Apostilling of an official Government document
In a South African context, apostilling of a government issued document means that the authenticity of the signatory and his / her capacity to sign the document has been verified and authenticated. This means that the content is not necessarily authenticated.
Most South African government issued documents can be apostilled by the legal department of the ministry from which the document originates. This could be The Ministry of Police, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Social Services, ministry of Foreign Affairs etc. There are guidelines and procedures to be followed for apostilling of a document issued by the legal arm of a South African ministry.
The following documents are regularly requested to be apostilled:
- Residence Permits
- Foreign Work Permits
- Birth Certificates
- Marriage certificates
- Death Certificates
- Police clearance certificates
- Original adoption papers
- Confirmation letters issued by the Department of Transport validating an applicant’s drivers licence
- Letters of no impediment
Before requesting that a document be issued and apostilled by a South African ministry, the applicant must establish the exact requirement necessitating the apostilled document as he may find that apostilling the document may not be required.
As part of the application to apostille a document, applicants are required to confirm reasons for the request to apostille a document and what the apostilled document is to be used for.
Expired documents will not be apostilled and a new original, valid document/certificate and apostilling application will have to be sought.