海牙认证很难懂？

Since the Hague Apostille Convention officially came into effect for China mainland on November 7, 2023, it has brought great facilitation of people's movement, commercial interactions, and cross-border litigation, among other aspects. However, there are people who are still confused about Hague Apostille legalization. Today, iReloChina will organize a series of Q&As about the Hague Apostille legalization to provide guidance for you.

自2023年11月7日《海牙公约》对中国大陆生效以来，海牙认证为各国人员流动、商贸往来与跨境诉讼等各方面带来了极大的便利，但仍有人对于海牙认证还存在困惑。今天，赞居整理了关于海牙认证的一系列攻略问答，为大家答疑解惑。

There is a big difference between them. Consular Legalization is the diplomatic and consular authorities to confirm the authenticity of the final signature and seal on the notarized or certified instrument. While Hague Legalization applies only to members of the Hague Apostille Convention, which is much simpler. The core objective is for countries to abandon the requirement for consular legalization, and instead, public documents from the source country's authorities issue an Apostille certificate, to validate the identity, signature, and authenticity of the seal of the signatory of the document.

这两者区别很大。领事认证是外交、领事机构确认公证或证明文书上最后签字、印章属实。而海牙认证仅适用于海牙公约成员国，流程更简单，核心目标为各国放弃领事认证要求，由文书来源国主管机关签发附加证明书，以证明文书签署人履职行为的身份、签字和印鉴的真实性。

When there is a demand for cross-border movement of public documents, the source country handles the documents - The Notary Office or other authorities of the source country confirm the authenticity of the document content - After the source country's authorities verify the authenticity of the signature and seal, they issue an Apostille certificate - The destination country uses the public documents.

有公文书跨境流动需求时，源头国办理公文书——由源头国公证处或其他机关证实文书内容属实——源头国主管机关认证签字和印鉴属实后签发附加证明书——目的国采用公文书。

Not all documents are eligible for Hague certification. Generally, “public documents” include those documents emanating from an authority or official connected with the courts or tribunals of the contracting state, such as from a public prosecutor or a court clerk, administrative documents, notarial acts, and official certificates placed on documents signed by persons in their private capacity. For example, an official certificate of a company registration document can be considered as a public document under the Convention. Documents that are illegal or of unknown origin cannot be legalized.

并不是所有文件都能做海牙认证。一般来说，“公文书”包括由缔约国法院或法庭相关机关或官员出具的文书，如检察官或法院书记员，行政文书、公证文书以及对以私人身份签署的文件的官方证明。不具法律效力或来源不明的文件，是无法认证的。

The Apostille certificate is the core content, the certification procedure under the Hague Apostille Convention simplifies the process. After a public document is affixed with an Apostille certificate, it does not require any additional legalization procedures and can freely circulate among the contracting states of the convention. According to the Apostille Convention, each contracting state needs to designate an authority to issue the certificate.

附加证明书是《海牙取消认证公约》的核心内容，公文书加贴附加证明书后，无需其他认证手续，即可在公约缔约国之间自由流转。根据《海牙认证公约》，各缔约国需要指派机构签发附加证明书。

The Apostille certificate generally contains ten elements, the first four of which are document-related information, and the last six are verification information.

附加证明书一般含10个要素，前4项为文书相关信息，后6项为证明信息。

Hague legalization has no fixed validity period, but the certified documents may have. For example, the certificate of no criminal record, the validity period is generally 6 months. So, even if you have had Hague Legalization, when using the documents, it’s necessary to ensure the validity of the document. If the document expires, you will have to apply again.

海牙认证本身无固定有效期，但认证的文件可能有。比如无犯罪记录证明，有效期一般是6个月。所以，即便做了海牙认证，使用时也要保证文件在有效期内，过期了就得重办。

List of Contracting countries to the Hague Convention

《海牙公约》缔约国名单

Asia (23 countries): China, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Georgia, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Tajikistan, Turkey, Uzbekistan，Bangladesh

亚洲（23个）：中国、亚美尼亚、阿塞拜疆、巴林、文莱、格鲁吉亚、印度、印尼、以色列、日本、哈萨克斯坦、吉尔吉斯斯坦、蒙古国、阿曼、巴基斯坦、菲律宾、韩国、沙特、新加坡、塔吉克斯坦、土耳其、乌兹别克斯坦、孟加拉国

Africa (16 countries): Botswana, Burundi, Cape Verde, Eswatini, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, South Africa, Tunisia

非洲（16个）：博茨瓦纳、布隆迪、佛得角、斯威士兰、莱索托、利比里亚、马拉维、毛里求斯、摩洛哥、纳米比亚、卢旺达、圣多美和普林西比、塞内加尔、塞舌尔、南非、突尼斯

Europe (44 countries): Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Moldova, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom

欧洲（44个）：阿尔巴尼亚、安道尔、奥地利、白俄罗斯、比利时、波黑、保加利亚、克罗地亚、塞浦路斯、捷克、丹麦、爱沙尼亚、芬兰、法国、德国、希腊、匈牙利、冰岛、爱尔兰、意大利、拉脱维亚、列支敦士登、立陶宛、卢森堡、马耳他、摩纳哥、黑山、荷兰、北马其顿、挪威、波兰、葡萄牙、摩尔多瓦、罗马尼亚、俄罗斯、圣马力诺、塞尔维亚、斯洛伐克、斯洛文尼亚、西班牙、瑞典、瑞士、乌克兰、英国

North America (21 countries): Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, United States

北美洲（21个）：安提瓜和巴布达、巴哈马、巴巴多斯、伯利兹、加拿大、哥斯达黎加、多米尼克、多米尼加、萨尔瓦多、格林纳达、危地马拉、洪都拉斯、牙买加、墨西哥、尼加拉瓜、巴拿马、圣基茨和尼维斯、圣卢西亚、圣文森特和格林纳丁斯、特立尼达和多巴哥、美国

South America (12 countries): Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela

南美洲（12个）：阿根廷、玻利维亚、巴西、智利、哥伦比亚、厄瓜多尔、圭亚那、巴拉圭、秘鲁、苏里南、乌拉圭、委内瑞拉

Oceania (10 countries): Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji, Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu

大洋洲（10个）：澳大利亚、库克群岛、斐济、马绍尔群岛、新西兰、纽埃、帕劳、萨摩亚、汤加、瓦努阿图