If you have a notarial deed issued by an Italian Notary and you need to send it to a country that is a signatory to the Hague Convention, but you are unsure how and where to obtain an apostille for its recognition by the foreign authority, this concise guide will assist you. In fact, it will provide you with all the essential information required to do so.
As a brief overview of the topics we will discuss, we will explain what an apostille actually is, which Italian authorities are competent to issue an apostille, what exemptions exist from the apostille requirement for an Italian notarial deed and when these exemptions apply. Regardless of whether the notarial deed requires an apostille, as a final step (which we will discuss), the notarial deed may need to be translated into a language recognized by the destination Country for it to be recognized.
The apostille is a procedure introduced by the Hague Convention. It allows to certify that a signature is authentic and it facilitates the recognition of a document as a public document, provided that both the Country which issues the document and the one which receives it are signatories to the Hague Convention. In relations between Countries that have signed the Hague Convention, the apostille replaces the procedure known as legalization, which is more time-consuming. In fact, the legalization procedure is divided into two phases: national legalization (by a competent authority of the Country which issued the document) and consular legalization (by a consular or diplomatic delegation of the Country that has to receive the document, accredited to the Country which is issuing the document).
Please note: If the documents you need to send to a Foreign Country are consular documents (documents issued by a consular or diplomatic delegation of a Country), they cannot be apostilled! In such cases, for their recognition by the receiving Country, the documents must be legalized, unless an exemption applies (such as the exemptions under the London Convention of June 7, 1968, the Bruxelles Convention of May 25, 1987 and the Regulation EU 2016/1191). This applies even if both the sending Country and the receiving Country are signatories to the Hague Convention.
The apostille simplifies the legalization procedure because obtaining an apostille is a single phase process. Specifically, the document needs to be authenticated only within the issuing Country to be recognized by the foreign authority. This eliminates the need to present the document to the consular or diplomatic authority of the receiving Country accredited to the issuing Country for recognition.
Apostilling a document is a procedure applicable to public documents, such as notarial acts, issued by Countries that are signatories to the Hague Convention and destined for use in other signatory Countries. This applies provided that the documents are non-consular, issued as paper documents by a public official, and signed by hand by a public official (for example, a Notary), and that the signature of the public official who signed the document is recorded in the registers of a competent authority that can authenticate the signature.
The apostille certifies that the document meets the aforementioned criteria. The competent authority, which holds the signature of the signing public official, certifies the authenticity of the signature by affixing the apostille stamp. The apostille does not certify the document’s contents.
What to do when sending Italian notarial deeds to a Country that is not a signatory to the Hague Convention or where the Hague Convention is not yet in force
When sending Italian notarial deeds to a country that is not a signatory to the Hague Convention (or that signed the Convention but for which it is not yet in force), you must use authentication through legalization. In this case, the Italian notarial deeds must first undergo national legalization by the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Procura della Repubblica), which is the competent authority to authenticate Italian notarial deeds. Then, the Italian notarial deeds must undergo consular legalization by a consular or diplomatic delegation of the receiving Country accredited to Italy. When doing so, you must be particularly careful. You need to check if your Italian notarial deeds have been issued in an appropriate language, which is a language recognized by the receiving Country, or if they require translation. If the notarial deeds require translation, you must ask the consular or diplomatic authority whether, for consular legalization, they must be translated into a specific language before being presented for legalization, whether they must be translated at the Consulate, or whether they can be translated directly in the receiving Country after consular legalization.
Italy has designated two of its authorities as competent for the apostillation of documents: the Prefecture and the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Procura della Repubblica).
The authority to which one should turn for the execution of the apostillation depends exclusively on the nature of the act to be authenticated.
A person who needs to have a public document destined for abroad authenticated must turn to the Prefecture if the document to be submitted to the apostillation procedure is a document that is not represented by a judicial act or a notarial act.
Examples of documents that can be authenticated at the Prefecture with the affixing of the apostille stamp are:
A person who needs to have a public document destined for abroad authenticated must, instead, turn to the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Procura della Repubblica) if the document to be submitted to the apostillation procedure is represented by a judicial act or a notarial deed.
Examples of documents that can be authenticated at the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Procura della Repubblica) with the affixing of the apostille stamp are:
In the case of notarial deeds, it is always necessary to ensure that the document to be authenticated was issued by a Notary whose signature, at the time of authentication, is still deposited at the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Procura della Repubblica). If the Notary who issued the document is deceased or retired at the time of authentication, the original cannot be authenticated, as the Notary’s signature would no longer be registered. When this happens, it is necessary to first extract a new copy of the deed from the Notary Archive where it was deposited, making sure that the official who is issuing the copy has the signature deposited at the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Procura della Repubblica) since it will be his signature that will be authenticated.
Furthermore, it is important to remember that, unlike many public officials, Notaries may operate across joint districts. These districts can be very large and include the territorial districts covered by multiple Public Prosecutor’s Offices (Procure della Repubblica). This means that the signature of a Notary could be deposited at all the Public Prosecutor’s Offices (Procure della Repubblica) included in the joint districts in which the Notary operates.
In some cases, notarial deeds are exempt from the authentication procedure for apostillation.
In the case of notarial deeds drawn up by Italian Notaries, they are exempt from authentication for apostillation when destined for Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, France, Ireland and Latvia by virtue of the effects of the Brussels Convention of May 25, 1987.
The Italy-Germany Convention of June 7, 1969, exempts from apostille notarial deeds drawn up by Italian Notaries when they are intended for Germany and notarial deeds drawn up by Notaries in Germany when they are intended for Italy.
The Italy-Hungary Convention of May 26, 1977, exempts from authentication by apostille Italian notarial deeds intended for Hungary and Hungarian notarial deeds when intended for Italy.
Where the notarial deed to be sent abroad has not already been issued in a format that also includes a language recognized by the Foreign destination Country, for the purposes of its recognition by the foreign authority, it must also be translated into one of those languages.
To make sure of the language into which the notarial dee must be translated and the translation methods accepted, it is always necessary to contact the foreign entity receiving the documents.
If the notarial deed to be sent to the Foreign Country needs to be apostilled, the translation must be carried out only after the authentication of the act by means of apostille. If the act is instead exempt from authentication by means of apostille, the translation can take place immediately.
Regardless of the need for authentication by means of apostille, the translation can take place both in the foreign destination Country (a choice we recommend since, in general, the procedure is smoother and less expensive) and in Italy.
Where the choice is made to carry out the translation in Italy, it is possible to translate the notarial deed with a certified translation or with a sworn translation. The method to be chosen depends, as already written, on the provisions of the foreign authority receiving the notarial deed.
If the foreign authority receiving the documents requires the execution of a sworn translation, it will be necessary to have the affidavit of sworn translation authenticated by means of apostille at the Public Prosecutor’s Office (Procura della Repubblica), if the notarial deed is not exempt from authentication for apostillation. Where the notarial deed is instead exempt from authentication for apostillation, because it is destined for one of the signatory Countries of the Brussels Convention of 25 May 1987 or for some other reason, it is necessary to verify on a case-by-case basis whether it is necessary to apostille the affidavit of sworn translation as well.
Do you have any further questions about the fascinating world of notarial deeds and their apostillation? Do not hesitate to send us a message. We will take care of your request and give you all the clarifications of the case. You can also entrust us with the total or partial management of services relating to notarial deeds (for example, the recovery of a copy of a notarial deed from the competent Notary Archive, the apostillation of a notarial deed or its translation here in Italy). Our team of professionals is always ready to take care of every request, paying the utmost and most scrupulous attention in carrying it out.
