Pakistani notarized documents will now be accepted in over 100 countries after President Dr. Arif Alvi approved the instrument of accession to the Apostille Convention to become its member.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Friday that Pakistan’s accession to Apostille Convention will facilitate and ease a significant burden on its citizens traveling and living abroad.
In a tweet today, the PM said that creating smooth processes for the citizens is a priority for the government.
“He further said that citizens will be able to notarize their important legal documents such as marriage certificates, degrees, and more via Ministry of Foreign Affairs-designated officials in Pakistan which will be internationally accepted without the need for any further verification.
Pakistan’s membership with the Apostille Convention would mean that documents originating from the country that is attested according to the requirements of the treaty will be accepted in the 122 countries that are its current members.
Similarly, the documents originating from other member countries would be acceptable in Pakistan.
According to the prime minister, the notarized documents will be internationally accepted without the need for any further verification.
Meanwhile, Head of Prime Minister’s Strategic Reforms Salman Sufi informed that the accession to Apostille Convention has been approved, terming it a big relief for overseas Pakistanis.
If duly attested as per the Apostille Convention guidelines by the country of origin, these documents will be accepted in Pakistan without any further authentication requirements. The existing process of attestation and legalization is confusing, time-consuming, cumbersome, and costly for most people, and becoming a formal member of the Apostille Convention will facilitate millions of overseas Pakistanis.
The “Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents” (HCCH 1961 Apostille Convention) signed on October 5, 1961, facilitates the use of public documents abroad.
The process aims to abolish the traditional requirement of the legalization of documents, replacing the often lengthy and costly legalization process with the issuance of a single Apostille certificate by a Competent Authority in the place where the document originated.
