Pakistan Foreign Ministry changes procedure for certifying documents with apostille

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry is making fundamental changes to the apostille system. As the SAMAA portal writes, this is being done in order to "fight the agent mafia."

Previously, before certifying a document with an apostille in Pakistan, it was mandatory to make an appointment with the MFA structures. An extensive network of agents grew up around this procedure, acting as intermediaries in the relations of citizens with the state and capable of "speeding up" the process. They priced their services quite expensively, and those wishing to directly interact with the authorities on the issue of apostille could not get through the queues organized by the agents.

Now the Pakistani Foreign Ministry is completely eliminating the pre-registration system. Documents can be certified with an apostille at special legalization centers located in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi.

In addition, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry is raising the state fees for Apostille certification. Previously, they were PKR 500 (US$1.80) for personal documents, PKR 700 (US$2.50) for legal documents, and PKR 3,000 (US$10.80) for economic documents. Now they will increase to PKR 3,000 for personal documents (US$10.80), PKR 4,500 for legal documents (US$16.25), and PKR 12,000 (US$43.30) for economic documents. The authorities of the republic explained the increase in fees by the need to maintain service standards and compensate for administrative costs.

The 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (Apostille Convention) officially entered into force for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan on March 9, 2023. Official Islamabad announced its intention to accede to the Apostille Convention in 2022, and on February 27, 2023, the Government of Pakistan approved the corresponding decision. Since March 9, its authorities have officially begun accepting foreign documents that have undergone the procedure of legalization by apostille. Later, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan began to legalize national documents by placing an apostille stamp on them.