APOSTILE FOR WORLDWIDE PURPOSES

What is an Apostille ?
An Apostille (a cerficiattion) is affixed to a document by a competent authority of the originating
country, which is a party to the Apostile Convention, to certify the authenticity of a document to be
used in another party to the Convention.

In 14 May 2019, The Apostille Convention (The Hague Convention of 1961 abolishing the
requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents) entered into force in Indonesia, which
streamlined the process of certifying/authenticating a document issued in Indonesia and to be used
in countries that are party to the Convention.

To prove their validity, foreign authorities (administration, bank, university, employer, notary… )
require that your documents be apostilled in Indonesia, the objective is to make your documents
valid and indisputable abroad.
Type of documents subjected to apostile in Indonesia
Not all document are accepted for apostile services.

However their classification is a relatively simple one as they fall into two broad categories :
1. Public documents with an official signature: these have been issued by Indonesian government
and include marriage certificate, birth and death certificates, business registration or certificate of
incorporation for a company in Indonesia;
2. Documents signed by a notary public; these include power of attorney, a certified true copy or a
legalized authorized document translation, documents signed by a commissioner for oaths are also
accepted for an apostile in Indonesia (such as a declaration).
The applicants should duly note the requirements to provide the original document in good form.
This means that the document presented for apostile needs to be clearly readable, with readable
text, stamps and signatures and integral. The document must not contain additional writings apart
from its original form (it wil be rejected if it has been written upon).

The Apostille format
The apostile is a stamp placed on the authenticated document. It includes a fixed number of fields,
ten fields in total, which are numbered accordingly. These fields are : the country, the individual that
signed, his capacity (notary public), the seal or stamp that is included, where and when the signature
took place, the authority that issues it, the number, the seal or stamp of the authority issuing the
apostile as well as the signature.
In practice, this seal can be placed on the back of the document or attached to it (it can also be
placed on the document itself, however, special consideration is taken in this case to preserve the
integrity and readability of the document).
It should be noted that the apostile does not provide any certification on the content of the
document (it’s quality and/or the information included therein). It serves as a certification of the
signature of the one that signs it (the capacity of that individual/institution) as well as the seal/stamp
on the document (it’s quality and/or the information included therein). It serves as a certification of
the signature of the one that signs it (the capacity of that individual/ institution) as well as the
seal/stamp on the document that is to be certified. Examples of documents that may be fo
questionable value include diplomas issued by higher education institutions that provide illegitimate
degres certification is issued only for the seal and signature. It expressly states that ?the Apostile only
confirms the authenticity of the signature, seal or stamp on the attached public document. It does
not confirm the authenticity of the underlying document.”
An apostile does not have an expiration date, however, should the document become invalid, so
does the apostile. In other cases, the country that receives the document may ask that the apostile
be placed no later than six months (or another period, as indicated). Therefore, the applicant may
need to have the document reapostiled to meet the specific criteria as the apostile clearly includes
the date on which it was placed. It is recommended to check any specific requirements before
commencing the process.

The functions of notary and apostile
Notary
1. A registered notary functions as the verifier for every piece of information in the documents. This
way , a notary process can ensure that all information in the document is accurate and correct;
2. Fraudeulent identity can be avoided as the notary will verify the identity of the individual who
signs the document;
3. Notary documents are usually used within the same country were the notary process has taken
place.
Apostille
1. Apostille’s main function is to authenticate the document that has been notarized;
2. It can also help to identify and ensure the document is authentic and not a fake copy;
3. An apostille proves the legitimacy of the documents by providing a certificate that can be used for
authorization outside the owner’s jurisdiction or country.

Method to obtain notary and apostille
The methods to obtain a notary and an apostille are both different.
The methods to obtain a notary and an apostille are both different. A notary is a much more handson process that will only take a few minutes as long as you have done and fulfilled all the
requirements. Below, we have summarized the steps to obtain notarized documents.
Notary

Elect or choose the notary public
You can choose and determine which services are most applicable to your notarization process.
Typically, a notary will require you to set an appointment and necessary fees before the signing
process. Thus you must search, elect and pay the notary a few days before the document’s signing
process.

Sign the document before the notary
The elected notary must act as a witness to the signing process. All the necessary individuals must
sign the documents in front of the notary.
During the signing process, the notary will verify the identity of the individuals signing and the
accuracy of the information stated in the documents. The notary will then certify the signed
documents by marking the documents with an official seal or stamp.

Apostille
The method to obtain the apostille certification is different than a notary verification.
The apostille will require you to deal with a governmental agency. The process to obtain apostille
certification is quite straightforward as well. In some agencies or notary office itself will offer an
apostille service for your convenience. However should you wish to do it yourself you can understand
the following descriptions:
Submit the original document
To obtain the apostile authentication certificate for your document, you must submit the document’s
original copy that has been notarized for an apostille application. The submission should be made to
Ministry of law and human rights department in the capital city Jakarta.
Clarify the need or purpose for an apostille
An individual must clarify the purpose of an apostille for their documents. The clarifications must
contain information such as the country of destination for the apostille documents. Obligatory fees
such as the apostille authentication service fee must be paid upfront.
The involved authority for the apostile of documents will decide and approve whether the document
requires an authentication certificate. This is because the authentication certificate is only valid if the
document’s destination country is listed in the 1961 Haque Convention Treaty.
Processing time and cost for a notary and apostille
Notary
The appointment date with the elected notary will vary depending on your chosen services. Setting
an appointment is highly encouraged.
The processing time for obtaining a notarized document is usually a few hours, if the verifying and
witnessing process is complete before the Notary , notarized documents will be issued on the same
day of the process.
Cost: Depends on the selected notary service provider.

Apostille
Processing times and costs for apostille of documents will also differ depending of the categories of
documents and the numbers of the pages. On average, it will takes up to 7 days to 21 working days
to obtain the apostiiled depending of the completion of the required supporting documents.
Cost : depending on the categories of documents and the number of pages.

CONCLUSION
In short, both notary and apostille have distinguishable differences. Notarization of documents has a
much simpler procedure; meanwhile, the apostille of documents is much more complex due to its
involvement with official governmental agencies.
Notably, if you require notarized documents and the apostille of documents for business purposes,
we advise you to always confirm the requirements for your documents, as certain requesting entities
have different requirements. Both a notary and an apostille may be required for some documents,
while just one may be required for others.

FOREIGN DOCUMENTS TO BE EFFECTIVE IN INDONESIA
If a foreign public document is presented in Indonesia, the legalization from Indonesian Embassy is a
mandatory.
Prior to the ratifaction of the Convention, which is designed to enhance public services and ease of
doing business by simplifying the process of legalizing foreign public documents by Presiden Joko
Widodo on Presidential Regulation no 2 of 2021,
any document issued/ executed outside Indonesia is required to be notarized by the public notary
and later legalized by the Consulate General of Indonesia where the documents are originated in
order to be enforced in Indonesia.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Regulation No.09/A/KP/XII/2006/01 (MOFA REGULATION)
This applies to all public documents (i.e. marriage, birth and death certificate, university degree,
article of establishment of a company, etc.) and also power of attorney.
For some local institutional or official department, the sworn translation version is required