Authentications and Apostilles - Certificates of Good Standing

- Authentications and Apostilles
- Apostille - Certificate of Authentication
- Certificate of Good Standing
- Hague Convention
- Legalisation
- Power of Attorney

Authentications

Foreign governments may request bearers of documents to have them authenticated (legalised) by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade or by embassies or missions overseas. The authentication verifies the identity of the signature and/or seal or stamp which the document bears.  Please note that this process does not/not verify the contents of the document.

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Apostille - (international certification)

Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents

Foreign countries, who are also party to the Convention, may request the bearer of a public document (as defined by the Hague Convention), to obtain an apostille from authorities of the country in which the document was issued.

The Legalisation Office
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Old Admiralty Building
The Mall
London SW1A 2LG

An apostille involves the addition of a certificate, either stamped on the document itself or attached to the document.  It certifies the country of origin of the document, the identity and capacity in which a document has been signed and the name of any authority which has affixed a seal or stamp to the document. 

Some examples of public documents include documents issued by a Notary Public, Certificates of Incorporation, Birth, Death and Marriage Certificates.

The apostille enables the presenter to bypass further certification and immediately send or take the documents to the country of intended use. Only certain countries will accept the apostille.

A Certificate of Authentication (both domestic and foreign) only validates the signature of a notary public or certain local or state officers. The certificate of authentication does not validate the contents, completeness, or accuracy of the notarised or issued document. The authentication process includes matching signature and seal with the information on file.

A power of attorney is a document whereby one person confers on another the right to act on his or her behalf and in that respect the attorney can act just as though he or she were the donor of the power. Such a power can be used, for instance, to operate bank accounts or to sign documents or deeds.

Foreign Authentication of Documents

Occasionally a notary public is asked to notarise documents destined for use in foreign countries.

Prior to October 5, 1961, there was a cumbersome process in place for legalisation of these documents, however with the Hague Convention on Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Documents a standard was adopted.

There the signature will be verified by comparing it to the notary appointment form on file and a simple document called an Apostille will be filled out and signed.

The Apostille then will be embossed with the official seal. A fee per document will be payable. Once the process is completed, the document is then considered legalised in the countries listed below.