Commercial Document Authentication
And Legalization – South Africa
In today’s interconnected world, South African businesses are increasingly venturing into the global marketplace to expand their reach and seize new opportunities. Whether you are exporting products from South Africa or a South African company doing business abroad, you may be required to have certain commercial documents, such as commercial invoices, medical device licences, certificates of origin and free trade certificates, authenticated and legalised, also known as apostilled. In international trade, the authentication and legalisation of commercial documents plays a pivotal role.
The authentication and legalization process enables a South African document to be recognized or accepted in another country. This entire process centers on signature verification. Therefore, each different type of document will need to meet specific requirements. For more information on the process, take a look at this helpful resource about – Document Legalization?
We submit commercial documents at High Courts/ Dirco and over 200 diplomatic missions on a daily basis to process commercial documents. High Courts/ Dirco and each diplomatic mission have very specific requirements for the authentication and legalization of South African documents.
For example, High Courts will only authenticate commercial documents that have been notarized by a South African Notary Public. We can assist with that as well and within 2 working days!!
Some diplomatic missions require that you provide supporting documents along with your commercial documents for legalization. It is important to identify whether the diplomatic mission in question has this requirement.
Avoid the delays and stress involved with attempting to manage the process yourself. Using Global Apostille authentication and legalization services could not be easier. Contact us to discuss your particular requirements and ensure your documents are prepared correctly. We will rapidly authenticate and legalize your commercial documents, often in as little as a couple days.
What type of South African commercial documents we can Legalise?
Regulatory Affairs / Export Shipping Documentation
- Notarisation, Apostille & legalisation services
- A & Arab-British Certificates of Origin raised & certified
- Legalisation arranged at foreign Embassies/Consulates
- CIPC certificate
- SARS Certificate
Legal, Corporate & I.P Documentation
- Processing of Patents & Trade Marks Powers of Attorney, Assignments & related corporate legal documentation
- Foreign documents
- Global legalisation support
10 Frequently Asked Questions About The Apostille
Service 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
An authentication or apostille certifies the authenticity of the signature, seal and position of the official who has executed, issued or certified a copy of a public document. An authentication or apostille enables a public document issued in one country to be recognized as valid in another country.
An apostille is a certification form set out in The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (1961).
It 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.
It is the process of legalization of documents from the concerned authorities in which attestation stamp on south African commercial documents is obtained from the Chamber of Commerce. In the case of carrying out business overseas, one might need the embassy for those as well. It can be defined as the legalization of certificates that are evidence of your settled business capital. It proves the genuineness of South African documents and enables South African companies to do business abroad.
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.
The requirement of documents depends on the purpose of your document usage in the Hague Convention country. However, some of the common South African Commercial documents require to use internationally are:
- Certificate of origin
- Power of attorney
- Certificate of incorporation
- Invoices
- Physical/chemical analysis reports of products
- Packaging list
- Special certificates
- Memorandum of association
Generally, it depends on the document issued state and from where you require the attestation from. 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 page
- Notarisation: R 750.00 per page
- Dirco Apostille: R 1 999.99 per document
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
Drop us a message
