Process of Apostille, Apostille of qualifications, Authentication
Any document issued by the Department of Home Affairs or SAPS will receive an APOSTILLE from the DIRCO offices. Any document issued by a school leaving authority or tertiary education institution must first be verified by either Umalusi, The Department of Basic Education or The Department of Higher Education. The original verification letter is APOSTILLED.
Divorce / Court orders, medical reports, contracts, powers of attorney, copies of passports / id books, proof of address, agreements etc must first be notarised by a South African Notary and then the copies are apostilled by the High Court of South Africa. This process is called the AUTHENTICATION of the documentation.
To apostille a document issued by the Department of Home Affairs the following must be present
- Only the original document can be apostilled by DIRCO
- An authorised signature must be present on the document
- An authorised stamp must be on the front page of the document
- The authorised signature must be on the DIRCO database
When will documents NOT be apostilled by DIRCO?
- Signature and/or stamp not present
- Signature and/or stamp on the back of the document
- Document signed by an unauthorised signatory (i.e. fraudulently issued document)
- Older documentation where DIRCO does not have the signatory on the database
- Documentation that has been sealed in a plastic cover
- Documents that are not original
This is what the DIRCO apostille certificate looks like
This unabridged birth certificate was successfully apostilled
This marriage certificate was successfully apostilled
Example of unsuccessful birth certificate.
Example of unsuccessful marriage certificate.
Example Apostille – UABC
Example Apostille – UAMC
Example of High Court Apostille
Example of Qualification Apostille
Example of SAPS Apostille + Translation
Example of SAPS Apostille
TEFL – Examples
