Educational Certificates Apostille – South Africa
Legalisation of educational degree certificates is a major requirement for South African citizens who wish to work or study overseas. So, frequently South African students and professionals require certified copies of a degree, diploma, transcript, academic certification or other official qualifications document for various reasons. For example, you may be offered a job to work in a country outside of South Africa or wish to pursue tertiary education abroad. Employers and universities in other countries require proof that the education documents and signatures being presented are genuine and legitimate. This is what exactly the apostille certificate does, attesting to the authenticity of educational degree certificates.
Legalization of educational documents is a procedure for giving a diploma or certificate to a legal force in the territory of another state. It exists so that further actions can be taken with the document not only in the country where it was received but also abroad. Often, legalization is mandatory, although not the only, requirement for a document on education when entering a foreign country
Getting your South African degree certificates and other academic documents, such as vocational training diploma documents, transcripts results or professional training certificates attested by the concerned authority is a major step to having the document recognised for use overseas.
What type of South African educational documents we can Legalise?
- National Senior Certificate/ Matric
Higher Certificates and Advanced National (vocational) Cert. - National Diploma and Advanced certificates
- Bachelor’s degree, Advanced Diplomas, Post Graduate Certificate and B-tech
- Honours degree, Post Graduate diploma and Professional Qualifications
- Master’s degree
- PhD degree
- Transcripts
- Professional training certificates
There are several options available to have your South African degrees recognized by overseas Authorities for overseas jobs, comparability study, emigration, or visa..
Solution A: Have a copy of the South African degree verified then attested by a notary public with a notarial certificate. Next, the documents will be submitted to the High Court for apostille certification.
Solution B: Have the original degree verified and get the letter of verification from The South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) or Umalusi. Next, the original letter of verification along with copies of the degree will be submitted to DIRCO for apostille certification
In many circumstances we can include your transcript and other certificates by collating documents into sets. This can save you money if you have many documents that need to be used in one country.
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 a 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.
As a general rule of thumb, apostille certificates are necessary when a document from one country has to be used in another country’s legal proceedings. For example, you may be a citizen of South Africa who is seeking residency in a European country like France. In order to get the residency status you want, you may need an apostilled version of your South African birth certificate to prove your identity.
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
No, foreign documents cannot be apostilled in South Africa. South Africa is only allowed to apostille documents from our country. All foreign documents must receive the apostille or legalization from the country of origin.
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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