Apostille / Document Legalisation by Country

Every long-stay visa, citizenship application, and cross-border marriage / inheritance / property transaction requires civil documents (birth, marriage, death, criminal record, diplomas) to be authenticated for use abroad. For Hague Apostille Convention parties, a single apostille is enough. For non-parties, the older "full legalisation" chain (notary → home foreign ministry → destination embassy) still applies. This reference table covers 30 origin countries.

Last reviewed: 2026-04-26. Verify with the issuing authority before commencing — fees and turnaround change frequently.

Country	Hague party	Issuing authority	Fee	Turnaround
Argentina	Hague (1988)	Colegio de Escribanos (Notary College) for notarial documents; Ministry of Foreign Affairs for civil documents https://www.cancilleria.gob.ar/	ARS-equivalent ~$15-30 per document	Same day at Buenos Aires Colegio de Escribanos.
Australia	Hague (1995)	Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) — Smartraveller / Legalisations https://www.dfat.gov.au/about-us/our-services/notarial-services-australia DFAT offices in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide. Birth/marriage/death certificates from state registries are accepted directly.	AUD 90 per document	In-person: same day. Mail: 7-14 working days.
Bangladesh	Non-Hague (full legalisation)	Ministry of Foreign Affairs https://mofa.gov.bd/ Bangladesh is NOT a Hague Apostille Convention signatory. Full embassy legalisation chain required.	BDT 200-500 per document	1-3 weeks.
Brazil	Hague (2016)	Tabelião (notary) authorised by the National Council of Justice (CNJ) https://www.cnj.jus.br/poder-judiciario/relacoes-internacionais/apostila-da-haia/ Any authorised notary in Brazil can issue an apostille — no need to send to Brasília. Document checks against CNJ central registry.	BRL 100-200 per document	Same day to 1 week.
Canada	Hague (2024-01-11)	Global Affairs Canada (federal documents, post-2024) + provincial Official Document Services (provincial documents). https://www.international.gc.ca/gac-amc/about-a_propos/services/authentication-authentification.aspx Canada joined the Hague Apostille Convention only in January 2024. Documents apostilled before 11 January 2024 still required full embassy legalisation; post-2024 documents need only an apostille.	CAD 60 per document (federal); provincial fees vary	Mail: 4-8 weeks. Walk-in: limited availability post-2024 transition.
China	Hague (2023-11-07)	Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and authorised Foreign Affairs Offices of provincial governments https://english.www.gov.cn/ China joined the Hague Apostille Convention only in November 2023. Documents apostilled before 7 November 2023 still required full consular legalisation; post-2023 documents need only an apostille.	CNY 50-100 per document	Standard: 1-2 weeks.
France	Hague (1965)	Cour d'appel of the issuing region (since 2025 reform; previously the Bureau des légalisations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/services-aux-francais/legalisation-et-notariat/ Major 2025 reform decentralised apostille processing to regional Courts of Appeal, materially reducing turnaround. French civil-status extracts (extrait avec filiation) often serve in EU countries without translation.	Free — apostille is no-charge in France	Postal: 1-3 weeks. Walk-in: same day at Cour d'appel.
Germany	Hague (1965)	Issuing-Land authority (varies by document type and state); for federal documents, Bundesverwaltungsamt. https://www.bva.bund.de/EN/Services/Citizens/Identification-Documents/Hague-Convention/hague_node.html German civil documents are often issued bilingually (German + multilingual extracts) eliminating translation requirements in many EU jurisdictions.	€10–€30 per document	Mail: 2-6 weeks. Walk-in availability varies by Land.
Greece	Hague (1985)	Decentralised Administration of the issuing region (Apokentromeni Dioikisi); Ministry of Foreign Affairs for some documents https://www.mfa.gr/en/	€10 per document	1-3 weeks.
Hong Kong	Hague (1965)	High Court Registrar https://www.judiciary.hk/en/	HKD 145 per document	Same day at HK High Court Registry.
India	Hague (2005)	Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) via designated outsourced centres (BLS International) https://www.mea.gov.in/apostille.htm Documents must first be attested by the issuing-state Home Department (state-level) or HRD (educational documents) before MEA apostille.	INR 50 per document + service charge	Standard: 2-4 weeks. Tatkal (priority): 1 week.
Ireland	Hague (1999)	Department of Foreign Affairs Consular Section https://www.ireland.ie/en/dfa/overseas-travel/authenticating/	€40 per document	Postal: 10-15 working days. Walk-in: same day at Dublin office.
Israel	Hague (1978)	Magistrate's Court (court documents); Ministry of Foreign Affairs (administrative) https://www.gov.il/en/departments/ministry_of_foreign_affairs	ILS 35 per document (~$10)	Same day at Tel Aviv / Jerusalem Magistrate's Court.
Italy	Hague (1978)	Procura della Repubblica of the issuing region for court / civil documents; Prefettura for administrative documents https://www.esteri.it/ Italian apostille processing was historically slow but significantly improved post-2023 digitalisation in major cities (Rome, Milan, Naples).	€16 per document (marca da bollo)	1-4 weeks depending on Procura backlog.
Japan	Hague (1970)	Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) https://www.mofa.go.jp/ca/cs/page22e_000416.html	Free (no charge)	Postal: 4-7 working days. Walk-in (Tokyo): same day.
Mexico	Hague (1995)	Secretaría de Gobierno of the issuing Mexican state (state-level) https://www.gob.mx/sre Mexico City CDMX processes apostilles same-day. Federal documents go through Secretaría de Gobernación.	MXN 200-600 per document (~$10-30)	Same day to 2 weeks depending on state.
Netherlands	Hague (1965)	Court (Rechtbank) of the relevant district https://www.rechtspraak.nl/	€26 per document	Walk-in: same day. Postal: 1-2 weeks.
Pakistan	Non-Hague (full legalisation)	Ministry of Foreign Affairs / consular sections — full embassy legalisation chain required. https://mofa.gov.pk/ Pakistan is NOT a Hague Apostille Convention signatory. Full chain: notary → provincial Home Department → MFA → destination embassy.	PKR 500-2,000 per document	2-4 weeks.
Portugal	Hague (1969)	Procuradoria-Geral da República (PGR) https://www.pgr.pt/ Portugal accepts e-apostilles (digital apostilles) for documents accepted by the destination country.	€10 per document	Postal: 3-6 weeks. In-person: same week.
Russia	Hague (1992)	Ministry of Justice (court documents); Ministry of Education (educational documents); ZAGS for civil-registry documents. https://minjust.gov.ru/ Many EU jurisdictions have suspended recognition of Russian apostilles post-2022 for some document categories. Verify with destination country.	RUB 2,500-7,500 per document (~$25-80)	Postal: 1-3 weeks.
Saudi Arabia	Hague (2023-12-07)	Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) https://www.mofa.gov.sa/ Saudi Arabia joined the Hague Apostille Convention only in December 2023. Pre-2023 documents may still require traditional legalisation chain.	SAR 30-60 per document	1-2 weeks.
Singapore	Hague (2021)	Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) — authorised apostille issuer https://www.sal.org.sg/Resources/Apostilles Singapore offers a fully online apostille service via SAL e-Apostille portal — among the most modern in the world.	SGD 75 per document	Online: 1-2 working days.
South Africa	Hague (1995)	Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) and High Court for some legal documents https://www.dirco.gov.za/	ZAR 200-300 per document	Postal: 4-8 weeks. Walk-in (Pretoria): same day.
South Korea	Hague (2007)	Ministry of Foreign Affairs https://www.0404.go.kr/	KRW 1,000 per document (~$1)	Same day at Seoul MOFA office.
Spain	Hague (1978)	Notaries (notarial documents); Tribunal Superior de Justicia (court documents); Ministerio de Justicia (registry / civil documents). https://www.mjusticia.gob.es/	Free for civil-registry documents; €11 for some court documents	1-2 weeks postal; same day in many Spanish provincial capitals.
Thailand	Non-Hague (full legalisation)	Department of Consular Affairs (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) — full embassy legalisation chain still required. https://www.mfa.go.th/ Thailand is NOT a Hague Apostille Convention signatory. Documents for use in Thailand from non-Hague countries need a full chain of authentication: notarisation → State Department → Thai Embassy.	THB 200-1,000 per document	Standard: 1-2 weeks. Express: 1-2 days at additional cost.
Turkey	Hague (1985)	Governor's Office (Valilik) of the issuing province https://www.icisleri.gov.tr/	TRY 200-500 per document	Same day in most provinces.
UAE	Hague (2025-01-31)	Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFAIC) https://www.mofaic.gov.ae/ UAE acceded to the Hague Apostille Convention effective January 2025 — major workflow simplification for cross-border document use. Pre-2025 documents may still require legalisation under the old chain.	AED 150 per document	Same day at MoFAIC offices.
United Kingdom	Hague (1965)	Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) — Legalisation Office https://www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised All documents must be solicitor-notarised first if not government-issued. UK General Register Office certificates can be apostilled directly.	£35 standard; £75 premium	Standard postal: 7-15 working days. Premium walk-in (London): same day. Online: 5-10 working days.
United States	Hague (1981)	Secretary of State of the issuing US state for state-issued documents (birth, marriage, court). US Department of State for federal documents (FBI background check, IRS letters). https://www.state.gov/authentication-of-documents/ FBI Identity History Summary requests via channeller (e.g. Accurate Biometrics) typically apostilled by US Department of State within 2-6 weeks.	$8–$30 per state document; $20 federal	Mail: 4-12 weeks. Walk-in / expedited services in DC and several state capitals: same day to 1 week.

How to read this

Hague party means the country is a contracting party to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention. For documents going from one party to another, a single apostille certificate from the issuing authority is the only authentication required — no embassy involvement.
Non-Hague countriesrequire the older "full chain" legalisation: notary → home country foreign ministry → destination country embassy / consulate. This typically adds 2-4 weeks and 2x cost.
Translations are a separate step. Most destinations require the apostilled document to be translated by a sworn / certified translator (perito traductor in Latin America, traducteur assermenté in France, traduttore giurato in Italy, etc.). Translation usually happens after apostille and may require its own apostille.
Recent additions to the Hague Convention are transformative: Canada (Jan 2024), China (Nov 2023), UAE (Jan 2025), Saudi Arabia (Dec 2023). For these countries, documents from the pre-accession period may still require the full legalisation chain even today.
Notable non-parties: Thailand, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt (re-acceded in 2024), Algeria, Tunisia, and most Sub-Saharan African countries except South Africa, Mauritius, Botswana, Namibia, and a few others.