Authentication of Official Documents

Legalising or authenticating documents means that official documents are affixed, sealed and signed either with an Apostille Certificate (where countries are party to The Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 - for a list of the countries click here), or with a Certificate of Authentication where countries are not party to the Hague Convention.

The Legalisation Section:

    * Legalises official public documents executed within South Africa for use outside the Republic of South Africa by means of an Apostille Certificate or a Certificate of Authentication.

    * Provides customers with guidelines to obtain the correct signatures/documents.

    * Provides customers with information by telephone, mail and e-mail.

    * South African Representatives abroad can legalise official documents only if these were legalised by the relevant Foreign Authority or the Legalisation Section at the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO).  South African Representatives cannot issue Apostille Certificates, only Certificates of Authentication.

Important Notes

    * Request the relevant foreign representative to advise you which signature they wish to have legalised.  As an example, some embassies may want to have the Department of Education to sign copies of educational qualifications and others may want the copies to be notarised by any lawyer who is registered as a notary and signed by the Registrar of the High Court before having the documents legalised.

    * The signature of a Commissioner of Oaths, Notary Public, Justice of the Peace or any court employee who is not a Registrar has to be legalised by a Magistrate, Additional Magistrate or Assistant Magistrate or by a Registrar or an Assistant Registrar of any division of the High Court of South Africa within the jurisdiction of which such Commissioner of Oaths or Justice of the Peace exercises his or her function or such Notary Public is in practice, before documents are submitted to the Legalisation Section for authentication.

    * If you need copies of documents to be legalised (i.e. passport, ID, work contract, etc.), these need to be notarised by a Notary Public (any lawyer who is registered as a notary), legalised by the Registrar of the High Court or Magistrate before submitting these to the DIRCO.  Copies of official documents signed by a member of the South African Police Service (SAPS) are not accepted. The Legalisation Section cannot legalise copies of documents, whether these are certified true copies or not.

    * Copies of divorce decrees need to be signed and stamped by the Registrar of the High Court/Divorce Court. (Copies must be obtained from the Court where the divorce was granted. The Registrar of that particular High Court must legalise the signature of the clerk who certified the copy).


Processes to follow

The document that must be legalised is determined by the customer. The Legalisation Section can issue the relevant Authentication or Apostille Certificate subject to the following rules:

    * The period of validity of the documents have not expired.

    * The customer needs to advise the Legalisation Section in which country the document will be used to allow the section to determine if an Apostille or Authentication Certificate is required.

    * Before the Legalisation Section can issue the relevant Authentication or Apostille Certificate, the document has to be legalised by:

      - A Magistrate, an additional Magistrate or Assistant Magistrate
      - A Registrar or an Assistant Registrar of the High Court of South Africa.

The following documents are not accepted:

- Abridged documents or computer printouts.

- Certified copies of marriage, birth, death or police clearance certificates.

- Certified copies of Certificates of Marital Status (no impediment) or Proof of Citizenship.

- Certified copies of travel documents or identity documents.

- Documents legalised by Commissioners of Oath to be true copies of the original, cannot be accepted and must follow the route of the Public notary.

The following documents need not be legalised by the Court as stipulated above, provided the documents were signed by the relevant authority as listed below:

A) Unabridged or full birth, marriage and/or death certificates and letters confirming an individual's citizenship status signed and stamped by the authorised Home Affairs employee.

B) Adoption papers signed and stamped by the Registrar for Adoptions at the Department of Justice.

C) Export documentation signed and stamped by the relevant Chamber of Commerce.

D) Educational certificates signed and stamped by the authorised employee at the Department of Education.

E) Police Clearance Certificates signed and stamped by the Criminal Record Centre of the South African Police Service (a Police Clearance certificate is only valid for three months).

F) Letter of No Impediment (Marital status letter) signed and stamped by the authorised Home Affairs employee.

G) Registration of a company signed and stamped by the Registrar for Close Corporations.

H) Medical Certificates stamped and signed by the authorised officials at the Health Professions Council.

I) Documents pertaining to the transportation of livestock, including pets, should be stamped and signed by an authorised State Veterinarian.