Apostille Service in Hong Kong

About to take your business global? Well, then you may be looking to internationalize your documents as many organizations look for company documents done through an Apostille service in Hong Kong. But what is an apostille document?

An Apostille is a type of attestation in which documents are legalized in a specific format that is acceptable in all nations that belong to the Hague Convention.

In other words, the Apostille is a type of international certification acceptable in most of the countries around the world. So, if you have a company in Hong Kong and are about to take things globally, you will need the Apostille service of a provider in Hong Kong. This article will explain all you need to know about the Apostille Hong Kong documents.

What is Apostille?

The apostille is a stamp placed on documents to confirm that the signature of an official is authentic. Hong Kong Apostille documents are specially made to keep legal recognition in a foreign country. Basically, when you need to provide Hong Kong company documents in foreign countries for any purpose, it is a must that these documents are apostilled in Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, the apostille is issued by the Hong Kong High Court.

Documents accepted for apostille service are classified into the following two categories –

Public documents bearing the true signature of an official party such as a Hong Kong SAR Government recognized officer. For example,

• Business Registration Certificate (BRC)
• Certificate of Incorporation (CI)
• Certificate of Registered Particulars
• Other official company documents
• Marriage Certificate
• Birth and Death Certificate

Documents signed by a notary public or a Commissioner for Oaths in Hong Kong. For example,

(a) Notary Public

• Power of Attorney
• Certified true copy

(b) Commissioner for Oaths

• Declaration

You can get the document apostille usually in a few working days. This is the minimum time required to process the applications. If you are interested to get your company documents certified through apostille services in Hong Kong, reach out to us at Startupr today.

With this clear, let us now understand all about the Apostille Convention in Hong Kong.

Apostille Convention – Hague Convention of 1961

The Apostille convention or the Apostille treaty is an international treaty drafted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law. This convention, created in 1961, replaced the time-consuming chain certification process used in the past, where four different authorities were used to get a document certified.

Basically, the Hague convention is the abolishment of the requirement of legalization for foreign public documents. This Apostille treaty defines methods through which a document issued in one of the signatory countries, can be certified for legal purposes in all the other signatory states. This kind of certification is called Apostille, which is an international certification. This led to the common methods for apostille services used today.

The state government designates the competent authorities, which affixes the Apostille, whose list is maintained by the Hague Conference or private International Law. For an apostille to be eligible, a document must first be issued by an officer recognized by the authority that will issue the apostille. The High Court in Hong Kong maintains specimen signatures of all notaries public, so documents that have been notarized are eligible for apostilles.

Let us dive deeper and understand more about the Apostille seal of the high court.

Apostille Seal of the High court

The meaning of the Apostille seal does not mean the stamp or seal of a notary public stamp. Rather, an Apostille is a French word that means “certification”, and was introduced to the 1961 Hague Convention.

The main purpose of these documents is that these documents can be used legally in a foreign country. In Hong Kong, the High Court affixes the official Apostille seal of the High Court. Only countries that have signed Article 12 of the 1961 Hague convention will honor an Apostille and non-member states or countries may require legalization by the embassy.

Apostille for International Bank Accounts

To certify that a document is genuine, this special apostille seal applied to the documents. Apostille is also used for International Bank Accounts.  In case you are conducting any international activities, you would probably need an overseas bank account. For performing such activities, the legalization of your documents will be a vital factor. The process of Apostille service is a simplified process. The Apostille enables your documentation to be accepted legally throughout all parties of the Hague Convention.

In case you are looking to apostille your company documents for an international bank account opening, you can contact us at Startupr to help you with this process.

Difference Between Apostille and Notarized Documents

Oftentimes you need documents legally authenticated for your business. There are many times we see a number of corporate documents that call for some type of authentication for legal proceedings, business agreements or contracts. Hong Kong has a process in place for each type of authenticating as notarized or apostilled.

To help you understand the difference between each, both have been defined below. This will give you a better understanding of how these verification processes work in Hong Kong and how they are used around the world.

Notarized Documents

A notary is a certified professional who is trained to verify the authenticity of documents. The process of notarization will usually require proof of identity from the individual on the documents. Getting notarized documents will allow the non-witnessing party to know the document(s) are legally binding.

Given below are the services that a notary public can perform:

• Issue a notarial/notarized certificate 
• Make a certified copy of an original document that includes stamps of origin
• Witness the signing of a document – to ensure the integrity of a document

Apostille Documents

An apostille certification is different from a notary authentication by the document’s jurisdiction. An apostilled document is used precisely to verify papers of record so they can be used in a foreign country. Typically, this kind of certification works in most cases from countries under the Hague Convention. An Apostille document can be obtained by:

• Public documents that show the signature of an official party or representative.
• Documents signed by a Notary Public or a Commissioner of Oaths within Hong Kong.

How does Startupr help you?

Now that you know all about the apostille service in Hong Kong, you might need to find a service provider for this. Startupr can help you with this. Startupr HK has a dedicated documentation ordering platform that will allow you to order, prepare, and receive relevant documents. Startupr provides online documentation services for:

• Certified CPA Documents
• Apostille of Documents
• Certificate of Good Standing or Certificate of Continuing Registration
• Certificate of Incumbency or Company Particular Report

We can help you with all the above services and more. Startupr always gives the best support for our clients at comparable prices. With this, you can save time and money. You must provide every detail accurately, as every document will be prepared based on the information you give through each order.

Why use Startupr service?

Startupr is your one-stop service provider for company formation and company services in Hong Kong. We have incorporated thousands of companies, and have experience in supporting ventures with the best solutions in today’s world.

Our technology platform is 100% secured and we always try to deliver these documents accurately to you. Our dedicated online documentation ordering platform helps business owners simplify this complicated documentation process.

We at Startupr help your company prepare documents for Hong Kong Apostille, CPA certified copies and many other documentation purposes. To know more about these services, contact us today!