FAQs Document Attestation

An Apostille is a special stamp used to authenticate official documents. With a few exceptions, a document stamped with an apostille from an authority in one country will be recognized by all countries that have signed up to the Hague Apostille Convention (see list of Apostille countries). Apostilles can only be used outside the country where the document was issued (for example, a US Apostille is not valid within the United States), and they can generally only be obtained by the country where the document was issued (for example, a US document needs an Apostille issued by a US authority).

With some exceptions, the certification of a notary is normally only recognized in the country where the notary is registered. For example, a document notarized in South Africa may not be recognized in Spain or Brazil. An Apostille is an additional certification, authenticating the signature and status of the notary or public official that is recognized in other countries.

If you have a document issued in one country and you need to use it in another, you may well need to obtain an Apostille, giving the document legal validity. This often includes documents required by embassies to support visa and residency applications - e.g. criminal record and police clearance certificates or marriage certificates. However, there are some exceptions: many documents do not require apostilles if issued and used within the European Union; some countries will accept documents issued without an apostille from certain other countries in some circumstances; and countries which are not signed up to the Hague Apostille Convention will require a different type of legalization.

Each country of the Hague Apostille Convention has one or more designated authorities that are authorised to issue Apostilles. In most cases, this competent authority is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but in some countries there are multiple authorities authorised to issue Apostille Stamps (with competence for different documents):

• Australia: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)
• United Kingdom: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and designated authorities in the Channel Islands and British Overseas Territories
• South Africa: Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) and the High Court.
• India: Ministry of External Affairs
• Germany: Federal Agency for Foreign Affairs (Bundesamt für Auswärtige Angelegenheiten) and State Authorities.
• France: Courts of Appeal.
• Canada: Global Affairs Canada and Provincial Authorities
• United States: US Department of State (Federal documents) and States
• Brazil National Justice Council (Conselho Nacional de Justiça)
• Hong Kong: High Court.
• Mexico: SEGOB - Secretariat for Home Affairs (Secretaría de Gobernación) and State Authorities.

To verify an Apostille, contact the competent authority that issued it: Competent Apostille Authorities. Each Authority keeps a record of every Apostille it issues
Depending on the issuing authority, some apostilles can be verified online:
Apostilles issued by California: Verification of Authentication Certificate (Apostille)
Nevada Apostilles: Nevada Apostille verification
UK Apostilles: Verify a UK Apostille
Hong Kong Apostilles: Hong Kong Apostille Verification
India Apostilles: India Apostille Verification

While some authorities issue apostilles in digital form, the majority of Apostilles continue to be issued on paper and applied to paper documents. If an electronic option is available, check with the recipient authority, that they will accept it.

In the most part, Apostilles can be obtained cheaply direct from the issuing authority. However, there are good reasons for using a professional service, such as offered by Isarey Certification Services. We can often obtain faster processing, for example by submitting documents to the Apostille office in person. We offer international collection and delivery of documents by courier, and we can also ensure that all documents are properly prepared and submitted, avoiding rejected applications.

An Apostille does not certify the authenticity of the contents of a document to which it is applied. An Apostille only certifies the signature and status of the public official who signed the document (e.g. a notary, court officer or registrar of vital records). For example, an Apostille applied to a document signed by a notary in the United States, certifies that the signature is the true signature of the notary and that the notary is duly commissioned.

Certain documents do not require an Apostille when issued in one European Union member state for use in another European Union member state. Documents that do not require Apostilles include birth, death, marriage and divorce certificates, official documents establishing a person's capacity to marry or marital status.

Criminal Record Certificates issued in an EU Member State (for submission in another Member State) do not require an Apostille when issued to a citizen of the issuing state with a clean criminal record. Certificates issued to a foreign national or showing criminal convictions may still require an Apostille stamp.

When applying for certain public documents, a multilingual standard form may be requested to accompany the original. A multilingual standard form must always be issued and signed by the authority of the issuing state, providing a translation aid designed to help the receiving authority to understand a public document which is in a language not accepted by the receiving EU country.

Other documents, including university degrees and corporate documents, may still require an Apostille Stamp.

For further information, see:

• Regulation (EU) 2016/1191
• EU Multilingual standard forms

The Vienna Convention applies to civil status certificates (birth, marriage and death certificates) issued and submitted in the following countries:
Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cape Verde, Estonia, France, Germany Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey.

As long as the certificate is issued in accordance with the conventions of the International Commission on Civil and Civil Status (Multilingual Extracts), an Apostille Stamp should not be required.

Under the Munich CIEC Convention, multilingual certificates of no impediment to marriage do not require an Apostille Stamp when issued and submitted in the following countries:
Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Moldova, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey.

The following countries and territories are members of the Hague Apostille Convention. For the most part, documents issued in one Convention country only require an Apostille to be valid in another Convention country and do not require embassy attestation: Albania, Andorra, Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burundi, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Malawi, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Romania, Rwanda, São Tomé & Príncipe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Sint Maarten, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, St Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Sweden, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Trinidad & Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, U.S. Virgin Islands, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela

For details of which countries have acceded to the Apostille Convention, as well as objections (exceptions) occurring between countries, see:
Apostille Convention Status Table

The following countries and territories are not members of the Hague Apostille Convention. Documents issued in any of these countries or required for submission in any of these countries cannot be certified by Apostille, but must be legalized by both the issuing country and the embassy or consulate of the recipient country: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Rep., Chad, Comoros, Congo - Brazzaville, Congo - Kinshasa, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Laos, Lebanon, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Qatar, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Togo, Turkmenistan, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Anyone can certify or attest a document, but their authority to do so may not be recognised by its recipient. In most cases documents must be certified by a trusted or official party such as a solicitor, notary, justice of the peace or consulate. Rules vary by document, by country and according to the document's intended use. It's always best to check with the recipient of the certified document.

Notarization refers to the certification of a documents by a notary public. In certain countries the same function can be performed by a lawyer, solicitor, consular official or justice of the peace. Documents required for official purposes will often need to be notarized. The validity of a document that has been notarized may or may not be recognised abroad and in many cases a notarized document will also need to be legalized if it is to be submitted to authorities in another country. Documents that are notarized within the European Union or Commonwealth are often accepted directly without legalization when also submitted within the EU or Commonwealth.

Legalisation is a specific procedure to certify a document for cross-border use where the foreign recipient of the document does not accept the document directly. If a document is not issued by a public authority, it may require notarization before it can be legalized. Documents can be legalized with an Apostille Stamp where both the issuing country and recipient country are members of the Apostille Convention. Otherwise, legalization normally involves two steps: authentication by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the issuing county, then authentication or attestation by the embassy of the recipient country (the embassy located in or accredited to the issuing country).

A certified copy is a photocopy of an original document that has been certified by a trusted and authorised entity, such as a notary public, consular official, court, civil or commercial registry, solicitor or Justice of the Peace, as a true and exact copy of that original document.

It should be noted that a certified copy does not prove the authenticity of the original document and will not always be accepted by authorities in place of the original, except where:

• the certificate is also the custodian of the original record - for example a certified copy of a birth certificate issued by the civil registry that holds the original record;
• the certifying authority or notary has been able to confirm authenticity directly with the document's original issuer (this confirmation will normally be stated in the notary's declaration).

Consular legalization is a double certification of a document, first by the issuing country and then by the country where the document will be used.

An Apostille Stamp is a simpler, single certification by the issuing country only - an n Apostille Stamp is accepted directly in the country where the document will be used without further requirement.

An Apostille Stamp can only be used when both the issuing country and the country where the documents will be used are signatories to the Hague Apostille Convention (see list of Apostille countries). Otherwise, documents have to be attested through Consular legalization.

It depends on the issuing country, but generally most public and government-issued documents can be authenticated with an Apostille or attested – e.g. birth, marriage, death certificates, criminal records, court documents, medical certificates issued by recognised doctors, academic diplomas issued by recognised institutions, company formation documents. In some countries, private documents can also be legalised if they are first notarized. The rules can be complex, and they differ from country and country.

Use our Online Quotation Form to see if your document is eligible.

Depending on the country, a simple apostille certification can take a single day, more complex legalization requiring certification by multiple authorities in different jurisdictions can take weeks.

Use our Online Quotation Form to send us your documents, and we will give you an estimate of how long the process will take.

The cost of legalizing documents is dependent on a number of factors including the country of issue and the country where the document will be used, the urgency of the process, the number of documents, whether Certified Translations are required, and whether any prior preparations (e.g. notarization) is required. Use our Online Quotation Form to send us your documents and we will let you know how much it will cost, including all fees and taxed payable to different authorities.

Yes - we legalise document issued in over 100 countries. We work with local agents to take care of all procedures in person, ensuring that each process is completed quickly and securely.

You can see reviews from past clients who have used our attestation and apostille services:
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Send us your documents first by email or by using our Online Quotation Form. First we will check that your documents are eligible for legalization/apostille certification in the country where they are issued. Then we will confirm how much the process will cost and how long it will take. To proceed, follow the simple instructions given in our quotation – we will generally arrange a secure courier for you if you need to send us original documents.

Apostille stamps follow an agreed international model. They will have the title: "Apostille (Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961)" and the following fields:

• The country of issue
• The name of the person who has signed the public document to which the Apostille is applied.
• The capacity in which that person is signing (e.g. notary public).
• The authority whose stamp or seal is placed on the public document.
• The date of the Apostille and the place where it was issued
• The serial number of the Apostille (this can be used to verify its authenticity with the issuing authority).
• The seal or stamp of the competent authority issuing the Apostille
• The signature of the official issuing the Apostille.

Model Apostille (PDF)

The Apostille may be printed or stamped on the document itself, affixed as a sticker or on an allonge (a separate sheet securely attached to the underling public document).

Apostilles can be in the official language of the authority which issues it and may also include a second language.

Apostilles may contain a QR code which can be used to verify its authenticity or other type of digital authentication method. They may also include additional details about the underlying document.

Digital (e-apostilles) will contain the same information and format. They will provide a secure link to the underlying public document.

Unless documents are electronic (and officially valid in electronic format), we will usually require the paper originals, since authorities will want to verify their authenticity. In many cases you can send a Certified Copy instead – please ask and we will advise – or we will make a certified copy for you.

If you have mislaid the original documents, or don’t have access to them, let us know – where we can, we will always assist in obtaining replacements from local authorities.

If your documents are issued in language that is not an official language of the country where they are to be used, then they will need to be translated. We will arrange any Certified Translations required for the attestation process.

We treat the content of all documents we are asked to certify, whether or not they contain personal data, as strictly confidential. We will not use their content for any purpose other than to complete the attestation procedure.

If your documents contain personal data that is not your own, please ensure that you have consent from the owner before sharing it with us. We cannot be held liable for any data that is transmitted to us without the consent of its owner. Please also indicate to us if your documents contain sensitive personal data, such as data on criminal convictions or medical data.

For further details on our processing of personal data contained in customer inquiries and your data rights, please see:
Privacy Policy (Customer Inquiries)