On December 7th, 2022, Saudi Arabia officially joined the Apostille Convention, which will significantly simplify the process of document submissions for South Africans traveling to this country in the Middle East.
Since joining the Apostille Convention, contracting parties must waive the legalisation (authentication at DIRCO and attestation at the embassy) requirements for public documents issued by Saudi authorities and accept apostilles issued by Saudi Arabia’s designated competent authority.
What is the Apostille Convention?
The best and most accurate means to describe the Apostille Convention is to use its formal name: The Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 (Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents). As you might already know, if you plan on using legal documents outside of South Africa, you will have to get them “apostillised” in order to ensure their validity.
The Hague Convention, as it is known in short, replaced the “Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents”, which was a tedious way of having to confirm documents between countries (both countries had to sign two different confirmations in the past. Also known as the Convention de La Haye du 5 Octobre 1961, or the Apostille Treaty, the Apostille Convention is an international treaty created by the Hague Conference on Private International Law.
Basically, it defines how a document issued in any of the member countries (signatory countries) can be certified for use among all the other member countries. Thus, if South Africa and Saudi Arabia belong to the Apostille Convention, then an apostille is used to confirm the document between the two countries. Within South Africa, an apostille would be the equivalent of a notarisation by a notary public.
How documents were legalised before Saudi Arabia joined the Apostille Convention
If you plan on using official South African documents outside of the Republic of SA within a country that does not form part of the Hague Conference, your documents cannot be apostilled for validity and verification. You must still be able to prove that your documents are legitimate and have been legitimately signed by the correct authorities, which is why some additional steps may be required. Before Saudi Arabia joined the Apostille Convention, this multi-tiered authentication process was standard for document legalisation.
If you need documents certified and legalised for a non-apostille member country, you’ll need to take steps such as state verification or department of state verification if needed, and Embassy or Consulate legalisation. Depending on the type of document you need to have legalised, the origin of your document, and the country requesting your document, the process of legalisation may differ.
What documents need to be apostilled for use in Saudi Arabia?
When documents are to be used abroad in a country that is a member of the Hague Convention, they will have to be legalised using apostille. Apostilled documents can only be legally used in countries that form part of the Apostille Convention.
Before Saudi Arabia joined the Convention in 2022, there were only four other countries in the Middle East that formed part of the Convention. These included:
- Bahrain
- Morocco
- Oman
- Tunisia
Documents that have to be apostilled include:
- Department of Home Affairs documents (called Civic Services Documents) such as birth, death, and marriage certificates, as well as letters of no impediment to become married
- Academic documents such as degrees, diplomas, and matric certificates
- Police clearance certificates
- Medical reports (HPCSA and DIRCO)
- Educational documentation (SAQA and DIRCO)
- Notarised Power of Attorney (POA) forms
- Divorce orders (High Court apostille)
- Contracts and trade documents
Need assistance with an apostille for Saudi Arabia?
Although apostilles, authentications and notarisations are very similar, there are different processes involved in each legalisation route. In the end, all these legalisation routes are essentially some form of verification for South African documents that have to be legalised before they can be used inland or abroad. Although the fastest and most convenient option is to have your documents apostilled, these kinds of documents can only be used in some.
Apostil.co.za offers a fast and convenient apostille service for our clients that need assistance, both from within South Africa and for our clients living abroad. Get in touch with us today to learn more about our range of services and pricing.
