The Hague Apostille Convention — formally the Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (HCCH Convention No. 12) — is the international treaty that created the modern apostille. Before the treaty, sending a U.S. birth certificate, marriage record, or business document abroad required a slow chain of authentications by the Secretary of State, the U.S. State Department, and the destination country’s embassy or consulate. The Convention replaced that chain with a single one-page certificate.
How the Convention Works
Each member country designates one or more competent authorities to issue apostilles. In the United States, that’s a Secretary of State for state-issued documents and the U.S. Department of State for federal documents. Once an apostille is attached, the document is automatically accepted by every other member country — no embassy or consulate involvement is needed.
How Many Countries Are Members?
As of April 2026, 127 countries currently accept a U.S. apostille under the Convention, including:
- All of the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland
- Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and most of Latin America
- Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand
- India, Indonesia (since 2022), the Philippines
- China — joined in November 2023
- Canada — joined in January 2024
- Saudi Arabia (since 2022), Pakistan, Bangladesh, Rwanda, Senegal
Two more countries are joining mid-2026: Algeria (effective July 9, 2026) and Vietnam (effective September 11, 2026).
What If My Country Isn’t a Member?
If your destination country is not a Convention member — for example, the United Arab Emirates before 2024, Iraq, Cambodia, or most Gulf states today — you’ll need consular legalization instead, which is the original embassy-by-embassy authentication chain.
Common U.S. Documents Apostilled Under the Convention
- Birth certificates — for dual citizenship and immigration
- Marriage certificates — for spouse visas and name changes abroad
- Death certificates — for foreign probate and estate matters
- Divorce certificates — for remarriage abroad and immigration
- FBI background checks (federal — apostilled by the U.S. Department of State)
- Diplomas, transcripts, single-status affidavits, powers of attorney, and corporate documents
Where to Read the Official Treaty Text
The Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) publishes the official Convention text and the live status table of member countries at hcch.net.