What is the Hague Apostille Convention?
The Hague Apostille Convention is an international treaty created by the Hague Conference on Private International Law and went into force in 1965. The convention was named after its location in The Hague. It oversees the procedure by which a document issued in one nation is legally certified for use in other countries. This certification allows the document to be used in other countries.
Any nation that has ratified this convention is authorized to offer what is known as an "apostille" certification for documents. When a document has been apostilled, it is given the legal authority to be used in any nation that has signed the Hague Convention on Apostille. It allows the document to be used internationally.
What exactly is meant by the term "Apostille Convention"?
The "Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents," which was a time-consuming and cumbersome method of having to confirm documents between countries (in the past, both countries had to sign two separate confirmations), was superseded by "The Hague Convention," as it is more commonly referred to.
The Apostille Convention is a convention that was established on the international level by the Hague Conference on Private International Law on October 5, 1961. It is also known as the Convention de La Haye du 5 Octobre 1961 or the Apostille Treaty.
Authentication of Documents of Non-Apostille Convention Member Countries
Your official South African documents cannot be apostilled for validity and verification if you intend to use them outside of the Republic of South Africa in a country that is not a member of the Hague Conference. It is the case even if you plan to use the documents in a country adjacent to the Republic of South Africa. However, you must still be able to establish that your papers are valid and have been lawfully signed by the appropriate authorities. Because of this, further procedures may be needed from you to fulfil this requirement.
Suppose you need to have papers certified and legalized for use in a nation that is not a member of the apostille convention. In that case, you will be required to take measures such as obtaining verification from the state or department of state, if necessary, and obtaining legalization from an embassy or consulate.
The process of legalizing documents
After that, the papers are given an official stamp of approval by the Ministry of External Affairs based on the signatures of the authorized signing authority of the respective state governments, union territories, and chambers of commerce. As a result, it does not accept responsibility for the information included within the publications.
Contracting with Third Parties to Receive and Deliver Documents
As of July 2012, the Ministry of External Affairs Counter at the CPV Division in the Patiala House Annexe in New Delhi does not accept any documents directly from individuals. It is because the Ministry has outsourced the process of receiving and delivering documents that require attestation or an apostille.
Along with a photocopy of the document itself and a photocopy of the applicant's passport, the applicant must hand over the original copy of the document, which is the authentic copy, to one of the four outsourced service providers. However, it is essential to note that the Ministry does not recognize photocopies as valid forms of documentation. Therefore, applicants are strongly cautioned against placing their trust in unauthorized people or touts when applying for a Hague Convention Apostille or an Attestation.
Apostille and Legalization from the Hague
A foreign public document may be validated via the process of legalization, which involves checking the validity of the signature as well as the legality of the signing authority. However, the document's contents are not validated by the legalization process.
For a document to be valid in court, it must either be an original that has been legalized or apostilled or a genuine copy that has been issued by the same organization that issued the original. Therefore, using a legalized or apostilled photocopy instead of the original document is impossible.
The legalization or Apostille does not have a time restriction on its validity; however, if the legalised document has a time limit on its validity, then the legalization or Apostille's validity must also be time-restricted.
