Apostille or Legalisation: Which Procedure by Country?

You need to have a Belgian document recognised abroad and you are being told about an apostille or a legalisation? These are two distinct procedures, and the choice depends solely on the country of destination. This guide explains the difference, when each procedure applies, how it works in Belgium, and why your sworn translation is often involved too.

📖 Also read: how to apostille a Belgian document · translation valid abroad · complete guide

Apostille or legalisation: what is the difference?

The apostille and the legalisation pursue the same goal: to have the authenticity of an official document (signature, capacity of the signatory, stamp) recognised so that it produces its effects in another country. The difference lies in the procedure. The apostille is a single stamp or certificate, affixed by a single authority, which is enough to validate the document abroad. The legalisation, on the other hand, is a chain of successive validations that generally ends with the involvement of the embassy or consulate of the country of destination.

In plain terms: the apostille is a simplified single-step procedure, whereas consular legalisation involves several steps and longer timeframes.

The Hague Convention, the key to the choice

Everything rests on the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961, which introduced the apostille. The rule is simple:

• If the country of destination is a signatory to the Hague Convention, a simple apostille is enough.
• If the country of destination has not signed the Convention, you must go through full consular legalisation.

Belgium is a party to the Convention. Most European countries as well as many states worldwide are too, which makes the apostille common. But some countries remain outside the Convention: for those, legalisation remains mandatory. Always check the status of the country concerned before starting a procedure.

How it works in Belgium

In Belgium, the FPS Foreign Affairs is the competent authority for both procedures.

For an apostille, the procedure is centralised: the FPS Foreign Affairs affixes the apostille on the Belgian document, after verifying the signature and stamp of the issuing authority. Once apostilled, the document is directly usable in the signatory country of destination, with no further formality.

For a legalisation intended for a country outside the Convention, the path is longer. The document follows a chain: it is first validated by the competent Belgian authority, then legalised by the FPS Foreign Affairs, and finally presented to the embassy or consulate of the country of destination in Belgium, which affixes its own legalisation. Each link in the chain adds a delay and, at times, fees.

The link with the sworn translation

This is the aspect most often overlooked: the sworn translationitself may have to be apostilled or legalised. When a Belgian document goes abroad, the receiving authority frequently requires not only the authentication of the original, but also that of the sworn translation that accompanies it.

In practice, the sworn translator signs and stamps the translation, then the FPS Foreign Affairs can affix an apostille on that translation (or legalise it, depending on the country). It can therefore happen that two apostilles are needed: one on the original document and one on the translation. It all depends on the recipient's requirements. To find out more, check whether your Belgian sworn translation is valid abroad.

Which document needs what?

The documents most often concerned are civil status records (birth, marriage, divorce), diplomas and transcripts, criminal record extracts, notarial deeds and company documents. For each of them, the need for an apostille or legalisation depends on the country of destination, never on the type of document itself.

If your procedure stays in Belgium, neither apostille nor legalisation is needed: you simply need to check which translation the Belgian authority accepts. The apostille and the legalisation only concern cross-border uses.

Our advice before starting the procedure

• Check the requirement at the source. Contact the receiving authority (administration, university, employer) to find out whether it expects an apostille, a legalisation, or simply a certified copy.
• Confirm the country's status. Hague signatory or not: that is what determines the procedure.
• Ask whether the translation must also be authenticated. This is common, and forgetting it gets the file rejected.
• Plan for the timeframes. A full consular legalisation takes considerably longer than an apostille.