Frequently Asked Questions

The following are answers to the most common questions we get about the South-African document legalisation and apostille process.

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 or acquiring an apostille certificate on your behalf.

You send or drop of your 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 make sure your documents will meet the criteria of each step of the process.
  2. Document authentication – we will have your documents authenticated at at 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!
Yes and no.  A document with an apostille can be used in almost any other apostille country without additional requirements.

Whereas, a document that has gone through the authentication and embassy legalisation process can use in the country for which it was legalised.

Both the apostille and the document authentication and legalization process have the same purpose; to certify a document created in one country so that it can be officially recognised in another country.

Apostille certificates are issued by countries that are signatory to the Hague Apostille Convention.

Countries that are not a signatory to this convention, instead of issuing apostille certificates, uses a process called authentication and sometimes embassy legalisation.

We are available to answer your questions and to discuss your documents. Contact us toll-free at 087 0010 733 or send us an online enquiry or get an detailed quotation. 

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 as long as these documents have first been “apostilled”.

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

For more information on the Hague Apostille Convention and feel free to 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 send us an online enquiry or get an online quotation.