How apostilles workExplained in plain words.

The basics

What an apostille is

An apostille is a short certificate that a government office adds to a public document, either on the document itself or on an extra page attached to it. Its title is always in French: Apostille (Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961).

• It confirms that the signature on the document is genuine.
• It confirms the role of the person who signed, for example a notary public or a registrar.
• It confirms any seal or stamp on the document.
• It does not confirm that what the document says is true or correct.

Before the Convention, a document often needed a chain of stamps from ministries and embassies, called legalisation. Between member countries, the apostille replaces that whole chain with one certificate, and the apostille itself needs no further stamp.

Your situation

Do I need one?

Two questions decide it: where does the document come from, and where will it be used?

Check your two countries

Documents

Which documents can get an apostille

Only public documents. The Convention names four kinds:

1. Court documents, for example from a court, a prosecutor, a court clerk or a bailiff.
2. Administrative documents from public authorities.
3. Notarial acts, documents made by a notary public.
4. Certificates from an authority on private documents, for example a notary's certificate that confirms a signature, or a record that a document was registered.

Two kinds are left out: documents made by embassies and consulates, and administrative documents that deal directly with trade or customs.

Step by step

Getting an apostille in four steps

1. 1

   Check both countries

   Make sure both use apostilles and that no special rule applies between them. Use the checker.

2. 2

   Get the right document

   Use an original public document, or have a private document signed in front of a notary public first.

3. 3

   Ask the office in the country the document comes from

   Each country chooses which offices issue apostilles. The apostille is always issued in the country the document comes from, not where it will be used. Find the office on the country's page.

4. 4

   Check with whoever will receive it

   The office that receives your document decides what it accepts, for example whether it also needs a translation or a recent date.

Online

Electronic apostilles and online registers

Some countries issue e-Apostilles: apostilles created and signed digitally. They follow the same rules as paper apostilles and are just as valid. Member countries cannot refuse one only because it is electronic.

Some countries also keep an e-Register, an online list where anyone can check that an apostille they received is real.

Other countries

If the country is not a member

Then the old route applies: legalisation. The signature and seal are certified step by step, usually by a ministry in the country the document comes from and then by the embassy or consulate of the destination country. The destination country decides the steps.

See countries that do not use apostilles.