The Apostille Convention enters into force for Tunisia
On 30 March 2018, the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille Convention) entered into force for Tunisia. Tunisia had acceded to the Apostille Convention on 10 July 2017. The Government of Tunisia has informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands (i.e. the Depositary) that a Competent Authority under...
Belgium begins issuing e-Apostilles
On 1st March 2018, the Belgian Competent Authorities have started to issue e-Apostilles. There will be a transitionary period until 1st May 2018, in which both paper and e-Apostilles will be issued. After this period, only e-Apostilles will only be issued, for both electronic and paper public documents. Once issued, the apostillised documents are sent to the requesting party by email (or to the...
Apostille Handbook now available in German, Portuguese and Russian
German, Portuguese and Russian language versions of the Apostille Handbook (2013) are now available. The German version was provided by the German Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (in consultation with the Swiss Federal Office of Justice and the Austrian Federal Ministry of Justice), the Portuguese version by the Attorney General of the Portuguese Republic, and the Russian...
Estonia implements the e-APP
On 1 December 2017, the Chamber of Notaries of Estonia began issuing e-Apostilles and launched a Category 2 e-Register, as part of the electronic Apostille Program (e-APP) under the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille Convention). Users can now apply for both e-Apostilles and paper Apostilles via the...
Working Group on the Authentication of Documents Generated by Supranational and Intergovernmental Organisations
On 1 December 2017, the Working Group on the Authentication of Documents Generated by Supranational and Intergovernmental Organisations met in The Hague. The Working Group was attended by 36 experts, representing 22 States, one supranational organisation and one intergovernmental organisation, as well as members of the Permanent Bureau. The report of the Working Group is now available...
The Apostille Convention enters into force for Guatemala
On 18 September 2017, the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille Convention) entered into force for Guatemala. Guatemala had acceded to the Apostille Convention on 19 January 2017. No objections were raised to its accession. While not a Member State of the Hague Conference, Guatemala is a Contracting Party to three...
Bolivia joins the Apostille Convention
On Wednesday 6 September 2017, Bolivia deposited its instrument of accession to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille Convention). With the accession of Bolivia, the Apostille Convention now has 115 Contracting Parties. The Apostille Convention will enter into force for Bolivia on 7 May 2018. At the ceremony,...
Tunisia joins Apostille, Service, and Child Abduction Conventions
On 10 July 2017, Tunisia deposited its instruments of accession to three Hague Conventions: the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille Convention), the Hague Convention of 15 November 1965 on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters (Service Convention), and the...
Guatemala joins the Hague Apostille Convention
On 19 January 2017, the Republic of Guatemala deposited its instrument of accession to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (the "Apostille Convention"), making it the 113th Contracting State to the Convention. Following the usual procedural steps, the Convention will enter into force for Guatemala on 18 September...
Fourth meeting of the Apostille Special Commission and 10th e-APP Forum
From 2 to 4 November 2016, over 190 experts from over 65 States and international organisations around the world participated in the fourth meeting of the Special Commission on the practical operation of the Hague Convention on Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille Convention). For the first time, a meeting of the Special Commission was directly...