Schmidt & Schmidt offers you a quality apostille and legalization service for your public documents issued in Oceania in accordance with the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents and the procedures of consular legalization .
The apostille is a stamp of a rectangular shape. The heading "Apostille (Convention de la Haye du 5 octobre 1961)" written in French is a mandatory requirement for the apostille's validity. The Hague apostille confirms the authenticity of the signature, the position in which the signer has acted, and the authenticity of the seal or stamp with which the document is attested. Each apostille is registered and contains the issue date and a unique number. In each country the apostille is issued by competent authorities designated for each document type.
The apostille has to be obtained in the country that has issued your document. You can find the detailed information about the country-specific requirements for the apostillization in the country information sections.
Today the following countries and territories of Oceania are the members of the 1961 Apostille convention: Australia, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Marshall Islands, Niue, Cook Islands, Samoa, Guam, Palau, and Fiji.
When a country is not a member of the 1961 Apostille convention, its documents are subject to the procedure of consular legalization. This is a more complicated procedure compared to obtaining an apostille stamp. It includes certification at a corresponding ministry, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and lastly, at the consulate of the country of destination. Please, note: The document is only valid in the country whose consulate legalized it!
