Apostilles in Korea
Certificate of Authentication
Certificate of Authentication
An apostille is a certificate that authenticates the origin of a public document.
According to the Apostille Convention, an Apostille is an international certification that certifies the validity and authentication of public documents between members’ countries such as South Korea. It also verifies that the document is original and was issued by the legal and appropriate authority in Korea.
The Republic of Korea authentications are accepted and recognized for use in the United States in compliance with the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Hague Apostille Convention). Documents that carry a Hague apostille are entitled to recognition in any other convention country without further authentication. The United States and the Republic of Korea are both parties to this convention. U.S. federal courts and state authorities should accept documents with the Hague apostille. For private transactions, please confirm with the other party first to make sure they will accept foreign authentications. In order to verify and certify official public and private documents in South Korea, there is a need to legalize these documents by Apostille and/or Notary Public. South Korea is a member of the Hague Apostille Convention since July 14, 2007.
In addition, an Apostille verifies the authority of a Notary Public to notarize documents. It validates the Notary Public signature on the document and also confirm that such Notary Public is registered Notary according to the law in Korea.
Almost all the documents officially issued by any agency of the Korean government can be authenticated by Apostille. Those include documents such as: Birth Certificates, and Marriage Certificates, Company Registration Certificate, Business Tax Certificate, Article of Incorporation, Business License, Certificate of Good Standing, Certificate of Free Sale, Certificate of Trade Business Code and many more.
In Korea, the Apostille itself is a printed form, either on an A4 letter paper or a sticker. On the top is the text APOSTILLE, under which the text is also in French “Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961” (“Hague Convention of 5 October 1961“). This title must be written in French for the Apostille to be valid.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA)
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Diplomatic Center Building
2nd Floor, Seocho-dong, 202, 2558
Nambusunhwan-ro
Seocho-gu, Seoul, Korea
Telephone: +82-2-2100-8170
Fax: +82-2-2100-7972
E-mail: ddalos@mofa.go.kr
General MoFA Website: https://www.0404.go.kr/dev/main.mofa
MoFA Online e-Apostille Service: https://www.apostille.go.kr/index.do
1) First, apply for the document Apostille at the issuing office/agency/hospital.
2) Then, register with the MoFA Apostille website above, and select the document. Apostille confirmation (issuance) is only available in the MoFA Consular Service in Seoul. Application by mail is also available
There are instances when you will need an apostille issued from the U.S. that you will have to send a request for. This could include (not limited to) obtaining a Korean Drivers License, obtaining death certificates and more. A U.S. apostille is issued from the highest office of a given agency or department. You will have to send the request to that office. As an example, an individual needed an apostille for his wife's U.S. Embassy Death Certificate for selling their jointly owned property. He had to send the apostille request to the U.S. Department of State. So there is no single answer to where you request one from, it depends on your situation and the agency you need to work with.
Visit Apostille Center at http://apostcenter.com for more information and assistance.
