Hague_Convention_Abolishing_the_Requirement_for_Legalisation_for_Foreign_Public_Documents Hague_Convention_Abolishing_the_Requirement_for_Legalisation_for_Foreign_Public_Documents

Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents - Definition and Overview

The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents is Convention #12 of 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. It is an international certification comparable to a notarisation.

States which have not signed the Convention must specify how foreign legal documents can be certified for its use. Sometimes two countries will have a special treaty concerning the recognition of each others documents, but usually not. When the country issuing or receiving the document does not recognise an apostille, you must usually take the document to the consulate of the foreign country you need to certify it or to an honourary consul appointed by that country who is qualifed to certify it.

In the United States, apostilles are usually affixed by the Office of the Secretary of State in each US state or territory. Note that Canada is not a party to this convention and Canadian documents can not be certified with an apostille.

Parties to the Convention

External links
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