Legalization or apostille of a public act drawn up by a French authority

Formality consisting, after verification of the quality, seal and signature of the author of an act, in affixing on the act a stamp, called an apostille. This formality certifies the origin and signature of the document but does not confirm its content.

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden

Body of judges representing the interests of the business before the courts

An act drawn up and signed by private individuals without the presence of a notary (for example, a contract)

Document drawn up and signed between the parties without the intervention of a public officer (e.g. notary).

Professional holder of an office to whom the State has delegated the prerogatives of public authority. For example, the power to order the employer of a person ordered to pay damages to seize their wages.

Legal situation that third parties cannot ignore and must respect, even if they are not signatories

Legalization and Apostille: Rule changes in 2025

Published on 23 May 2023

The rules for issuing the legalization and apostille of a public act drawn up by the French authorities will be amended from 1 er january 2025.

The information contained on this page remains current and will be modified on that date.

Should a French document be legalized or apostilled to make a overseas approach ? Which countries exempt from legalization and/or apostille some documents? What are the formalities for submitting a document? in a country the European Union ?

Here are the main rules to know about procedures for authenticating a signature affixed to a french public document intended to be presented to an authority of a foreigner country.

Legalization and the Apostille do not concern a French document intended for a French administration.

Unfold all

1 Check what the legalization or apostille of a French document is for

To submit a French document to a foreign authority, prior authentication of the signature of the issuing authority may be required.

For example for an adoption procedure, a judicial procedure, sign a contract.

The legalization is the authentication procedure prior to the signature of the issuing authority.

The Apostille is a simplified procedure of legalization. It replaces legalization for the countries where it applies.

Legalization and the Apostille attest to the following information :

Veracity of the signature
Quality in which the signatory of the document acted
If necessary, seal identity or stamp mentioned on the document

In practice, legalization and the apostille are a official stamp added to the document.

Visual of the Apostille Stamp

Apostille model

Legalization Stamp Visual

2 Check which French documents can be legalized or apostilled

Legalization and the Apostille concern the French public acts intended to be presented to a authority of a foreigner country.

The following documents are considered as public acts :

Act of a judicial or administrative court. For example, a judgment.
Act of parquet floor . For example, a judgment.
Document drawn up by a registrar. For example, an extract from a criminal record.
Act drawn up by a Commissioner of Justice (former bailiff and judicial auctioneer). For example, a report of findings.
Civil status document drawn up by a civil status officer. For example, a birth certificate.
An act drawn up by an administrative authority. For example, a tax notice, a certificate of social rights, a diploma, a school certificate.
Notarial deed. For example, a notoriety deed, a power of attorney, a will, a donation.
Official declaration affixed to a privately signed document . For example, a signature certification, a record of registration, a visa for a certain date.

The documents drawn up by a diplomatic or consular official and administrative documents concerning a commercial or customs operation (for example, a health certificate) are public acts. However, those acts cannot be apostilled.

How to make a privately signed act public

One privately signed document cannot be legalized or apostilled as is.

To be legalized or apostilled, a official declaration must be affixed to the document, giving it the character of a public act.

Examples of official declarations:

Hardware Signature Certification
Registration notice. This may be the mention of registration of the tax office for property advertising, with which a summary note of documents relating to the transfer of ownership is deposited.
Visa for certain date. When a public officer puts his visa on the document under private signature, the latter acquires a certain date. The visa shall give the act its character enforceable against third parties .

Whether a translation can be legalized or apostilled

To be legalized or apostilled, the translation must meet the following conditions:

The translation must be done by a sworn translator
The signature of the sworn translator must be certified (hardware signature certification)

The translation must be submitted with the original document.

3 Check whether the document is to be legalized, apostilled or is exempt from formality

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You must submit a document to an authority in a European Union country

Some French public documents may be presented without authentication formality to one authority of a the European Union .

These are the public documents which concern next domains : birth, being alive (life certificate), death, name, marriage, including capacity to marry and marital status, divorce, legal separation and annulment of marriage, civil pact of solidarity (Civil partnerships), dissolution annulment of Civil partnerships, filiation, adoption, domicile and/or residence, nationality, absence of criminal record.

See the e-justice site for public documents accepted by countries European without authentication formalities.

Whether a French public document accepted without formality must be accompanied by a translation

One multilingual form may be attached to certain public documents to avoid the need for translation.

You must request the multilingual form from the issuing authority.

However, the receiving authority of the country may request a translation if necessary.

In this case, the translation must be done by a sworn translator.

Different rules apply to other public documents (e.g. passport, identity document): they are exempt from authentication formalities or shall be apostilles .

To check whether the document should be distilled or not, you should consult the summary of rules by country updated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

You must present a document to an authority in another foreigner country

To check if the document should be legalized, apostilled or is exempt from formality, you should consult the summary of rules by country updated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

You can also ask the embassy or consulate in France of the destination country.