In most proceedings conducted with the Ministry of Interior, there is a need to submit documents from abroad. However, a document issued in another country is not valid in Israel by itself, since the Population Authority has no way of knowing whether it is authentic and genuine.
Therefore, there is a need to authenticate the document in a way that will give it international validity and attest that it is an original and genuine document. The process can be done in two ways: the first is through an apostille, and the second is through authentication of a chain of signatures, which will end at an Israeli consulate/embassy around the world.
Authentication via Apostille
The Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement for Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (Hague Apostille Convention) was created in 1961, and over the years more and more countries have joined it. Under the convention, there are those authorized to authenticate the signatures on the document. If the required document is from a country that has signed the Hague Apostille Convention, then after issuing an original certificate (or a certified copy of the original certificate), you must ensure where you can obtain an apostille on the certificate, and with the apostille, the document will be authenticated and valid in other countries as well. The authentication of the apostille on the document can only be done in the country where the document was issued!
The apostille itself essentially authenticates the signature on the original document, so it is advisable to check that the name appearing on the apostille matches the name of the signatory on the document.
It is also important to understand that the apostille is attached to the document, sometimes with a stitch of a matchmaker, and it is not permitted to separate the apostille from the document; if they are separated, the document will no longer be authenticated.
Authentication via Chain of Signatures
If a certificate is required from a country that has not signed the Hague Apostille Convention, it is necessary to authenticate it or a certified copy of it by means of a chain of signatures. The authentication is done in accordance with the instructions in the procedure for handling the authentication of a public certificate issued abroad. For this purpose, a “copy” of the certificate is not a copy that can be photocopied, but rather, for example, a copy of a birth certificate that is re-issued by the Ministry of Interior instead of the original certificate issued at the time of a person’s birth.
In these countries, the document must be authenticated through the following process:
a. First, the clerk at the issuing office will sign the certificate.
b. Second, a clerk from the Ministry of Justice in the country issuing the document must sign it.
c. Third, a clerk from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the issuing country must sign.
d. Fourth, the Israeli consul in the issuing country must sign.
Each signatory authenticates the signature of the person who preceded them. In Canada, there is no need for a chain of signatures, and the consul can authenticate the signature of the clerk at the issuing office directly; in Ethiopia, Thailand or Nepal, there is no need to have the Ministry of Justice sign, but only the clerk at the issuing office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then the Israeli consulate.
For example: a birth certificate from Jordan, which has not signed the Apostille Convention, must be authenticated as follows: first, a clerk from the Jordanian Ministry of Health/Interior issuing the certificate will sign. The certificate will then be transferred to the Jordanian Ministry of Justice to authenticate the document, and then to the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which will also authenticate it. After all these signatures are on the document, the Israeli consul in Jordan will authenticate it.
Chain of Signatures in a Country with Which Israel Has No Diplomatic Relations
Since the procedure requires that an Israeli consul in the country that issued the document authenticate it, the question arises – what should be done when a document needs to be brought from a country with which Israel has no diplomatic relations and which does not have an apostille?
In such a case, the chain of signatures will be between different countries:
a. First, the document will be authenticated by the issuing country (by the issuing office).
b. Second, the document will be transferred to the consulate of a third country that has diplomatic relations with both Israel and the issuing country, and the consulate of the third country will authenticate the signature on the document.
c. After the signature, the certificate will be transferred for authentication by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the third country.
d. After that, the document will be transferred to the Israeli consulate in the third country, and it will authenticate the signature of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the third country.
For example, if it is a birth certificate from Cuba, which has neither an apostille nor diplomatic relations with Israel, the certificate will be authenticated in this way: first, the issuing clerk at the Ministry of Interior/Health in Cuba will sign. The certificate will then be transferred for authentication at the Swiss embassy in Cuba, which will authenticate the signature. From there, it will be transferred to Switzerland for the signature of the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then to the Israeli consulate in Switzerland for the final signature.
If you need to bring documents from various countries and require service on this matter, consultation, or actual document retrieval, please contact our office.
