Apostille

Pursuant to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (concluded at The Hague on 5 October 1961 under the auspices of the Hague Conference on Private International Law), the apostille consists in a formality by which the authenticity of public documents executed in the territory of a Contracting State and to be produced in the territory of another Contracting State of the said Convention is certified, thus conferring the documents a formal probative value.

The apostille is intended to legalise documents issued by by ministries, courts, registry offices and notaries, public schools, city councils and parish councils.

The central authority/competent to issue/confirm apostilles is the Prosecutor General of the Republic [article 2(1) of Decree-Law No. 86/2009 of 3 April 2009]. Upon delegation this competence may be granted to the District Deputy Prosecutor General of Porto, Coimbra, Évora and to the public prosecutors who lead the County District Prosecutors’ Offices of Madeira (seat in Funchal) and Açores (seat in Ponta Delgada).

According to the law (article 1 of Decree-Law No. 86/2009 of 3 April 2009): 

— the apostille issuing/confirmation costs one tenth of an account unit (AU): €10.20.

— the apostille is free of charge for those persons who demonstrate their financial hardship by producing a document issued by the competent administrative authority or by way of a Statement issued by a public social welfare institution.

 

WARNING (PROSECUTOR GENERAL’S OFFICE SERVICES):

As a rule, apostilles are issued/verified at once, by order of users’ arrival (no booking allowed).

The following cases are exceptions thereto:

― Requests involving the issuing/verification of 5 or more apostilles

― Requests entered after 04:00 p.m.

― Unavailability of the facsimile signatures requiring apostille

  • Faqs

    • What is the apostille?

      It is a certification of authenticity of public documents: a formality by which a competent authority of the Portuguese State recognises and certifies the signature and the capacity in which the person signing the document has acted and, where appropriate, the identity of the seal or stamp

    • What is the purpose?

      The apostille is intended to certify the authenticity of public documents in the contracting/acceding countries of the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (concluded at The Hague on 5 October 1961 under the auspices of the Hague Conference on Private International Law), thus ensuring full acceptance of the concerned documents in the contracting/acceding countries. 

    • To which documents does it apply?

      1. The apostille applies to public documents executed in the territory of a State Party to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, concluded at The Hague on 5 October 1961, and which are to be produced in the territory of another Contracting State to the said Convention.

      Are deemed to be public documents the documents listed in article 1(a), (b), (c), (d) of the Convention. This definition applies to documents executed by the following public services:

      • Town councils
      • Notaries
      • Civil registry offices
      • Public schools
      • Parish councils
      • Ministries
      • ​Courts 

      2. The apostile may also certify documents executed by private schools, provided the following formalities are complied with:

      • Documents executed by private pre-school, primary and secondary teaching establishments must be first certified by the Direção-Geral dos Estabelecimentos Escolares (Praça de Alvalade, n.º 12, Lisboa; Telefone: 21 8433900; http://www.dgeste.mec.pt/);
      • Documents executed by private higher education establishments must be first certified by the Direção-Geral do Ensino Superior (Av. Duque D’Ávila, n.º 137, Lisboa; Telefone: 21 3126000; http://www.dges.mctes.pt/DGES/pt).

      3. Recognizing/certifying/authenticating documents drawn up by lawyers and solicitors (cases in which a copy of the corresponding professional licence must be enclosed thereto),or executed by parish councils, by commerce and industry chambers and by the Portuguese postal service may also be apostilled (article 1 of Decree-Law No. 28/2000 of 13 March 2000); articles 5, 6 of Decree-Law No. 237/2001 of 30 August 2001; article 38 of Decree-Law No. 76-A/2006 of 29 March 2006).

    • Which documents are not covered?

      The apostille does not apply (article 1 of the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents):

      • to documents executed by diplomatic or consular agents;
      • to administrative documents dealing directly with comercial or customs operations.
    • Which countries accept apostilled documents?
      • The countries that have ratified the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents concluded at The Hague on 5 October 1961 under the auspices of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, or the countries that have acceded thereto
      • The list of these countries is available at the Hague Conference website.