Apostille
A stamp of a single international form confirming the authenticity of the signature, the seal and the office shown on a public document for use in another country.
The apostille is a stamp laid down by the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961. It confirms three things: that the signature on the document is genuine, that the signatory holds the office stated, and that the seal matches the specimen. It does not translate the document and says nothing about its contents.
In Russia there is no single apostille office: the stamp is affixed by the authority that issued the document or is responsible for that category — the regional civil registry, the education authority, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the territorial body of the Ministry of Justice or the archives.
Related terms
Legalisation of documents
The general name for the procedures that make a Russian document usable abroad: an apostille, consular legalisation, or nothing at all under a treaty.
OpenHague Convention
The Convention of 5 October 1961 abolishing the requirement of legalisation for foreign public documents between contracting states and introducing the apostille.
OpenCompetent authority
The body authorised to affix an apostille to a given category of Russian documents — a different one for each type of document.
OpenFederal Law No. 330-FZ on affixing apostilles
The law of 28 November 2015 setting out how apostilles are affixed to Russian public documents intended for use abroad.
OpenConsular legalisation
The chain of notary, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the destination country's consulate, in place of a single apostille.
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