Certificate of Incorporation Apostille - Pretoria
South African companies trading outside SA are sometimes asked to provide a copy of their certificate of incorporation with an apostille. The certificate of incorporation is an official document provided to newly registered companies with the Company and Intellectual Property Commission also known as CIPC, the government Department responsible for company registrations in South Africa. It confirms the company’s name, date of incorporation, registered number, and country of registration. It establishes the company as a legal entity with an identity of its own.
The apostille certificate for a Certificate of Incorporation is required to trade or conduct business activities overseas. The apostille legalises the certificate of incorporation. It offers validation of the signatory’s identity and country of origin of the business. The apostille stamp also validates the date and place of certification and verifies the signatures of the authority that issued the certificate. This helps in establishing that the South African business is a legal entity. A Certificate of Incorporation with an apostille also helps in opening a bank account in another country.
If your company was registered in the last few years then you probably have an electronic copy of your certificate. Most South African companies are now formed online with the certificate being provided by the Company and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) in PDF format. This can be emailed to us for processing.
For older companies or those without an ‘official’ PDF version of the certificate do not worry. You can simply scan and email a copy of the document to us.
Company documents that we can provide
Legalised Copies of include:
- Certificate of Incorporation(CIPC)
- Memorandum of Association
- Articles of Association
- Employer Tax Registration (SARS)
- B-BBEE Affidavit or a B-BBEE Certificate
Apostille Document Requirements
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 the current status of the people represented in the certificate.
10 Frequently Asked Questions About Apostille In South Africa
Gathering the proper paperwork to get an apostille in South Africa can be confusing. We understand that working with the government and the all necessary paperwork can feel overwhelming. But don’t worry; we are here to answer your questions regarding the apostille process. We are asked a lot of questions and wanted to share some with you
The Apostille certificate is an official government issued certificate attached to public documents so these documents can be valid for use internationally. The Apostille was introduced as an alternative to the old and long legalization process through The Hague Convention of October 5, 1961.
IIt is an intergovernmental convention which set about establishing a simplified system to allow documentation originating in one member country to be easily recognized as authentic in another member country. The norms were established at The Hague Convention of 6 October 1961.
Doing business in today’s global economy requires South African businesses to conduct business overseas. They need to adjust with the social, security, technology, demographic changes across different countries. However, there is one more thing that needs to take care of. To conduct business overseas, companies need to provide proof that all their documentation is genuine and authentic. The way to do this is through an apostille stamp, especially for countries that are members of the Hague Apostille Convention. Certificate of incorporation is one of the most common examples of documents that need an apostille stamp. This verifies that the company is registered in South Africa.
Any country that is a member of the Hague Convention will accept an apostille certificate from South Africa without further legalisation. Here’s a full list of countries that are member of the Apostille convention.
In South Africa, Apostilles certificates are provided by the South African High Courts and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) located in Pretoria.
If you apply for our standard service we can legalise your document in 2-4 working days. We also offer a same day- Express apostille service. Read about it here
- High Court Apostille : R 650.00 per document
- Translation + Apostille: R 850.00 per document
In most cases, yes. Depending on the document, you may need an original sent to us or there are times we can work with a copy. But it is usually not a problem to receive your apostille on a South African document, no matter where in the world you are located.
Any document that is written in a foreign language and that needs to be presented to official bodies (e.g. Embassies, consulates or administrative bodies) must be accompanied with a sworn translation in the receiving country official language. Authorities requesting the apostille often require certified translations of documents before they will accept the original. By providing a certified translation of your document you are assisting the overseas organisation in understanding the content of your document.
Global-Apostille offer fast, efficient and seamless service to meet your expectation. Client confidentiality as paramount and endeavour to provide a first class service to our clients. To find out more about our fast and reliable document legalisation service.
Contact us at:
Tel
+27 12 348 3134
Cell
+27 81 347 6060
info@apostillelegalisation.co.za
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