What is Apostille

An apostille is an international certification affixed either to the original legal document or to a notarized copy of the original legal document that allows to confirm the authenticity the signature, capacity and seal of the said document’s emitter.

It is obtained and used in the countries part to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (“Hague Apostille Convention”). It eases the acceptance by authorities or regulated operators like banks of documents originating from another member State.

For the full list of countries part of the Hague Apostille Convention, please check the following link : https://www.hagueapostille.co.uk/hague-members

Apostilles are affixed by competent authorities designated by each member State. For instance, in the United Kingdom (“UK”), the apostille is affixed by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office which is also known as the legalization office which can create confusion with the legalization procedure.