Document Legalisation Info & Articles #document legalisation

If you’ve been told that in order to use a South-African document in another country, which country is not a signatory to the Hague Apostille Convention, it will need to be legalised by authentication process and not apostilled.

When a document issued in South Africa is required to be used in another country which is also a signatory to the Apostille Convention, an Apostille Certificate will be issued either by the High Court or by the Department of International Relations (DIRCO). This will be the end of the Apostille process.

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) is responsible for apostilling documents in South Africa, as it is the designated Competent Authority under the Hague Convention. The Convention simplifies the authentication process for public documents used in foreign countries, providing a special certificate called the Apostille,