Apostille Stockholm – English

Our office is at Kungsgatan 37, 5 stairs up (elevator available), and we have Drop-In between 09.00-16.00 every weekday. Go up to the 5th floor at Kungsgatan 37, then go down the corridor to find our office. Call 08-502 353 37 if you have problems finding.

We will help you immediately and you will have your documents ready within a few minutes. With us, you avoid processing times of 1-2 days, instead you get the documents stamped immediately.

Do you need an Apostille from a Notary Public? We will help you immediately and you will have your documents ready within a few minutes. With us, you avoid processing times of 1-2 days and get the documents stamped immediately.

Please click this link for information in Swedish.

Info about Apostille

You have probably at some point heard the word and that you need an Apostille, but rarely had it explained to you what it actually is. In this section, we explain what an Apostille stamp really is and what its function is.

5 important things to know about Apostille:

1. An Apostille is valid in the countries that have signed the Apostille Hague Convention.

2. Only a Notary Public issues Apostilles.

3. When a document is certified with an Apostille, it does not need to be certified further by, for example, visiting an embassy.

4. An Apostille can in many cases be stamped without you being physically present at a Notary Public.

5. Simply put, an Apostille is a stamp that certifies the authenticity of an official document.

What is an Apostille?

First of all, an Apostille is a certification that a document issued by an authority etc has been signed and stamped by an authorized person employed by that authority. Above all, the purpose of the Apostille stamp is simplified to act as an assurance for foreign actors (authorities, companies, etc.) that the document is genuine.

In summary, the stamp’s main function is thus to certify that the document was issued by an authorized person who works at the relevant authority, and that the person is authorized to sign the document.

Simply put – an Apostille certifies the authenticity of the document to ensure that it is not a forgery. It is primarily documents issued by authorities that are provided with an Apostille stamp. However, they can also be documents that have been issued by authorized translators, doctors and other Notary Publics.

Examples of documents that need an Apostille:

• Documents from government authorities, such as the Swedish Companies Registration Office, the Swedish Tax Agency, the National Board of Health and Welfare and so on.

• Documents from courts. For example. certificate that a divorce has taken place, so-called divorce papers.

• Documents translated by authorized translators from the Kammarkollegiet. Extracts from various registers. For example. the police register

• Various grades or certificates from schools. Usually certificates from universities and colleges.

• Document signed by another Notary public.

In order for a document to be provided with an Apostille, it needs:

• A stamp in its original from the authority etc that issued the document.

• That it is clear from which authority etc the document was issued.

• A signature and clarification of the name of the person who stamped the document.

• Information about the position the person issuing the document holds at the relevant authority. For example. case manager, administrator or similar.

Documents not issued by an authority

In any case, it is not only official documents that can be stamped. For documents that do not meet the requirements above, you can still get an Apostille. However, it is first required that a Notary Public first certifies your signature or authorization. This is done with a separate stamp, a so called notarisation. The stamp certifies that you are the right person signing the document or that the copy corresponds with the original. The stamp will read something like “I hereby certify that person XXX has personally signed this document” or “I hereby certify that i have seen the original document and it corresponds with this copy”. Then the document is also provided with the seal of the Notary Public.

Only after this procedure has taken place at a first Notary Public can you then go to another Notary Public who provides the document with an Apostille. What the other Notary Public does is that it certifies with the Apostille stamp that your signature on the document was certified by another Notary Public.

3 things you must know to be able to get an Apostille stamp

1. The country where you present the document must be a member of the so-called Apostille Convention.

2. The documents must be provided with the Apostille-stamp.

3. There must be a signature from an authorized person at the authority and a title clarification from that person.

Apostille is issued by a Notary Public

Only a Notary Public can provide a document with an Apostille. The reason for this is that a Notary Public has a special trust from the state (In Sweden through the county administrative board – Read more here). The trust means that the Notary Public helps the public by certifying with good judgment the authenticity of issued documents. The goal is for there to be a simple and flexible way for private individuals to obtain a certificate that issued official documents are genuine, which is often a requirement from other countries during international contacts.

The Apostille-convention

An Apostille stamp gets its validity and meaning through an international agreement between a number of countries. The agreement is called the Apostille Hague Convention and has a total of 118 member countries. This shows that it is a very comprehensive convention and that the Apostille-stamp has an important function in international relations, not least in real estate purchases, opening bank accounts and similar administrative services. You can find a list of all member countries on the Hague Conference’s own website.

The convention means that when a document is provided with an Apostille, the document does not need to be certified by an authority, embassy or other government institution. A Notary Public can be compared to an extended function of the authority of the authorities, where the authenticity of an official document is certified, without the need for the state to get involved.

From a practical point of view, this is very effective, of which it fulfills an important function. If all documents that are to have their authenticity certified need to go through authorities, the waiting times would be very long.

Kan en Notarius Publicus utfärda Apostille?

Ja. Viktigt att känna till är att den enda personen som kan göra detta är en Notarius Publicus i och med det förordnande de fått från Länsstyrelsen. Men hur fungerar det egentligen? Sammanfattningsvis är en Apostille ett slags intygande för dokumentation som, vanligtvis, ska visas upp för utländska aktörer. Till exempel för en bank, fastighetsmäklare, utländsk myndighet osv. Apostille-stämpeln intygar att dokumentet är officiellt bestyrkt av en förtroendevald person från den svenska staten. Det vill säga att förtroendet för att dokumentet de facto är äkta är förstärkt. Med andra ord innebär det att dokumentet därmed inte behöver intygas av t.ex en svensk ambassad eller konsulat, utan det räcker med Notarius Publicus intygande.