Apostille - Legalization stamp on Police clearance Certificate
sample of apostille sticker done by Georgian authorities.
Notice: every country has its individual style and design apostille/legalization sticker.
The Apostille/legalization stamp is an official government issued certificate added to documents (certificate, also POWER OF ATTORNEY or any official doc issued by government), so they will be recognised when presented in another country. Typically the Apostille Certificate is issued by the state from which the document originates although in some cases another state can issue the Apostille/legalization.
By legal nature apostille and legalization stamp/sticker are same , just difference is that in some countries local authorities asking and requesting apostille to recognize document's legal power, and in some countries used Legalization.
To summarize both - apostille and legalization are used to give locally prepared document international legal power. for example: PCC certificate done in Georgia will have Legal power in every country if it will be apostilled or legalized. In some countries there is no obligation to represent apostilled document and notarized stamp is enough with translation.
Why you need apostille or legalization
of certificate?
Country list of Apostille:
Listed below are the countries that are participants of the Apostille Convention (Hague Treaty Convention 12) and the convention is in force with the United States of America.
Official documents issued in Georgia to be presented in a foreign country require apostille certification or legalization, however, in the case of countries that are parties to the Minsk Convention, it is possible for the document to be presented to the relevant state without certification.
In which countries the documents you submit do not need an apostille and legalization?
In accordance with the 1993 Minsk Convention on Legal Aid and Legal Relations in Civil, Family and Criminal Matters, a document does not need to be apostilled or legalized if it is to be presented in the following countries:
Azerbaijan;
Belarus;
Turkmenistan;
Moldova;
Russia;
Armenia;
Tajikistan;
Uzbekistan;
Ukraine;
Kazakhstan;
Kyrgyzstan;
Georgia.
