The Hague Apostille is an international legalization regulated by the 1961 Hague Convention, held in The Hague, Netherlands. It simplifies the exchange of documents between the treaty’s signatory countries, which today number 125.
It is important to note that a Hague Apostille validates the authenticity of the previous signature on the document—usually that of the public official who issued it. Therefore, any document issued by an Argentine authority (for example, a birth certificate) must be apostilled in Argentina, either by the Notaries Association or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Similarly, if a foreign document with a Hague Apostille needs to be presented in Argentina, it must be apostilled in the country of origin by the authorized entity there.
As a general rule, to determine whether a document requires a Hague Apostille, know that if the document was issued in Argentina and will be presented to authorities in another country, it must be apostilled. If the document issued in Argentina will be used within Argentina or presented to an Argentine consulate abroad, an apostille is not required.
Hague Apostilles in Argentina are also issued in electronic PDF format with a digital signature, and the file embeds the document being legalized. To view the embedded document, the apostille must be opened using Adobe Acrobat Reader (not a standard PDF viewer) and the paperclip icon clicked. If there is a chain of legalizations (for example, in apostilled translations), this process can be repeated to view all linked documents.
We also offer an optional urgent apostille service for cases that require faster processing, as standard apostilles can take longer than other documents.
