Apostille is a certificate which verifies and confirms the seal and signature of person who authenticated the document. Not all countries can issue Apostille, but only the countries who has signed ‘Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents’ (“Apostille Convention”).
On 18 January 2021, Singapore deposited its instrument of accession to the Apostille Convention. To operationalise the Apostille Convention, the Apostille Act and Apostille (Certification of Singapore Public Documents) Regulations 2021 will come into effect on 16 September 2021. Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) will issue Apostilles for all Singapore documents bound overseas.
From 16 September 2021, SAL will affix Apostilles instead of its Authentication stickers for all notarised documents irrespective of which country the document is to be sued.
Singapore Notaries Public will continue to issue a Notarial Certificate, which will then be authenticated and/or legalised by SAL with the Apostille.
For all Singapore government-issued public documents directly legalised by SAL, an Apostille sticker will be affixed on the document or a copy of the document (in the case of a certified true copy).
Once an Apostille has been issued to a document, it can then be presented outside of Singapore in any member country of the Apostille Convention and will be accepted as a document containing legitimate legal signatures or seals.
If the document is to be used in a non-member country, not party to the Apostille Convention, the document will require further legalisation through the foreign embassy in Singapore, and should be presented to the consular section of the mission representing that country. In any event, you should check with the receiving party of the notarised document on his requirements.
