On 11 January 2024, the Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, also known as the Apostille Convention, entered into force for Canada.
On May 12, 2023, Canadian authorities officially deposited with the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) the instruments of accession to the Convention of October 5, 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents, also known as the Apostille Convention.
What do we need – an apostille or consular legalization? What is the difference between apostille and consular legalization? Why can't I just apostille my documents when traveling to China? And above all: Why do I need all this anyway?
The legalization of documents, as well as notarization of their copies and translations, is a very specific field of activity that most people rarely come across. Therefore, it is quite natural that those who urgently need to prepare documents for use abroad have many questions.