Cape Town Apostille Service
An Apostille certificate from The Department of International Relations and Cooperation’s (DIRCO) in Pretoria will make your South African public document valid for legal purposes in countries that have signed Hague Apostille Convention or the Apostille Treaty of 1961, of which there are 114 signatory countries. The certificate is attached to the original document to ensure that the latter is valid in these countries.
Any document Apostilled in one-member country like South Africa is acceptable in all the other 104 member countries thus greatly simplifying the process of attestation by making it needless to get the documents attested in each or for each of the countries separately.
What type of documents can we legalise:
- Home affairs certificates
- Any notary public documents
- Birth certificate
- Police clearance
- Death Certificate
- Letter of no impediment
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.
9 Frequently Asked Questions About Cape Town Apostille
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
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.
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.
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