Russian Document Apostilles for Canada

On May 12, 2023, Canada joined the Hague Convention of 1961 to simplify document certification by way of the Apostille stamp. The convention will take effect for the country as of January 11, 2024. That means that from that date on, all that Russian documents will require will be that an apostille be stamped on them. The former tedious, multi-stage consular certification process will no longer be required. Recall that consulates and embassies do not provide apostille stamps.

Previously, Russian documents only held legal force in Canada after completing full consular certification procedure (with the exception of educational documents, which required an apostille). Certification consisted of the following steps:

• Step 1: a notarial copy of the original (exception: documents processed by a notary, such as powers of attorney, consent forms, agreements, etc.).
• Step 2: a translation into English or French with the translation subsequently notarized.
• Step 3: submission of the documents to the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation.
• Step 4: submission of the documents to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
• Step 5: submission of the documents to the consular department of the embassy of the Canadian Embassy in Moscow.

An apostille is an international standardized form for updating information regarding the legality of a document to be presented on the territory of countries that recognize said form of certification. An apostille stamp is placed on the original and a notarized copy of the official document.

An apostille doesn't require any other form of certification or legalization for the document and is recognized by the official authorities of all nations that are party to the Hague Convention of 1961. You can acquaint yourself with the list of countries that have signed this convention in the public domain.

An apostille may not be used in the case that the corresponding agreement has been made between countries. It’s also important to know that not all documents are subject to the apostilling procedure.

In other words, an apostille is a simplified form of document certification for countries that have signed the Hague Convention of 1961.

You can find out about how apostilles are stamped, which types of documents are apostilled, and which authorities of the Russian Federation are able to stamp apostilles on our website or from our company's professionals.

REMEMBER! Always have your host party explain how to have your documents processed, such as whether or not to have an apostille stamped on them, and whether they will require a notarized translation.