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If you need to obtain a country's certification of a document that was issued in another country, it is required to get legalization for the document from the country. In general, the country where the issued document is supposed to be used confirms the reliability of the document by the country's foreign diplomatic office's consular certificate.
Apostille was introduced to solve the inconvenience that is encountered in terms of time and cost in the abovementioned process. Under the apostille convention, the relevant authorities of the country where a document was issued certify the document, and the apostille member countries legalize the document so that it can be used directly in their territories.
In case of Korea, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Ministry of Justice are designated to have the authorities over apostille.
The abovementioned authorities issue the certification of apostille with official seal or signature affixed under the apostille convention. The documents of Korea confirmed under the apostille convention are made effective in the apostille member countries without the consular certificate of any foreign diplomatic office resident in Korea.
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Official Title of Apostille Convention |
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Convention Abolishing the Requirement of the Legalization for Foreign Public Document: |
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Effective Date of Apostille : Oct. 5, 1961 when the Hague Apostille Convention was drawn |
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| Continent |
Country / Region |
| Asia, Oceania (16) |
South Korea, China (Macau, Hong Kong), Japan, Australia, New Zealand, India,
Mongolia, Brunei, Cook Islands, Fiji, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Vanuatu, Samoa Tonga, Niue, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan
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| Europe (51) |
UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey,
Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Poland, Netherlands, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Albania, Belarus,
Belgium, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia,
Cyprus, Georgia, Malta, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg,
Monaco, Montenegro, Macedonia, Andorra, Armenia, Moldova, Liechtenstein
and San Marino
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| North America (1) |
USA
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Central and South
America (24) |
Argentina, Mexico, Panama, Suriname, Venezuela, Antigua and Barbuda,
Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Colombia, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador,
El Salvador, Granada, Honduras, Saint Vincent, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago,
Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Costa Rica, Uruguay and Nicaragua
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| Africa (10) |
South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Liberia, Namibia, Sao Tome and Principe,
Swaziland, Malawi, Cape Verde and Seychelles
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| Middle East (3) |
Bahrain, Oman and Israel
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| Continent |
Country / Region |
| Asia |
Mainland China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, Myanmar,
Bangladesh, Uzbekistan and Pakistan
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| Europe |
Greece and Hungary
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Central and South
America
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Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Guatemala, Bolivia and Costa Rica
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| Middle East |
Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and Qatar
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Apostille Procedure for Non-Member Countries: |
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Apostille Procedure for Member Countries: |
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Apostille-Issuable Domestic Documents |
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¡Ú Public Documents : Documents issued by government authorities (including local governments and
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educational institutions) |
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Ex : Judgment of Court, Certified Copy of Register, Certificate of Tax Payment,
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Business License, Construction Permit, Drug Permit, Certificate of Patent, Certificate of Family Relation, Certificate of Graduation/Certificate of School Record issued by National University, Medical Certificate Issued by National Hospital and etc. |
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¡Ú Private Documents : Documents notarized by a law firm or a notary office
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Ex : All the documents issued by non-government sector including Documents
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Drawn or Issued by Person or Company (Contract Form, Investment Letter, Rental Agreement and etc.) Certificate of Graduation/Certificate of School Record issued by Private School, Medical Certificate Issued by Private Hospital. |
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Domestic Apostille Procedure |
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¡Ø For domestic apostille, a company customer needs to submit a copy of the business license and
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a copy of the CEO's ID card, while an individual customer needs a copy of his/her ID card or driver's license. |
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