What is the procedure to obtain an apostille?
To obtain an apostille for a document, it is necessary that the document be an original signed by a public person (such as a public notary). Copies of documents and/or documents not considered public deeds cannot be apostilled and will therefore be rejected by the apostille service.
The apostille is issued in France by the apostille services of the Courts of Appeal. The service will apostille the document to be used abroad by adding the apostille details as defined by the Hague Convention. To proceed with the apostille, the destination country of the document must be communicated to the apostille service. Without this information, the service will refuse to apply the apostille to the document.
Once the apostille is obtained, the apostilled document can be directly used abroad. Therefore, it is unnecessary to obtain an additional legalization from the diplomatic or consular representation of the destination state.
The Hague Convention does not set a time limit for the effects of an apostille. A validly issued apostille remains effective as long as it is identifiable and remains attached to the underlying public deed. Therefore, an apostille cannot be rejected solely due to its age. However, this does not prevent the authorities of the destination state from setting deadlines for the acceptance of the underlying public act under their national law (for example, requiring a criminal record to be issued within a certain time frame before it can be presented).
As part of its certifying mission (for signature certification, true copy certification, or capacity certification), your public notary can assist you with the steps required to obtain an apostille for documents on which they have applied his/her certification.
The notarial office Chassaint & Cerclé Notaires in Paris (France) assists individuals and professionals in the necessary steps to obtain an apostille for their documents. For more information, click here.
