APOSTILLE SOUTH AFRICA - F.A.Q

Yes!  We specialise in helping people just like you prepare your documents to be used in foreign countries.  

We can certainly handle the legalisation or acquiring an apostille certificate on your behalf.

You send or drop off your documents to us, and we will handle the rest, often in as little as a few days. This process consists of three steps:
  1. Document preparation – we ensure your documents meet the criteria of each process step.
  2. Document authentication – we will have your documents authenticated by the appropriate authorities in South Africa. 
  3. Document legalisation – we will have your documents legalised at the embassy or consulate of the destination country.
Contact our friendly specialists to discuss your options and answer your questions. We would be happy to hear from you!
SUBMIT ONLINE FORM to get free no-obligation quotation and timelines. 
We know that everyone's situation is unique and may have different notary services or document legalisation needs. Our document legalisation specialists will work closely with you to ensure that all documents receive the proper certification that is required for the relevant country and situation. If you would like to clarify the process on your documents or have any special requests, please Message Us
ORDER AND GET A QUOTE ONLINE

Ordering and quoting online is simple and safe. Complete the secure online form to get a no-obligation quotation with a time estimate for completion. You can use the secure incorporated facility to upload any documents you would like us to check.
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  • Albania - Competent Authority (Art. 6) - Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Andorra - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Antigua and Barbuda - Competent Authority (Art. 6) - Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Argentina - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Armenia - Competent Authority (Art. 6) - Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Australia - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Austria - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Azerbaijan - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Bahamas - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Bahrain - Competent Authority -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Barbados - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -   Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Belarus - Competent Authorities (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Belgium - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Belize - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Bolivia - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Botswana - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Brazil - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Brunei Darussalam - Competent Authority (Art. 6) - Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Bulgaria - Competent Authorities (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Burundi - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Cabo Verde - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Chile - Competent Authorities -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • China (Hong Kong) - Competent Authorities (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • China (Macao) - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Colombia - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Cook Islands - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Costa Rica - Competent Authority -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Croatia - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Cyprus - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Czech Republic - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Denmark - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Dominica - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Dominican Republic - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Ecuador - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • El Salvador - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Estonia - Competent Authorities (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Eswatini - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Fiji - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Finland - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • France - Competent Authority (Art. 6) - Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Georgia - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Germany - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Greece - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Grenada - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Guatemala - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Guyana - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Honduras - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Hungary - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Iceland - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • India - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Ireland - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Israel - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Italy - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Japan - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Kazakhstan - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Korea, Republic of - Competent Authorities (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Kosovo - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Kyrgyzstan - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Latvia - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Lesotho - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Liberia - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Liechtenstein - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Lithuania - Competent Authority (Art. 6) - Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Luxembourg - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Malawi - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Malta - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Marshall Islands - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Mauritius - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Mexico - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Monaco - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Mongolia - Competent Authority (Art. 6) - G Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Montenegro - Competent Authorities (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Morocco - Competent Authority (Art. 6) - Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Namibia - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Netherlands - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • New Zealand - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Nicaragua - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Niue - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Norway - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Oman - Competent Authority -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Palau - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Panama - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Paraguay - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Peru - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Philippines - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Poland - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Portugal - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Republic of Moldova - Competent Authority (Art.6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Republic of North Macedonia - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Romania - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Russian Federation - Competent Authority (Art. 6) - Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Saint Kitts and Nevis - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Saint Lucia - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Samoa - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • San Marino - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Sao Tome and Principe - Competent Authorities -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Serbia - Competent Authority (Art. 6) - G Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Seychelles - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Slovakia - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Slovenia - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • South Africa - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Spain - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Suriname - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Sweden - Competent Authority (Art. 6) - Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Switzerland - Competent Authority (Art. 6) - Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Tajikistan - Competent Authority - Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Tonga - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Trinidad and Tobago - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Tunisia - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Turkey - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Ukraine - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 6) - Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • United States of America - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Uruguay - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Uzbekistan - Competent Authorities (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Vanuatu - Competent Authorities (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
  • Venezuela - Competent Authority (Art. 6) -  Get Apostille or Document Legalisation Quotation for. 
Each Competent Authority must keep a register that records the date and number of every Apostille it issues, as well as information relating to the person or authority that signed or sealed the underlying public document.

Recipients may contact the Competent Authority identified on the Apostille and ask whether the information on the Apostille corresponds with the information in the register.

The High Court, DIRCO or Notary Public can be contacted in South Africa.

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Ordering and quoting online is simple and safe. Complete the secure online form to get a no-obligation quotation with a time estimate for completion. You can use the secure incorporated facility to upload any documents you would like us to check.
Apostilles issued in accordance with the requirements of the Convention must be recognised in the country where they are to be used.

Apostilles may only be rejected when:
• their origin cannot be verified (i.e., when the particulars on the Apostille do not correspond with those in the register kept by the Competent Authority that allegedly issued the Apostille); or
• their formal elements differ radically from the Model Certificate annexed to the Convention.

ORDER AND GET A QUOTE ONLINE

Ordering and quoting online is simple and safe. Complete the secure online form to get a no-obligation quotation with a time estimate for completion. You can use the secure incorporated facility to upload any documents you would like us to check.
The Hague Conference on Private International Law was established in 1893 and became a permanent intergovernmental organization in 1955. Today, the Hague Conference is the pre-eminent World Organization dealing with cross-border legal issues in civil and commercial matters. Its mission is to work towards a world in which individuals and companies can enjoy a high degree of legal certainty in cross-border situations.

Responding to the needs of a globalizing international community, the Hague Conference develops multilateral Conventions (45 since 1893) and assists with their implementation and practical operation. These Hague Conventions deal with such diverse fields as Apostilles; service of process abroad; taking of evidence abroad; shares, bonds, and other securities; child abduction, intercountry adoption, maintenance obligations, etc. These Conventions serve to build bridges between various legal systems while respecting their diversity. The Secretariat of the Hague Conference is called the Permanent Bureau.
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The word “Apostille” (pronounced a-pos-TEE, not a-pos-TEAL or a-pos-TILL-ee) is of French origin. It comes from the French verb “apostiller”, which derives from the old French word apostille meaning “annotation”, and before it the Latin No suggestions, a variation of the word postea, which means “thereafter, afterwards, next” (Le Nouveau Petit Robert: Dictionnaire alphabétique et analogique de la langue française, Paris, 2004). Usage of the words “Apostille” and “apostiller” dates to the end of the 16th century in France. Thus, an Apostille consisted of an annotation in the margin of a document or at the end of a letter.

During the negotiations on the Hague Apostille Convention, the term “Apostille” was preferred because of its novelty. According to the reporter: “Following a discussion on terminology [in the French language], the word Apostille has been preferred because of its appealing novelty.” The meanings of the word Apostille described above are still valid today.
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In South Africa, Apostille Certificates are issued primarily by

1. The Registrar of the High Court, where documents have been
  • Authenticated by a notary public.
  • Translated by a sworn translator.
2. The Department of International Relations and Cooperation's (DIRCO) in respect of the following documents
  • Unabridged birth and marriage certificates.
  • Police clearance certificates.
  • Degrees, diplomas, and transcripts.
  • Matric certificates, school transfer certificates and reports.
  • Driver's license confirmation letter.
  • Medical Reports.
Louwrens Koen Attorneys deliver comprehensive Apostille certificate services. Contact us Tel: 0870010733 or Email info@louwrenskoen.co.za for more information.

ORDER AND GET A QUOTE ONLINE

Ordering and quoting online is simple and safe. Complete the secure online form to get a no-obligation quotation with a time estimate for completion. You can use the secure incorporated facility to upload any documents you would like us to check. 
  • When a document issued in South Africa is required to be used in another country which is also a signatory to the Apostille Convention, an Apostille Certificate will be issued either by the High Court or by the Department of International Relations (DIRCO). This will be the end of the Apostille process.
  • Where a document is required to be used in a country which is not a signatory to the Apostille Convention (such as China or the UAE) the document will receive an Authentication of Signature Certificate (not an apostille certificate), which must be issued by DIRCO, irrespective of whether the document has gone to the High Court first.
  • Once authenticated by DIRCO, the document must then be submitted to the relevant country's Embassy for legalisation. Only once legalised by the Embassy will the authentication process be complete.
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The Hague Apostille Convention, formally known as the “Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents”, is an international agreement governing how a document issued in one country can be certified for legal purposes in another.  

This certification is called the apostille process. Any country that is a signatory to the Hague Apostille Convention will legally recognise documents from other signatory countries if these documents have first been “apostilled”.

Therefore, countries that are not a signatory to The Hague Apostille Convention cannot obtain an apostille on their official documents. The appropriate document legalisation process to certify the signatures on documents for these countries is called authentication and embassy attestation.

For more information on the Hague Apostille Convention, contact us. We would happily discuss your documents and how to best have them processed for use abroad. Call us at 087 0010 733 or submit an online form to get an obligation-free online quotation.