Any jurisdiction states that for the proper use of the company registration documents they have to be legalised or apostilised. Legalisation of documents means that the documents accepted in one jurisdiction gains a juridical power also in other jurisdictions.
Commonly we legalise the documents by affixing an Apostille on the Registration Card and the Articles of Association.
In case if your company is using “BBP Baltic” director services we recommend you to order an Apostille also on the Power of Attorney, because it is accustomed for banks to ask for an apostilised Power of Attorney.
What is an Apostille, apostilisation, legalisation?
After the acceptance of The Hague Convention in 1961 the procedure of document legalisation for the countries incorporated in The Hague Convention http://www.hcch.net has become considerably simplified – in these countries documents gain juridical power after the Consular Department of the Foreign Office has affixed an Apostille on them.
Apostille is acknowledged in all the countries incorporated in the Hague Convention as an affirmation of the document signature authenticity and, in proper cases, the authenticity of the seal or stamp with which a document is attested.
Apostille as it self is not a separate document. It is applicable only along with the main verifiable document to which the Apostille is sewed or glued on.
Apostille can be affixed both on originals and copies of the documents. Apostillised copies of constitutive documents have the force of originals and their acknowledgement is a must. In The Hague Convention acceding countries documents with an Apostille do not need any other form of attestation or legalisation.
According to The Hague Convention apostilisation can not be claimed in cases when the documents are formed in accordance to the “Provision of agreements and conventions related to legal protection and legal relations in domesticity, citizenship and criminal cases”.
Legalisation of documents is a complicated and time consuming process in situations when the company documents are meant to be used in a country not incorporated in The Hague Convention.
Legalisation of documents in these cases include: documents attestation by a certified notary and a visa from the Ministry of Justice verifying his authority, a visa from the Foreign Office and a visa from the Consular Office of the country where the document is meant to be used.
Legalisation of documents is needed in two cases:
- if the documents are meant to be used in a country which is not incorporated in The Hague Convention since 1961
- if the documents issuing country is not incorporated in The Hague Convention since 1961