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The Apostille Certificate was introduced in 1961 under the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents to simplify the international use of official documents. An apostille is an official certificate attached to a public document — such as a judicial, administrative or government-issued document — confirming that the document is genuine and can be legally recognised abroad without further embassy or consular legalisation.

The Hague Convention was established within the framework of the Hague Conference on Private International Law with the aim of standardising international legal procedures. Its provisions allow participating countries to replace complex and time-consuming traditional legalisation procedures with a single apostille certificate, significantly reducing bureaucracy, processing times and administrative costs.

More than 120 countries are now members of the Hague Apostille Convention, including the United Kingdom, Kazakhstan and many countries across Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas. Member states recognise apostilles issued by other Convention countries and require foreign public documents to be properly legalised before they are accepted for official use.

Each Convention member state designates its own competent authority responsible for issuing apostilles. In the United Kingdom, apostille certificates are issued by the Legalisation Office of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO).

For UK apostille legalisation, original documents or properly certified copies are generally required to ensure authenticity and compliance with international legal standards.