Apostille explanations
If I get the apostille procedure right it will mean a bundle of savings for those seeking to study and get married in the DR. Anyone familiar with this procedure can share any insights of what it will mean to simplifying docs for those in the DR and those having to certify foreign docs for bringing here? Please share your experience or knowledge. This is what we know so far:
Savings for legalizing documents
The Ministry of Foreign Relations announced the start of the implementation of the “Apostille” requirement for many public documents.
The Convention provides for the simplified certification of public (including notarized) documents to be used in countries that have joined the convention.
This includes the certifying of an education degree, birth or marriage certificate, that are issued in the DR and are to be used abroad. The good news is that documents issued by states that are signatory of the apostille convention will not have to be legalized before the Dominican consulates abroad nor the Legalization Section of the Dominican Republic for use in the DR.
In the DR, the apostille takes the form of a 9 centimeter slip that is placed on the document by a designated government office. With an apostille, along with a translation, a document from the DR will be recognized in the United States, and a US document will be recognized in the DR.
The Ministry of Foreign Relations explains that documents issued by diplomatic or consular agents, administrative documents relative to a business or customs transaction, and those that will be used in countries that are not signatories of the Apostille convention will be legalized with the apostille procedure.
The apostille will contain the following information:
1. Country where the document came from
2. Name of the authority signing the public document
3. Acting as
4. Details of the stamp used by the institution issuing the document
5. Name of the city where the document was certified
6. Name of the authority that certified the document
7. Name of the order and date of the apostille
8. Signature of the officer who authorized the apostille
9. Duties
The apostille procedure was created by an international agreement called the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalization of Foreign Public Documents. The agreement dates back to 1961, and is being implemented in the DR as of 30 August 2009.
Despite the complicated title, the agreement is relatively easy to understand: it says that if two countries have signed the agreement, as have the DR and the United States (for example), each country will recognize the other’s public documents if an apostille – and a translation, where appropriate – have been attached.
The fee for the document in the DR is RD$620. The Ministry of Foreign Relations indicates that to obtain the apostille, the procedure is the following:
1. Documents issued by government institutions and education documents need to be legalized by their respective institutions.
2. Documents authenticated by notary public need the legalization by the Prosecutor General Office (Procuraduria General de la Republica).
For Dominican documents that are to be used in country's signatory of Apostille agreement, the apostille-issuing office is the Dominican Ministry of Foreign Relations (Legalizations Section of the Consular Department).
For US documents, for instance, to be used in the DR, there is an apostille-issuing office for each US state and territory.
Countries for which the apostille is in effect are:
Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Cabo Verde, China (Hong Kong), China (Macao), Cyprus, Colombia, Cook Islands, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, Macedonia, Russia, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Great Britain and North Ireland, Grenada, Greece, Honduras, Hungary, India, Ireland, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazajstan, Lesotho, Lethonia, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Namibia, New Zealand, Niue, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, St. Kitts and Nevis, Samoa, San Marino, St. Vicent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Sao Tome and Principe, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Surinam, Swaziland, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Ukraine, USA, Vanuatu, and Venezuela.
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