An apostille is a certificate that authenticates the origin of a public document (e.g. a birth, marriage or death certificate, a court decision, an extract from a register or a notary's certificate). At the beginning of this brochure is placed a Sample certificate - apostille.

Apostilles may only be used for documents issued in one country that is a party to the Apostille Convention and intended for use in another country that is also a party to the Convention.

You will need an Apostille if all the conditions listed below apply:
• the country in which the document was issued is a party to the Apostille Convention; and
• the country in which the document is to be used is a party to the Apostille Convention; and
• the law of the country where the document was issued considers it a public document; and
• the country where the document is to be used requires an apostille to recognize it as a foreign public document.

Apostilles can never be used to recognize a document in the country where it was issued - Apostilles are only intended for public document use abroad!

An Apostille may not be required if the requirement for an Apostille has been removed or simplified by the laws, regulations or practice in force in the country where the public document is to be used or if according to them the document is exempt from the requirement to be legalized. Such simplification or elimination may also be available as a result of an agreement or other agreement in force between the country in which the public document is to be used and the country issuing it (eg some other Hague Conventions exempt documents from the requirement of legalization or other similar formalities including Apostille).

If you have doubts, you should ask the recipient for whom your document is intended, whether an Apostille is necessary in the particular case.