Apostille convention

Apostille Convention

Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents
State parties to the convention (members of the HCCH)   State parties to the convention (non-members of the HCCH)
Signed	5 October 1961
Location	The Netherlands
Effective	14 January 1965
Condition	ratification by 3 states[1]
Parties	97
Depositary	Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Netherlands)
Languages	French (prevailing in case of divergence) and English

Not to be confused with Apostle (messenger, esp. Christian); or an apostil, meaning a marginal note or gloss.

The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, the Apostille convention, or the Apostille treaty is an international treaty drafted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law. It specifies the modalities through which a document issued in one of the signatory countries can be certified for legal purposes in all the other signatory states. Such a certification is called an apostille (French: certification). It is an international certification comparable to a notarisation in domestic law.

Procedure

Apostilles are affixed by Competent Authorities designated by the government of a state which is party to the convention.^[2] A list of these authorities is maintained by the Hague Conference on Private International Law. Examples of designated authorities are embassies, ministries, courts or (local) governments. For example, in the United States, the Secretary of State of each state and his or her deputies are usually competent authorities. In the United Kingdom, all apostilles are issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Milton Keynes.^[3]

To be eligible for an apostille, a document must first be issued or certified by an officer recognised by the authority that will issue the apostille. For example, in the US state of Vermont, the Secretary of State maintains specimen signatures of all notaries public, so documents that have been notarised are eligible for apostilles.^[4] Likewise, courts in the Netherlands are eligible of placing an apostille on all municipal civil status documents directly. In some cases, intermediate certifications may be required in the country where the document originates before it will be eligible for an apostille. For example, in New York City, the Office of Vital Records (which issues, among other things, birth certificates) is not directly recognised by the New York Secretary of State.^[5] As a consequence, the signature of the City Clerk must be certified by the County Clerk of New York County to make the birth certificate eligible for an apostille.^[6][7]

Information included in an apostille

An apostille issued by Norwegian authorities.

The apostille itself is a stamp or printed form consisting of 10 numbered standard fields. On the top is the text APOSTILLE, under which the text Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961 (English: Hague Convention of 5 October 1961) is placed. In the numbered fields the following information is added:

1. Country ... [country name]
   This public document
2. has been signed by ... [name]
3. acting in the capacity of ... [function]
4. bears the seal/stamp of ... [authority]
   certified
5. at ... [location]
6. the ... [date]
7. by ... [name]
8. No ... [apostille registration number]
9. Seal/stamp ... [of the authority giving the apostille]
10. Signature ... [signature of authority giving the apostille]

The information can be placed on the (back of the) document itself, or attached to the document as an allonge.

Eligible documents

Four types of documents are mentioned in the convention:^[1]

• court documents
• administrative documents (e.g. civil status documents)
• 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.

Procedure for non-states parties (Legalization)

Main article: legalization (international law)

States that have not signed the Convention must specify how foreign legal documents can be certified for its use. Two countries may have a special convention on the recognition of each other's public documents, but in practice this is infrequent. When such a convention is lacking, as is normally the case, the document must be certified by the foreign ministry of the country where the document originated and then by the foreign ministry of the government where the document will be used; one of the certifications will often be performed at an embassy or consulate. In practice this means the document must be certified twice before it can have legal effect in the receiving country. For example, as a non-signatory, Canadian documents for use abroad must be certified by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa or by a consular official abroad and subsequently by the relevant government office or consulate of the receiving state.

Apostille vs. Legalization

An Apostille of the Hague issued by the State of Alabama.   As a non-signatory, Canadian documents for use abroad must be certified twice: at the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and subsequently by the consulate of the receiving state (in this case, the Netherlands)

States parties

The convention is in force for all members of the European Union and all but 10 members of the Hague Conference on Private International Law. The next countries to accede to the convention are Kyrgyzstan, Costa Rica and Oman, for which the treaty will enter into force on 31 July, 14 December 2011 and 30 January 2012 respectively.

State	Entry into Force	Apostille not recognized in	comment
Albania	02004-05-09 May 9, 2004	Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy and Spain
Andorra	01996-12-31 December 31, 1996
Antigua and Barbuda	01981-11-01 November 1, 1981
Argentina	01988-02-18 February 18, 1988
Armenia	01994-10-14 October 14, 1994
Australia	01995-03-16 March 16, 1995
Austria	01968-01-13 January 13, 1968
Azerbaijan	02005-03-02 March 2, 2005	Germany
Bahamas	01973-07-10 July 10, 1973
Barbados	01966-11-30 November 30, 1966
Belarus	01992-05-31 May 31, 1992
Belgium	01973-02-09 February 9, 1973
Belize	01993-04-11 April 11, 1993
Bosnia and Herzegovina	01992-03-06 March 6, 1992
Botswana	01966-09-30 September 30, 1966
Brunei	01987-12-03 December 3, 1987
Bulgaria	02001-04-29 April 29, 2001
Cape Verde	02010-02-13 February 13, 2010
Colombia	02001-01-30 January 30, 2001
Cook Islands	02005-04-30 April 30, 2005
Costa Rica	02011-12-14 December 14, 2011
Croatia	01991-12-08 December 8, 1991
Cyprus	01973-04-30 April 30, 1973
Czech Republic	01999-03-16 March 16, 1999
Kingdom of Denmark	02006-12-26 December 26, 2006		does not apply for Greenland and the Faroe Islands
Dominica	01978-11-03 November 3, 1978
Dominican Republic	02009-08-30 August 30, 2009	Austria, Belgium,Germany and the Netherlands
Ecuador	02005-04-02 April 2, 2005
El Salvador	01996-05-31 May 31, 1996
Estonia	02001-09-30 September 30, 2001
Fiji	01970-10-10 October 10, 1970
Finland	01986-08-26 August 26, 1986
France	01965-01-24 January 24, 1965
Georgia	02007-05-14 May 14, 2007	Greece
Germany	01966-02-13 February 13, 1966
Greece	01985-05-18 May 18, 1985
Grenada	02002-04-07 April 7, 2002
Honduras	02004-12-30 December 30, 2004
Hong Kong	01965-04-25 April 25, 1965		The convention is still applicable to Hong Kong despite the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong on 01997-07-01 July 1, 1997.[8]
Hungary	01973-01-18 January 18, 1973
Iceland	02004-11-27 November 27, 2004
India	02005-07-14 July 14, 2005	Germany
Ireland	01999-03-09 March 9, 1999
Israel	01978-08-14 August 14, 1978
Italy	01978-02-11 February 11, 1978
Japan	01970-07-27 July 27, 1970
Kazakhstan	02001-01-30 January 30, 2001
Kyrgyzstan	02011-07-31 July 31, 2011
Latvia	01996-01-30 January 30, 1996
Lesotho	01966-12-04 December 4, 1966
Liberia	01996-02-08 February 8, 1996	Belgium, Germany and the United States
Liechtenstein	01972-09-17 September 17, 1972
Lithuania	01997-07-19 July 19, 1997
Luxembourg	01979-06-03 June 3, 1979
Macau	01969-02-04 February 4, 1969		The convention is still applicable to Macau despite the transfer of sovereignty over Macau on 01999-12-20 December 20, 1999.[8]
Macedonia	01991-11-17 November 17, 1991
Malawi	01967-12-02 December 2, 1967
Malta	01968-03-03 March 3, 1968
Marshall Islands	01992-08-14 August 14, 1992
Mauritius	01968-03-12 March 12, 1968
Mexico	01995-08-14 August 14, 1995
Moldova	02007-03-16 March 16, 2007	Germany
Monaco	02002-12-31 December 31, 2002
Mongolia	02009-12-31 December 31, 2009	Austria, Belgium, Finland, Germany and Greece
Montenegro	02006-06-03 June 3, 2006
Namibia	02001-01-30 January 30, 2001
Netherlands	01965-10-08 October 8, 1965		Aruba, Curaçao, Netherlands and Sint Maarten
New Zealand	02001-11-22 November 22, 2001
Niue	01999-03-02 March 2, 1999
Norway	01983-07-29 July 29, 1983
Oman	02012-01-30 January 30, 2012
Panama	01991-08-04 August 4, 1991
Peru	02010-09-30 September 30, 2010	Germany and Greece
Poland	02005-08-14 August 14, 2005
Portugal	01969-02-04 February 4, 1969
Romania	02001-03-13 March 13, 2001
Russia	01992-05-31 May 31, 1992
Saint Kitts and Nevis	01994-12-14 December 14, 1994
Saint Lucia	02002-07-31 July 31, 2002
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	01979-10-27 October 27, 1979
Samoa	01999-09-13 September 13, 1999
San Marino	01995-02-13 February 13, 1995
São Tomé and Príncipe	02008-09-13 September 13, 2008
Serbia	01992-04-27 April 27, 1992
Seychelles	01979-03-31 March 31, 1979
Slovakia	02002-02-18 February 18, 2002
Slovenia	01991-06-25 June 25, 1991
South Africa	01995-04-30 April 30, 1995
South Korea	02007-07-14 July 14, 2007
Spain	01978-09-25 September 25, 1978
Suriname	01975-11-25 November 25, 1975
Swaziland	01968-09-06 September 6, 1968
Sweden	01999-05-01 May 1, 1999
Switzerland	01973-03-11 March 11, 1973
Tonga	01970-06-04 June 4, 1970
Trinidad and Tobago	02000-07-14 July 14, 2000
Turkey	01985-09-29 September 29, 1985
Ukraine	02003-12-22 December 22, 2003
United Kingdom	01965-01-24 January 24, 1965		including Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories
United States	01981-10-15 October 15, 1981
Vanuatu	01980-07-30 July 30, 1980
Venezuela	01999-03-16 March 16, 1999

Abuse

The Apostille does not give information regarding the quality of the document, but certifies the signature (and the capacity of who placed it) and correctness of the seal/stamp on the document which must be certified. In 2005 The Hague Conference surveyed its members and produced the a report in December 2008 which expressed serious concerns about Diplomas and Degree certificates, titled "THE APPLICATION OF THE APOSTILLE CONVENTION TO DIPLOMAS INCLUDING THOSE ISSUED BY DIPLOMA MILLS". The possible abuse of the system was highlighted "Particularly troubling is the possible use of diploma mill qualifications to circumvent migration controls, possibly by potential terrorists." (page 5) 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. "An official looking certificate may be issued to a copy of a diploma mill qualification, and then subsequently issued with an Apostille, without anyone having ever verified the signature on, let alone the contents of, the diploma." (page 7) Further member states indicated "they would be obliged to issue an Apostille for certification of a certified copy of a diploma issued by a diploma mill". (page 15) The Hague Conference expressed concern as to whether this issue could impact the entire convention. "…the Apostille does not 'look through the certification' and does not relate to the diploma itself …. There is a clear risk that such practices may eventually undermine the effectiveness and therefore the successful operation of the Apostille Convention". (page 5)^[9]

In February 2009 the Hague Conference decided to amend the wording on the Apostille to make it clear that no one was checking whether the document being attested was genuine or a fake. The new wording to be used was as follows. "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."^[10]

See also

• Legalization (international law)
• Hague Conference on Private International Law
• Convention on the issue of multilingual extracts from civil status records

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "12: Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents". Hague Conference on Private International Law. http://hcch.e-vision.nl/index_en.php?act=conventions.text&cid=41. Retrieved 16 January 2011. 
2. ^ "ABCs of Apostilles p. 13". Hague Conference on Private International Law. http://hcch.e-vision.nl/upload/abc12e.pdf. 
3. ^ "United Kingdom, Competent Authorities". Hague Conference on Private International Law. http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=authorities.details&aid=352. Retrieved 9 March 2011. 
4. ^ Authentication 2009
5. ^ Birth certificate application 2010
6. ^ Crampton 2007
7. ^ Apostiles n.d.
8. ^ ^{a b} Information on the application of the convention to Hong Kong and Macau
9. ^ Permanent Bureau (December 2008). "The application of the Apostille Convention to diplomas including those issued by diploma mills". Hague Conference on Private International Law. http://hcch.e-vision.nl/upload/wop/2008pd05e.pdf. 
10. ^ Permanent Bureau (February 2009). "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. p. 13. http://www.hcch.net/upload/wop/jac_concl_e.pdf. 

External links

• treaty text (HCCH)
• status (HCCH)