If are a South African citizen and you’d like to immigrate to the Spain, Netherlands or any other country, then you’re going to need an Apostille certificate for your birth certificate from South Africa to do so. You might also need this document for a family law case, to get a job, or even to go to school.
Most countries require documents from abroad to be legalized in order to be valid for use. Apostille is a certificate attesting to the authenticity of a document. Examples of documents that may be apostilled in South Africa: birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates, court decisions, and other documents issued by the Department of Home affairs.
South African documents won’t be legally valid in countries such as the Germany, Denmark, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, and Switzerland unless they are apostilled. Apostilles are based on the Convention of Hague, which created the apostille verification system for documents from foreign countries.
In South Africa, apostille certificate can be affixed on original document or on a notarised copy. Therefore, the document must be presented in good condition, with all stamps and signatures clear and readable. Additionally, the documents must be free of alien markings or labels.
Certain documents, such as police clearance certificates must be recent for obvious reasons. This may also apply to marriage certificates and other documents representing a current status of the people represented in the certificate.
