent authority must maintain a register of apostilles issued, for verification on request by anyone. In 2006, the electronic apostille program (also known as e-APP) was launched to support the electronic issuance and verification of apostilles around the world. Since then, many contracting states have implemented electronic apostilles or electronic registers for their verification.

Validity

Apostilles never expire. However, a document certified with an apostille may have an expiration date, or the destination state may require that the document be presented by a certain time.

Additional requirements

The apostille replaces the legalisation requirement, but the destination state may have additional requirements for the document to be used there. For example, it may require that the document be translated into a certain language, although it must not require a translation of the apostille itself.

Benefits and disadvantages

The Apostille Convention is beneficial in cases that would otherwise require certifications by both the origin and destination states, as the convention removes the latter requirement. However, the convention is neutral in cases that would otherwise require only a certification by the state of origin anyway, similar to an apostille, or no certification at all, and it can be disadvantageous in cases where a consular certification alone would otherwise be sufficient to legalise a document. The convention requires that contracting states direct their embassies and consulates to no longer perform legalisations of documents where the convention applies, so in this case the apostille is the only method available to certify the document, not only an alternative to consular legalisation, even if the latter would be simpler or less expensive. For example, before Brazil acceded to the Apostille Convention, to legalise an educational document from the United States for academic use in Brazil, it was sufficient for the document to be certified by a Brazilian embassy or consulate in the United States, for a fee of 5

. After the convention entered into force in Brazil, its embassy and consulates in the United States no longer perform legalisations, so U.S. documents must have an apostille to be accepted in Brazil. In some U.S. states, an apostille of an educational document requires more certifications or a higher fee than the Brazilian consular legalisation did. This result is an unintended consequence, as the convention still allows states to further simplify or eliminate the legalisation requirement. The Hague Conference also encourages contracting states to eliminate the need for additional certifications before issuing an apostille, and to ensure that any fees are reasonable.

Limitations and abuse

The apostille only certifies that the signature, signer's capacity, and seal or stamp on the document are from the stated issuer. In other words, it only certifies the origin of the document, but it does not provide information about its content. In 2008, the Hague Conference expressed serious concerns about diplomas and certificates issued by

diploma mill A diploma mill or degree mill is a business that sells illegitimate diplomas or academic degrees, respectively. The term ''diploma mill'' is also used pejoratively to describe any educational institution with low standards for admission and gradua ...

s, citing their possible use "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. To address this concern, in 2009 the Hague Conference recommended that authorities add the following statement to apostilles: "This apostille only certifies the signature, the capacity of the signer, and the seal or stamp it bears. It does not certify the content of the document for which it was issued."Conclusions and Recommendations of the Special Commission on the Practical Operation of the Hague Apostille, Service, Taking of Evidence, and Access to Justice Conventions
Hague Conference on Private International Law, February 2009.

Gallery of apostilles by state

File:Partida de nacimiento Argentina con Apostilla de la Haya.jpg,

File:Apostille Armenia.png,

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

File:Apostille Australia.png,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

File:Apostille, Republik Österreich.png,

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

File:Azerbaijan apostille.jpg,

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...

File:Belarus apostille.jpg,

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

File:Apostille belgien.png,

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

File:Apostille Brazil.jpg,

File:Apostille Canada Ontario.jpg,

File:China Apostille 2023.jpg,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

File:Apostille CN (SD).png,

File:Apostille R.Hrvatska-09.png,

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

File:APOSTILLA.jpg,

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

File:Apostille Attike.png,

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

File:Apostille Sample - Hong Kong, China in 2020.png,

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

File:Apostille-Israel.jpg,

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

File:Apostille (2670529778).jpg,

File:Apostille Moldova.png,

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

File:Apostille NL.jpg,

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

File:Apostille Norway.png,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

File:Romania apostille.PNG,

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

File:20230118 Apostille.jpg,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

File:Apostilla de official world record.png,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

File:Apostille Ukraine.jpg,

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

File:Apostille UK and NI - Courtesy of Westminster Legalisation Services.jpg,

File:Apostille US federal.jpg,

File:AlabamianApostilleOfTheHague.jpg,

File:California apostille.png,

File:Apostille US Maryland.jpg,

Notes

References

External links