On 16 September, the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 abolishing the requirement of legalization for foreign public documents came into full force in Singapore. Thus, authentication with apostille was introduced as a simplified authentication procedure of public documents.
Previously, consular legalization was required for the use of Singapore documents abroad, which calls for documents to be authenticated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the embassy of the destination country. Now, documents issued in Singapore only need to be certified with the apostille, as do foreign documents intended for use in Singapore.
Singapore's accession to the Apostille Convention will facilitate the circulation of public documents internationally. Apostille certification as a one-step authentication process will save document holders considerable time and money.
The Singapore Parliament passed the Apostille Act on 20 November 2020. Under the Act, the Singapore Academy of Law, which brings together judicial officers and notaries, is designated as the competent apostille authority. The Academy's officials will authenticate the signature and official seal of the Singapore authority that has issued the document and affix the apostille on the original document. Thus the document will be deemed valid in other countries that have ratified the Apostille Convention. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, formerly the competent authority for the legalization of all public documents originating from Singapore, now only undertakes the pre-certification of documents for those countries that do not use an apostille.
This makes Singapore the 120th country to join the Hague Convention. During the past year, two more countries introduced the apostille: Palau and Jamaica.
