Types of Authentication

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RA Manager

2. • To have a notary public formally attest to an execution (signature) of a document.
• The notary public will sign and stamp the document with his seal after observing
the approved signature and verifying the identity of the person who signed the
document.
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3. • In case the country in which we are planning to use the document is a party to the
Hague Convention, we will need only an apostille, not legalization.
• An apostille indicates authentication of the notary's seal by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and is signified by attaching a certificate to the document.
• Unlike legalization, nothing further is needed after this.
• Kindly find mentioned below the list of EU, American, Middle East & Africa
countries that are members of the Apostille convention:
https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/status-table/?cid=41
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4. • Legalization refers to a chain of government authorities authenticating a legal document, so that a
foreign country's legal system will recognize the document as authentic, valid, and having legal effect.
• If the country in which we are planning to use the document is not a party to the Hague Convention,
we need to obtain legalization.
• The process involved is explained below:
We must have the document notarized, then have the Ministry of Foreign Affairs authenticate the
notary's signature, and then the embassy or consular authority in the country in which we plan to use
the document must verify the Ministry's authentication.
Some countries need an additional authentication from the Arab chamber of commerce (e.g. Kuwait).
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