AUTHENTICATION OF DOCUMENTS
Authentication of South African documents for use abroad.
Documents issued in one country and intended for use in another country must be “authenticated” or “legalised” in order to be recognised as valid in the foreign country.
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The legalisation procedure depends on one factor: whether the target country is a party to the Hague Convention. If the country is a party, the only legalisation required is an Apostille Certificate.
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A more complicated procedure is necessary when a country is not a signatory to the Hague Convention. This procedure requires authorisation from four different authorities in South Africa. The process to be followed is set out above right:
1. First, the notary in South Africa must authenticate the document;
2. The next step most commonly involves authentication of the notary’s signature by the Registrar of the High Court;
3. The Registrar’s signature must, in turn, be authenticated by an official from the Foreign Affairs Department;
4. The document is then transmitted to the foreign embassy in South Africa of the country in which it is intended for use;
5. That foreign embassy, in turn, sends it on to the relevant authority in the country that requires the document.
Examples of documents often authenticated are university degrees, passports and identity documents, birth certificates, and application forms for visas and immigration permits
Authentication of documents outside South Africa for use in South Africa.
For many different reasons, documents might need to be signed abroad, but ultimately used in South Africa. Common examples include powers of attorney authorising the purchase or sale of property in South Africa, or affidavits for court proceedings in South Africa.
Rule 63 of the Supreme Court Rules, and the Hague Convention, govern this area of the law.
If the foreign country in which the document will be signed is a party to the Hague Convention, then you need only find a Notary Public in that country (or other professional person with a similar qualification) who is able to arrange for the signature of an Apostille Certificate in respect of the document.
If the foreign country is not a party to the Hague Convention, but is one of the six countries listed below, then you only need a notarial authentication certificate from a Notary Public in that country in order for your document to be valid in South Africa.
- Lesotho
- Botswana
- Zimbabwe
- Swaziland
- Northern Ireland
- The United Kingdom
You can also have a document signed in any foreign country and authenticated by any diplomatic or consular official at the South African consulate in that country. This is also sufficient proof of the document’s validity in South Africa.
If all else fails, there may be alternative means to have a document authenticated for use in South Africa. These alternatives differ from country to country, and you need to approach a Notary Public (or other suitably qualified professional) to find out what the process is in that particular country.
