The Hague Apostille Convention only applies if both the country where the public document was issued and the country where the public document is to be used are parties to the Convention. A comprehensive and updated list of the countries where the Apostille Convention applies, or will soon apply, is available in the Apostille Section of the Hague Conference website – look for the link entitled Status table of the Apostille Convention.
The Status table of the Apostille Convention has two parts: the first part lists countries that have joined the Apostille Convention and are also Members of the Hague Conference (i.e., the Organisation that developed the Convention); the second part lists countries that have joined the Apostille Convention but are not Members of the Hague Conference. In other words, a country does not need to be a Member of the Hague Conference to be a party to the Apostille Convention.
When checking the Status table of the Apostille Convention, always keep the following in mind:
- Check if both the country where the public document was issued and the country where the document is to be used are listed in either part of the Status table.
- It does not matter whether a country appears in the first or the second part of the Status table – the Convention applies equally to Members and non- Members of the Organisation.
- Check the date of entry into force of the Convention for both countries. Look for the column entitled ‘EIF’ – only after that date can the relevant country issue and receive Apostilles.
- There are different ways for a country to become a party to the Convention (ratification, accession, succession or continuation), but these differences have no impact on how the Convention operates in a country.
- If one of the countries has acceded to the Convention, check that the other country has not objected to that accession; to find out, see the column entitled ‘Type’ next to the acceding country’s name and check if there is a link entitled ‘A**’ – if so, click on it and check whether the other country is listed.
- Check whether the Convention applies to the entire territory of a country or only to parts of it; to find out, see if there is a link in the columns entitled ‘Ext’ and ‘Res/D/N’ – if so, click on it and read the relevant information.