List of Hague Apostille Convention Countries

The Hague Apostille Convention, formally the “Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents,” streamlines document authentication by replacing multi-step embassy legalisation with a single Apostille certificate issued by a Competent Authority in the document’s country of origin. When a Competent Authority within a member state issues an Apostille, no further authentication should be required – but that is not always the case (click in the country name below to find out any additional requirements).

List of Hague Apostille Member Countries

Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents

Entry into force: 24-01-1965

Last update: 21-08-2026

Number of Contracting Parties to this Convention: 130

This list covers both cases in which the Convention has, and cases in which the Convention has not yet, entered into force for that Party following the deposit of its instrument of ratification, accession, acceptance or approval. Countries like Jordan or Egypt and others have signed on as an HCCH members but have not adopted the Apostille Convention.

Click in the country name below to find out if there are any additional requirements

HCCH Member States Not Party to the Apostille Convention

As of June 2025, several member states of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) have not acceded to the 1961 Apostille Convention. Consequently, documents intended for use in these countries must undergo traditional consular legalisation processes.

The following HCCH member states have not adopted the Apostille Convention:

• Egypt
• Jordan
• Thailand
• Vietnam
• Malaysia
• Lebanon
• Iran

These countries require documents to be legalised through their respective embassies or consulates, as they do not accept apostilles.

Reasons for Non-Implementation

The reasons for not adopting the Apostille Convention vary among these countries and may include:

• Legal and Administrative Preferences: Some countries prefer to maintain their established consular legalisation processes, which they may view as more secure or aligned with their legal traditions.
• Sovereignty Concerns: There may be apprehensions about relinquishing control over the authentication of documents to a multilateral framework.
• Lack of Awareness or Priority: In some cases, the adoption of the Apostille Convention may not be a legislative or administrative priority.

How Does the Apostille Simplify Document Legalisation?

• Single-step authentication: One Apostille replaces multiple embassy and consular legalisations.
• Global recognition: Any document Apostilled in one member country is accepted in all others without additional authentication.
• Faster turnaround: Competent Authorities (e.g., the UK FCDO) attach Apostilles directly, reducing processing times.

Do Member Countries Ever Request Further Authentication?

Although the Convention mandates that no further authentication is required, some organisations occasionally ask for embassy attestation. In such cases, ask our expert team for clarification.

Official Resources

• HCCH Apostille Convention full text: Complete text of Convention No. 12 (1961)

• HCCH:  Hague Apostille Country Members

Need Embassy Attestation?

If you are asked for more than an Apostille on documents for a member country, please review the HCCH guidance or contact our Apostille team for current procedures, processing times, and any additional consular requirements.