There are many circumstances where you may be asked for an apostille on your personal or commercial documents. Ultimately, when you need to use a document from one country in another, there is a specific process that it must go through in order to obtain the correct signatures and stamps.
Under The Hague Apostille Convention, signatory countries of this treaty have agreed to recognize public documents issued by other signatory countries, providing those documents are authenticated by the attachment of an internationally recognized form of authentication known as an apostille. An apostille ensures that public documents issued in one signatory country will be recognized as valid or legal in all other signatory countries.
Your document is not from Canada
A document that was not issued in Canada will either need to receive an apostille certificate from the country of origin, or to be legalized by the appropriate diplomatic mission in the country of origin.
If both the country of origin and the destination country are signatories to the convention, the document can receive an apostille certificate from the country of origin.
If the destination country is not a signatory to the convention, the usual steps are authentication by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the country of origin and then legalization at the diplomatic mission of the destination country.
Your document is from Canada
As Canada is not a signatory to this Hague Convention, it is not possible to obtain an apostille on Canadian documents. To be recognized in a foreign country, Canadian documents must go through a process called authentication and legalization.
The authentication and legalization process involves first, having your documents authenticated at the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFATD). Next, they must be legalized at the diplomatic mission for your destination country.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and each diplomatic mission have very specific requirements for the authentication and legalization of Canadian documents.
By using International Document Canada (IDC) it alleviates the stress involved and saves weeks of processing time. We specialize in managing the authentication and legalization process for you. Simply send us your documents and we take care of the rest in as little as a few days.
We would be happy to discuss your particular needs and answer your questions. Contact us toll free at 1-888-433-1011 or visit us at idocscanada.ca .
