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December 14, 2020
Commonwealth and Hague Apostille Convention
What is the Hague Apostille Convention?
The Apostille Convention, or the Apostille Treaty, is an international treaty drafted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law. The Hague Convention is a treaty that was passed in order to abolish the necessity for the authentication of documents and promote liberalization. Due to the introduction of the Hague Convention, barriers in trading and other areas have been reduced and there is better accessibility through the nations.
The Hague Convention Abolished the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents.
The main benefit of being participating country in Hague Convention is that When one obtains an apostille on documents once, there is no need for the same documents again for another signatory country.
Hague Apostille Members
Below are the countries that are participants of the Apostille Convention (Hague Treaty Convention 12) and the convention is in force with the United States of America.
Note: that the participant countries are in bold letters while those in Italics are not the members of the Hague Apostille Convention.
Hague Apostille Member Countries |
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Albania |
Denmark |
Lesotho |
Romania |
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Andorra |
Dominica |
Liberia |
Russian Federation |
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Antigua and Barbuda |
Dominican Republic |
Liechtenstein |
Saint Kitts and Nevis |
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Argentina |
Ecuador |
Lithuania |
Saint Lucia |
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Armenia |
El Salvador |
Luxembourg |
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines |
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Australia |
Estonia |
Malawi |
Samoa |
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Austria |
Eswatini |
Malta |
San Marino |
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Azerbaijan |
Fiji |
Marshall Islands |
Sao Tome and Principe |
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Bahamas |
Finland |
Mauritius |
Serbia |
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Bahrain |
France |
Mexico |
Seychelles |
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Barbados |
Georgia |
Monaco |
Slovakia |
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Belarus |
Germany |
Mongolia |
Slovenia |
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Belgium |
Greece |
Montenegro |
South Africa |
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Belize |
Grenada |
Morocco |
Spain |
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Bolivia |
Guatemala |
Namibia |
Suriname |
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Bosnia and Herzegovina |
Guyana |
Netherlands |
Sweden |
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Botswana |
Honduras |
New Zealand |
Switzerland |
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Brazil |
Hungary |
Nicaragua |
Tajikistan |
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Brunei Darussalam |
Iceland |
Niue |
Tonga |
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Bulgaria |
India |
Norway |
Trinidad and Tobago |
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Burundi |
Ireland |
Oman |
Tunisia |
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Cabo Verde |
Israel |
Palau |
Turkey |
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Chile |
Italy |
Panama |
Ukraine |
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People’s Republic of China |
Jamaica |
Paraguay |
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
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Colombia |
Japan |
Peru |
United States of America |
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Cook Islands |
Kazakhstan |
Philippines |
Uruguay |
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Costa Rica |
Korea, Republic of |
Poland |
Uzbekistan |
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Croatia |
Kosovo |
Portugal |
Vanuatu |
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Cyprus |
Kyrgyzstan |
Republic of Moldova |
Venezuela |
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Czech Republic |
Latvia |
Republic of North Macedonia |
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What is the Commonwealth?
The Commonwealth is an association of countries across the world. Although historically connected to the British Empire, any country can apply to be a member of the Commonwealth, regardless of its intersection with Britain’s colonial past. The Commonwealth consists of 54 countries, including India.
List of Commonwealth Countries – voting rights |
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Antigua and Barbuda |
28. |
New Zealand |
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Australia |
29. |
Nigeria |
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Bangladesh |
30. |
Pakistan |
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Barbados |
31. |
Papua New Guinea |
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Belize |
32. |
Republic of Cyprus* |
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Botswana |
33. |
Rwanda |
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Brunei |
34. |
Samoa |
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Cameroon |
35. |
Seychelles |
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Canada |
36. |
Sierra Leone |
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Dominica |
37. |
Singapore |
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Fiji |
38. |
Solomon Islands |
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The Gambia |
39. |
South Africa |
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Ghana |
40. |
Sri Lanka |
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Grenada |
41. |
St Christopher and Nevis |
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Guyana |
42. |
St Lucia |
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India |
43. |
St Vincent and the Grenadines |
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Jamaica |
44. |
Swaziland |
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Kenya |
45. |
The Bahamas |
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Kiribati |
46. |
Tonga |
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Lesotho |
47. |
Trinidad and Tobago |
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Malawi |
48. |
Tuvalu |
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Malaysia |
49. |
Uganda |
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Malta* |
50. |
United Kingdom* |
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Mauritius |
51. |
United Republic of Tanzania |
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Mozambique |
52. |
Vanuatu |
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Namibia |
53. |
Zambia |
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Nauru |
54. |
Zimbabwe |
These are 54 countries in the Commonwealth, in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific. Commonwealth countries are diverse – they are amongst the world’s biggest, smallest, richest and poorest countries.
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