At the plenary session, the El Salvador Legislative Assembly passed the law on the use of the Electronic Apostille (e-Apostille). In mid-January 2022, the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador approved the electronic apostille application law.
The law introduces the following innovations:
- Both E-Apostille and regular Apostille may be applied for. The applicant decides which of the two options to choose.
- El Salvador authorities are required to provide a signature list of officials authorized to issue documents and certificates within their jurisdiction.
- Documents certified by a Salvadoran notary such as powers of attorney, contracts, etc. will continue to receive a regular apostille pending the introduction of an electronic signature for notarial deeds by the Supreme Court of El Salvador.
The Electronic Apostille Law will come into force 180 days after its publication, which is expected in the coming days.
Many countries have already introduced an electronic apostille to certify certificates and other official documents: e.g. Georgia, Colombia, Andorra, some regions of Spain, New Zealand, Bulgaria, Belgium, some US states and Moldova.
The very idea of an electronic apostille is not only a convenient and modern innovation, but also guarantees a higher level of information protection compared to the generally accepted paper apostille. The document with e-Apostille is almost impossible to forge and any fraud with it will invalidate the presented document. In addition, the electronic apostille system provides the ability to remotely certify official documents and track the facts of violations committed by notaries.
