WHAT IS AN APOSTILLE CERTIFICATE?

Many South Africans, albeit abroad or still in the Republic of South Africa, require various documents to be authenticated for different purposes such as travel, to work abroad, immigration, and much more.

Different rules apply to the authentication of documents executed in South Africa for use outside South Africa and the authentication of documents executed outside South Africa for use within South Africa. For the purposes of this article, we will be focusing on the authentication of documents in South Africa for use outside South Africa.

Documents that often have to be apostilled include but are not limited to Birth Certificates, Marriage Certificates, Academic Documents, copies of Identity Documents as well as Passports.

Before obtaining an Apostille Certificate for South African Documents, one will have to verify that the country that will be receiving the documents, is a member of The Hague Convention. South Africa is a member of the said Convention.  The list of countries that are part of the Hague Convention, can be accessed at: https://www.hcch.net/en/states/hcch-members

Where countries are part of The Hague Convention, documents are duly attested or authenticated in the presence of a Notary Public, the Notary Public will attach his/her Certificate of Authentication which must bear the Notary’s signature, stamp, or seal. The documents are then sent by the Notary Public to the Registrar of the High Court who will, in turn, attach an Apostille Certificate authenticating the Notary’s signature, stamp, or seal.

If South African documents are required for use outside of the Republic of South Africa within a country that does not form part of the Hague Convention, an apostille cannot be attached as verification of the documents and alternative requirements will have to be attended to. In this instance the documents can be authenticated by a Notary Public in South Africa who affixes a Certificate of Authentication to the document. The Notary Public’s signature must, in turn, be authenticated by the Registrar of the High Court and the signature of the Registrar of the High Court must, in turn, be authenticated by the Director-General of the Department of Justice whose signature must, in turn, be authenticated by the Director-General of Foreign Affairs. Although not a formal requirement, countries that are not members of The Hague Convention may require that their Embassy in South Africa approve and confirm the documents as having been signed in the Republic.

To ensure that the correct procedure is followed we highly suggest that a Notary Public is approached in order to assist. Should you have any queries you are welcome to contact our offices for assistance in this regard.