Apostille is a special stamp which, according to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents adopted on October 5, 1961 (entered into force for the Russian Federation on May 31, 1992) is affixed to non-commercial public documents emanating from authorities and organizations of a country party to the Convention (download the text of the Convention).

You can find out which documents require legalization and which documents are exempt from this requirement.

An apostille certifies the authenticity of the signature, the capacity in which the person signing the document acted and, where appropriate, the identity of the seal or stamp which the document bears (Article 5 of the Convention), does not require further certification or legalization and is recognized by all official bodies of all States Parties to the Convention.

Here you can find the list of states with which the Russian Federation (as the successor state to the USSR) has entered into agreements on legal assistance and legal relations in civil, family and criminal cases abolishing the requirement of legalization for non-commercial public documents, i.e. where neither legalization nor apostille is required.

Download the price list

Download in Microsoft Word (DOC)
Download in Adobe Acrobat (PDF)
Download Translation Services Agreement in Microsoft Word (DOC)

Apostille Samples

All samples

Questions and answers

What May Be Apostilled

According to Article 1 of the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, the Convention applies to public documents which have been executed in the territory of one Contracting State and which have to be produced in the territory of another Contracting State. Public documents as defined by the Convention mean:

documents emanating from an authority or an official connected with the courts or tribunals of the State, including those emanating from a public prosecutor, a clerk of a court or a process-server;
administrative documents;
notarial acts;
official certificates which are placed on documents signed by persons in their private capacity, such as official certificates recording the registration of a document or the fact that it was in existence on a certain date and official and notarial authentications of signatures.

The Convention applies to documents of education and civil status, work records, certificates of being alive and some other certificates, powers of attorney, court rulings and civil, family and criminal case materials.

The Convention does not apply to documents executed by diplomatic or consular agents or to administrative documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations. These include powers of attorney authorizing execution of transactions, cross-border transfer of goods, agreements (contracts) on the supply of goods, rendering of services, performance of various types of work and making settlements thereon, etc. Where this is permitted under the national legislation of the country in whose territory these documents will be used, the documents are legalized according to the standard procedure, i.e., through consular legalization which requires applying to several separate offices in succession. This multi-stage legalization of documents for stricter control over transactions of commercial entities. An apostille is affixed to charters, constitutive documents, patent and other documents emanating from a government authority or agency (certificates of registration, licenses, etc.). Constitutive documents, including amendments and additions, must bear a note and the stamp of a registration or tax authority and must be signed by a registration authority official.

Parties to the Hague Convention

Country	Ratification or Accession Date	Date Entered Into Force
Australia	(accession) July 11, 1994	March 16, 1995
Austria	October 5, 1961	January 13, 1968
Azerbaijan	May 13, 2004 (accession)	March 2, 2005
Albania	September 3, 2003 (accession)	May 9, 2004
American Samoa	The Convention is effective in American Samoa as overseas territories of the USA
Andorra	(accession) April 15, 1996	December 31, 1996
Antigua and Barbuda	(accession)	November 1, 1981 (independence date)
Netherlands Antilles	March 1, 1967 (The Netherlands put the Convention in force in the Netherlands Antilles)	April 30, 1967
Argentina	(accession) May 8, 1987	February 18, 1988
Armenia *	(accession) November 19, 1993	August 14, 1994
Aruba	March 1, 1967 (The Netherlands put the Convention in force in Aruba)	April 30, 1967
Bahamas	(accession)	July 10, 1973 (independence date)
Barbados	(accession)	November 30, 1966 (independence date)
Belarus *	(accession)	31 May 1992
Belize	(accession) July 17, 1992	April 11, 1993
Belgium	March 10, 1970	February 9, 1976
Bermudas	February 24, 1965 (Great Britain put the Convention in force on the Bermuda Islands)	April 25, 1965
Bulgaria *	(accession) August 1, 2000	April 29, 2001
Bosnia and Herzegovina *		January 24, 1965
Botswana (former Bechuanaland)	(accession)	September 30, 1996 (independence date)
British Antarctic Territory	February 24, 1965 (Great Britain put the Convention in force in the British Antarctic Territory)	April 25, 1965
American Virgin Islands	The Convention is effective on the American Virgin Islands as overseas territories of the USA
British Virgin Islands	February 24, 1965 (Great Britain put the Convention in force on the British Virgin Islands)	April 25, 1965
Brunei Darussalam	(accession) February 23, 1987	December 3, 1987
Vanuatu	July 30, 1980 (became effective in Vanuatu as a legal successor of the New Hebrides in view of Vanuatu’s declaration of independence)
Macedonia *		January 24, 1965
Hungary	(accession) April 18, 1972	January 18, 1973
Venezuela	(accession)	March 16, 1999
Guadeloupe	The Convention is in force in Guadeloupe as an overseas department of France
French Guiana	The Convention is in force in French Guiana as an overseas department of France
Germany	October 5, 1961	February 13, 1966
Guernsey	August 21, 1964 (Great Britain put the Convention in force in the Bailiff’s District of Guernsey)	January 24, 1965
Gibraltar	February 24, 1965 (Great Britain put the Convention in force in Gibraltar)	April 25, 1965
Honduras	January 20, 2004 (accession)	September 30, 2004
Grenada	(accession)	February 7, 1974 (independence date)
Greece	October 5, 1961	May 18, 1985
Georgia	August 21, 2006 (accession)	May 14, 2007
Guam	The Convention is in force in Guam as overseas territories of the USA
Denmark	October 30, 2006 (ratification)	December 29, 2006
Jersey	August 21, 1964 (Great Britain put the Convention in force in the Bailiff’s District of Jersey)	January 24, 1965
Dominica	(accession) October 22, 2002	November 3, 1978 (independence date)
Dominican Republic	December 12, 2008 (ratification)	August 30, 2009
Israel	(accession) November 11, 1977	August 14, 1978
India	October 26, 2004 (accession)	July 14, 2005
Ireland	October 29, 1996	March 9, 1999
Iceland	September 28, 2004 (ratification)	November 27, 2004
Spain	October 21, 1976	September 25, 1978
Italy	December 15, 1961	February 11, 1978
Cape Verde	May 7, 2009 (accession)	February 10, 2010
Kazakhstan	(accession) April 5, 2000	January 30, 2001
Cayman Islands	February 24, 1965 (Great Britain put the Convention in force on the Cayman Islands)	April 25, 1965
Cyprus	(accession) July 26, 1972	April 30, 1973
Kirgizia	November 15, 2010 (accession)	July 31, 2011
China, only Special Administrative Region Hong Kong *		April 25, 1965
China, only Special Administrative Region Macao*		February 4, 1969
Colombia	(accession) April 27, 2000	January 30, 2001
Republic of Korea	October 25, 2006 (accession)	July 14, 2007
Costa Rica	April 6, 2011 (accession)	December 14, 2011
Cook Islands	July 13, 2004 (accession)	April 30, 2005
Latvia *	(accession) May 11, 1995	January 30, 1996
Lesotho (former Basutoland)	(accession)	October 4, 1966 (independence date)
Liberia	(accession) May 24, 1995	February 8, 1996
Lithuania *	(accession) November 5, 1996	July 19, 1997
Liechtenstein	April 18, 1962	September 17, 1972
Luxemburg	October 5, 1961	June 3, 1979
Mauritius	(accession)	March 12, 1968 (independence date)
Mayotte	The Convention is in force in Mayotte as an overseas department and region of France
Malawi	(accession) February 24, 1967	December 2, 1967
Malta	(accession) June 12, 1967	March 3, 1968
Marshall Islands	(accession) November 18, 1991	August 14, 1992
Mexico	(accession) December 1, 1994	August 14, 1995
Moldova	June 19, 2006 (accession)	March 16, 2007
Monaco	(accession) April 24, 2002	December 31, 2002
Mongolia	April 2, 2009 (accession)	December 31, 2009
Montserrat	February 24, 1965 (Great Britain put the Convention in force in Montserrat)	April 25, 1965
Isle of Man	August 21, 1964 (Great Britain put the Convention in force on the Isle of Man)	January 24, 1965
Namibia	(accession) April 25, 2000	January 30, 2001
Netherlands	November 30, 1962	October 8, 1965
Niue	(accession) June 10, 1998	March 2, 1999
New Zealand	(accession) February 7, 2001	November 22, 2001
New Caledonia	The Convention is in force in New Caledonia as overseas territories of France
Norway	May 30, 1983	July 29, 1983
Oman	May 12, 2011 (accession)	January 30, 2012
Panama	(accession) October 30, 1980	August 4, 1991
Peru	January 13, 2010 (accession)	September 30, 2010
Poland	November 19, 2004 (accession)	August 14, 2005
Portugal	August 20, 1965	February 4, 1969
Puerto Rico	The Convention is in force in Puerto Rico as overseas territories of the USA
Reunion	The Convention is in force in Reunion as an overseas region of France
Russia	(accession) September 4, 1991	May 31, 1992
Romania*	(accession) June 7, 2000	March 16, 2001
El Salvador	(accession) September 14, 1995	May 31, 1996
Samoa	(accession) January 18, 1999	September 13, 1999
San Marino	(accession) May 26, 1994	February 13, 1995
Sao Tome and Principe	December 9, 2007 (accession)	September 13, 2008
Swaziland	(accession)	September 6, 1968 (independence date)
Saint Helena	February 24, 1965 (Great Britain put the Convention in force on the island of Saint Helena)	April 25, 1965
Northern Mariana Islands	(The Convention is in force on the Northern Mariana Islands as overseas territories of the USA)
Seychelles	(accession) June 9, 1978	March 31, 1979
St. Pierre and Miquelon	The Convention is in force in St. Pierre and Miquelon as a territorial overseas collectivity of France
Saint Kitts and Nevis (former Saint Christopher and Nevis)	(accession) February 26, 1994	December 14 , 1994
Saint Lucia	(accession) December 5, 2001	July 31, 2002
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	(accession) May 2, 2002	October 27, 1979 (independence day)
Slovakia*	(accession)	February 17, 2002
Slovenia	June 6, 2001	January 24, 1965
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island	October 19, 1961	January 24, 1965
United States of America	(accession) December 24 , 1980	October 15, 1981
Surinam	(accession)	November 25, 1975 (independence date)
Turks and Caicos Islands	February 24, 1965 (Great Britain put the Convention in force on the Turks and Caicos Islands)	April 25, 1965
Tonga	(accession)	June 4, 1970 (independence date)
Trinidad and Tobago	(accession) October 28, 1999	July 14, 2000
Turkey	May 8, 1962	September 29 , 1985
Uzbekistan	July 25, 2011 (accession)	April 15, 2012
Ukraine	(accession)	December 22, 2003
Wallis and Futuna Islands	The Convention is in force on the Wallis and Futuna Islands as overseas territories of France
Fiji	(accession)	October 10, 1970 (independence date)
Finland	March 13, 1962	August 26, 1985
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	February 24, 1965 (Great Britain put the Convention in force on the Falkland Islands)	April 25, 1965
France	October 9, 1961	January 24, 1965
French Polynesia	The Convention is in force in French Polynesia as a territorial overseas collectivity of France
Croatia *		January 24, 1965
Czech Republic*	(accession) June 23, 1998	16 March, 1999
Switzerland	October 5 , 1961	March 11, 1973
Sweden	March 2, 1999	May 1, 1999
Ecuador	July 2, 2004 (accession)	April 2, 2005
Estonia	(accession) December 11, 2000	September 30, 2001
Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro, 2003) *	July 1, 1998	January 24, 1965
Republic of South Africa	(accession) August 3, 1994	April 30, 1995
Japan	March 12, 1970	July 27, 1970

Where an Apostille Is Not Necessary

Please leave your request in this form, and we will contact you in no time!

Your name*

Email*

Telephone*

Service*

Message*

I accept the privacy policy.

We keep in touch!

Please do not hesitate to contact us on the following numbers:

+7 495 66-55-121

8 800 707-48-98

or via e-mail info@profperevod.ru

We guarantee privacy, fair prices and professional services!

Back

Apostille and Legalization

Apostille Samples

Questions and answers

List of the states with which the Russian Federation has agreements on legal assistance and legal relations in civil, family and criminal cases:

List of the States Parties to the Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family and Criminal Cases (signed on January 22, 1993 in Minsk):

We keep in touch!