Hague Country Checker: Apostille vs Embassy Attestation (2026)

Want to check if your country is a Hague country, find out whether an apostille is acceptable, or decide between attestation and apostille? The checker below covers all 130 contracting parties to the 1961 Apostille Convention. Enter both where the document was issued and where it will be submitted.

The legally precise question is whether both countries participate in the Hague Apostille Convention and whether the Convention is in force between them. Being an HCCH member alone does not make a country an Apostille Convention country.

What is the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention?

The 1961 Hague Apostille Convention — formally the Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents — lets a single certificate, the apostille, replace embassy or consular legalisation for a public document moving between contracting parties. As of the 2026-08-29 data review behind this page, 130 countries and territories are contracting parties, with 128 already having the Convention in force and 2 signed but not yet in force.

Looking for Hague Child Abduction Convention countries?

That’s a different, unrelated treaty — the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (Convention 28). This page and checker cover only the 1961 Apostille Convention. See the official HCCH Child Abduction Convention status table for that list.

Is apostille accepted in my country?

An apostille is generally acceptable—and can replace embassy or consular attestation/legalisation—when:

1. the document is a public document covered by the Convention;
2. the Convention is in force for both the issuing country and destination country;
3. the Convention applies between those two parties, including any objections or territorial rules; and
4. the receiving authority accepts the document, format, language, and translation presented.

An apostille authenticates origin—not content

An apostille verifies the signature, the capacity of the signer, and the seal or stamp on a public document. It does not prove that every statement inside the document is true, and it does not guarantee acceptance by a university, employer, court, immigration office, or other recipient.

HCCH member vs Apostille Convention party

These terms are often used as if they mean the same thing, but they do not:

• An HCCH member belongs to the Hague Conference on Private International Law as an organisation.
• An Apostille Convention contracting party is bound, or scheduled to be bound, by the 1961 Convention.
• A country can be an Apostille Convention party without being an HCCH member.
• An HCCH member is not automatically covered by the Apostille Convention.

The official HCCH pages currently report 93 member states plus the European Union, while the Apostille Convention status table reports 130 contracting parties (128 already in force, 2 signed but pending). The checker above uses the Convention status table for the apostille decision and the member list only as additional context.

Full list of Hague Apostille Convention countries (2026)

130 contracting parties are part of the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention as of the 2026-08-29 data review — 128 with the Convention already in force, and 2 signed but not yet in force. This list is generated from the same dataset as the checker above, so it cannot drift out of sync with it.

Countries that are NOT part of the Apostille Convention

41 countries below are not contracting parties to the 1961 Apostille Convention. A public document issued in, or destined for, one of these countries cannot use an apostille — it generally needs authentication followed by embassy or consular attestation/legalisation instead. See apostille or attestation: which one do I need? below for that comparison.

How to use the Hague country checker

Enter the document-issued country first. You may use the official country name or a common alternative, such as Republic of Korea, South Korea, or Korea. This is normally the country whose authority issued the birth certificate, degree, police clearance certificate, company record, power of attorney, or other public document. Then enter the destination country where the document will be submitted.

If both countries have the Convention in force, the checker reports that an apostille route is likely available. If either country is absent or has a future effective date, confirm the legalisation route before submitting the document.

Important exceptions to check

Even when both countries appear in the list, do not treat the result as a guarantee. Check:

• objections between contracting parties, especially after an accession;
• territorial extensions for overseas territories or constituent areas;
• whether the document is a covered public document;
• exclusions for diplomatic, consular, or certain commercial and customs documents;
• whether a certified translation, recent issue date, original, or electronic apostille is required; and
• the receiving authority’s own procedural rules.

For the definitive legal position, open the official HCCH Apostille Convention status table and its country-specific declarations and notifications.

Apostille or attestation: which one do I need?

If both countries are covered by the Apostille Convention, you will generally need an apostille. If either country is not covered, the usual alternative is authentication followed by embassy or consular attestation/legalisation. The exact chain depends on the issuing country, document type, and destination mission.

India route by document category

Once you know whether it’s apostille or embassy attestation, the pre-authentication chain in India is the same either way — only the final step changes:

For the full step-by-step process, see How to Get an Apostille on a Document in India from Abroad. For what each step costs, see Apostille Price in India.

For documents issued in India, see our India apostille process guide, or contact VerifiedApostille for a document-specific route review.

Frequently asked questions

Data source and update policy

This page was reviewed on 29 August 2026 using the MEA Attestation/Apostille guidance, its Appendix B country PDF, the official HCCH member page, and the Convention No. 12 status table. The HCCH status table displayed a last-update date of 30 June 2026. The MEA source governs the Indian attestation process; the HCCH status table is the authoritative live reference for Convention participation, entry into force, objections, and territorial extensions.

Algeria’s accession is reflected above as already in force, with no pending entry-into-force date recorded against the status table at the time of review. Viet Nam (11 September 2026) and Thailand (28 February 2027) are the only two contracting parties still pending, flagged as such in the full list above; the 130 total quoted throughout this page counts both in-force and pending contracting parties as of the 2026-08-29 review. Once Viet Nam’s date passes, the in-force count here will read 129 rather than 128 — always cross-check a specific route against the live HCCH status table before relying on it.