Hague Convention or Apostille Convention – Signatory Countries

The Convention of October 5, 1961 was signed in the city of Hague, Netherlands, and entered into force on January 24, 1965. The agreement established by the Hague Conference on Private International Law determines the modalities in which a document issued or authenticated by public authorities can be certified to obtain legal value in other signatory states.

It currently has 91 members (90 States and the European Union) representing most regions of the world, with an increasing number of countries that are still not members, but have signed or become Contracting Parties to the HCCH Conventions (Hague Conference on Private International Law), an intergovernmental organization whose objective is the progressive unification of the normative rules of Private International Law, currently existing in more than 100 countries around the world:

Such certification carried out within the scope of this convention is called an Apostille, which consists of facilitating commercial and legal transactions, consolidating in a single certificate all the information necessary to validate a public document (or private document issued by certain entities) in another signatory country.

The Apostille is only valid among countries that are signatories to the Convention. Therefore, if the country where the document needs to be used is not part of the Convention, consular legalization will be necessary.

Over time, the Convention became a center for international legal and administrative cooperation in the area of private law, working towards progressive unification, trying to find internationally recognized consensus on issues such as the international jurisdiction of courts, applicable law, recognition and the enforcement of judgments in numerous matters, from commercial law to international civil procedure, in addition to the protection of children and young people and matrimonial law issues.

We have all certainly heard of an Apostille or Apostilled Document.

This is a certification of the authenticity of a public act (referring to certificates, judicial documents or any other document issued by a public authority) or private, as long as it is issued by an entity whose suitability can be certified, attached by an authority of a country which allows the foreign country to know that the document has been certified and ratified by a reputable entity, renouncing part of its usual procedures for verifying that same document, in order to simplify and validate documentation in foreign countries that are members of the Hague Convention Treaty of 1961.

Citizens must provide the Apostille if they need to present a document authenticated in another country, other than the one in which the same document was issued.

To obtain the apostille of a document issued in Portugal, you must contact the Apostille Office in your area of residence, which you can find at https://www.ministeriopublico.pt/perguntas-frequentes/servico-apostilas , according to the type of document you wish to apostille. The Apostille is issued with the document, pasted or attached. It costs €10.20 and can be requested in person, or by post addressed to the competent Apostille service.

Carla Pereira

Communication Department

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