On 5 June 2024, the Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, also known as the Apostille Convention, came into force for Rwanda. This is reported by the official portal of the Hague Conference on Private International Law.
Rwanda became the 126th State to apply the apostille procedure. It deposited its instrument of accession to the Convention on 6 October 2023.
The competent authority responsible for apostillization is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Rwanda (MINAFFET). Documents are accepted through a special Irembo platform and then transferred to the ministry for legalization. The processing time should be from 1 to 3 days.
“It used to take many days and lengthy queues in ministries’ offices for simple documents such as validating one’s school transcripts, birth certificates, and others, to be taken and used in foreign countries. This is going to change,” Alain Mukuralinda said, the Deputy Government Spokesperson.
According to Mukuralinda, the new procedure will improve the ease of doing business in the country for foreign investors as they will be able to obtain some documents faster and online.
The apostille procedure will not apply to documentation of property rights.
The current procedure using the Irembo portal is a pilot. She will be tested for three months. In the future, adjustments may be made to it.
Apostille is an internationally standardized form that contains information about the legality of a document and is provided in the form of a special stamp on a paper carrier or a digital mark. Apostille stamp is placed on originals and copies of documents. Apostille does not require any other certification or legalization of the document and is recognized by the public authorities of all States Parties to the Convention. Sometimes apostille may not be used if there are any other legal grounds that cancel or simplify the legalization of a document.
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