What is a Hague Apostille?

The ApostilleThe Hague Apostille is a form of legalization in international document traffic. It is used in legal transactions between the countries mentioned below to exempt foreign public documents from legalisation.

It shall certify the authenticity of the signature, the capacity in which the signatory has acted and, where appropriate, the authenticity of the seal or stamp affixed to the document.

The simplification of legal transactions achieved by the Hague Convention is now a major factor in the development of globalisation, because it makes international legal channels available quickly and without red tape.

The apostille is affixed to authentic instruments. Article 1 of the Convention determines which documents are to be regarded as authentic instruments, the national law of the issuing authority being applicable in each case. The apostille is to be made by means of a stamp (stampiglie) in the form of a square with sides of at least nine centimetres. It may be completed in the official language of the issuing authority. The heading 'Apostille (Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961)' must be in French.

Should you have a Apostille need or a Certified document/documents from a notary in the Seychelles, we offer both in the online shop on.

These are the members of the Hague Convention for the Hague Apostille:

• Albania
• Andorra
• Antigua and Barbuda
• Argentina
• Armenia
• Australia
• Bahamas
• Bahrain
• Barbados
• Belarus
• Belgium
• Belize
• Bolivia
• Bosnia-Herzegovina
• Botswana
• Brazil
• Brunei Darussalam
• Bulgaria
• Chile
• China (only for documents from the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions)
• Cook Islands
• Costa Rica
• Denmark (except Greenland and Faroe Islands)
• Dominica
• Ecuador
• El Salvador
• Estonia
• Eswatini
• Fiji
• Finland
• France
• Georgia
• Grenada
• Greece
• Guatemala
• Guyana
• Honduras
• Ireland
• Iceland
• Israel
• Italy
• Japan
• Cape Verde
• Kazakhstan
• Colombia
• Croatia
• Lesotho
• Latvia
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Malawi
• Malta
• Marshall Islands
• Mauritius
• Mexico
• Monaco
• Montenegro
• Namibia
• New Zealand (without Tokelau)
• Nicaragua
• Netherlands (also for Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten and the Caribbean part, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba)
• Niue
• North Macedonia
• Norway
• Oman
• Austria
• Panama
• Peru
• Poland
• Portugal
• Romania
• Russian Federation
• Samoa
• San Marino
• Sao Tome and Principe
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Serbia
• Seychelles
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Spain
• Saint Kitts and Nevis
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
• South Africa
• South Korea (Republic of Korea)
• Suriname
• Swaziland (see Eswatini)
• Tonga
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Czechia
• Turkey
• Ukraine
• Hungary
• Uruguay
• Vanuatu
• Venezuela
• United States
• United Kingdom (also for Anguilla, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, British Virgin Islands, Montserrat, Saint Helena, Turks and Caicos Islands)
• Cyprus

You can find more and further information in our Lexicon/Glossary or in the IBC Act.