Apostille

A large number of countries all over the world have joined a treaty that simplifies the authentication of public documents used abroad. This treaty is called the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents or the Apostille Convention. In countries for which the Apostille Convention applies, the treaty reduces the authentication process to a single formality: the issuance of an authentication certificate by an authority designated by the country where the public document was issued. This certificate is called an Apostille.

An apostille certificate can be used to authenticate public documents like passport copy, driver’s license copy, business documents, judgments, the extract of a register, or a notarial attestation. Apostille certificate can be issued only for documents issued in a country party to the Apostille Convention, and that is to be used in another country, which is also a party to the Apostille Convention.