Apostille Belgium, Brussels
What is a Belgian apostille?
Belgian apostille – this is a square stamp whose content, purpose, and requirements are defined by the Hague Convention on Apostille of 1961. That is, the apostille in Belgium may only slightly differ from the internationally approved apostille. The Belgian apostille contains information in German, French, and Dutch (Flemish). There is no information in English about the data in the apostille.
Belgium was one of the very first countries to join the Hague Convention on Apostille. The apostille has been in effect in Belgium since December 11, 1975. Documents obtained before this date cannot be apostilled. Also, documents issued before 2019 already fall under the old format category. Such documents must be reissued as new format documents.
Belgium introduced electronic civil status documents (birth, marriage, death certificates, and others) on March 31, 2019. Since then, documents have been stored electronically in a national database called “Databank Akten van de Burgerlijke Stand” (DABS). This has accelerated the process of obtaining and processing documents, and also improved data accessibility for citizens and government agencies.
What does the Belgian Apostille look like?
Photo or view of the Belgian apostille:
Text of the Belgian Apostille
Dutch (Netherlands) / French / German language of the apostille in Belgium
Text shown on the image of the Belgian apostille:
APOSTILLE
(Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961)
1. Land/Pays/Land
BELGIË – BELGIQUE – BELGIEN
2. This public document has been signed by / The present act has been signed by / This public document is signed by
IBZ / DABS / BAEC / DPSU
3. Acting in the capacity of / Acting in the capacity of / In his/her capacity as
Federal Public Service / Federal Public Service / Federal Public Service
4. Is provided with the seal of / Is affixed with the seal of / It is provided with the seal of
FPS Home Affairs / SPF Interior / FÖD Interior
Certified true / Attested / Confirmed
5. In Brussels / In Brussels / In Brussels
6. On / On / On: __/__/2024
7. By FPS Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation / By SPF Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation / By FÖD Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation
8. Under no. / Under no. / Under no.: _____________
9. Stamp / Seal / Stamp
10. Signature / Signature / Signature:
_____________________________________________________
Additional text:
“Deze Apostille waarborgt de authenticiteit van de inhoud van het document niet.”
“Cette Apostille ne garantit pas l’authenticité du contenu du document.”
“Diese Apostille dient nicht dem Beweis des Authentizität des Inhalts des Dokuments.”
Translation of a Belgian apostille into Russian
(Hague Convention of 5 October 1961)
APOSTILLE (Hague Convention of 5 October 1961)
- Country BELGIUM
- This official document is signed by ____________
- Acting in the capacity of Federal Public Service / Federal Government Service
- Bearing the seal of Federal Public Service for Home Affairs
Certified as authentic
- In Brussels
- Date: __________
- Issued by the Federal Public Service for Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation
- Under number: __________________
- Seal / Stamp: (Royal Coat of Arms of Belgium)
- Signature: Digital signature of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium
“This apostille does not guarantee the authenticity of the document’s content.” “Cette Apostille ne garantit pas l’authenticité du contenu du document.” “This apostille is not proof of the authenticity of the document’s content.”
Apostille on documents of a firm, enterprise, LLC, JSC (apostille on constituent documents)
An apostille may be affixed to an extract about an LLC company from the commercial register of Belgium, specifically from the Crossroads Bank of Belgium, as well as other company documents: the charter and founding documents.
Why is an apostille needed if documents from Belgium already have an electronic signature of an official?
The fact is that many officials work in the ministries and departments, state bodies, archives, and civil registry offices of Belgium.
Officials change periodically. Therefore, there are many signatures, and they also change. To ensure the originality and truthfulness of a document and avoid forgeries, it is necessary to check whether the official’s signature matches the specimen of his signature and whether he actually signed the document.
On the scale of such a number of documents and such a number of officials, doing this is very difficult. It is especially difficult, many times more difficult, for those officials who receive your documents abroad.
That is why a system of confirming all signatures and seals by several persons arose – to facilitate the work of foreign officials. It also reduces the time for processing documents abroad, as well as the waiting time for applicants. In such a system, it is easier for local officials responsible for Apostille to verify signatures, seals, and the documents themselves (their forms and content).
Employees who have access to the internal database of signatures, seals, and document templates also enter a special registry with their signatures. However, this registry is limited to a dozen signatures, the samples of which are transmitted to other partner countries or are easily verified by them through other means.
There are two procedures of such confirmation. The first procedure is the most reliable – it is electronic document legalization. When documents are signed by the issuing official, then the document is certified by a ministry employee (usually the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), then the last signature is verified and certified by the consulate of the country where the documents need to be submitted. Verification is carried out based on a current database (list) of signatures – through a chain of three departments (institutions, state bodies).
Second procedure is based on greater trust and bypasses one authority, typically the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In this case, we are talking about an apostille. Electronic apostille replaces a special printed stamp of the established form and greatly simplifies the procedure for recognizing documents of one state – on the territory of another.
Why get an apostille if Belgian documents can be verified online?
Online document verification systems are a new solution for verifying the authenticity of documents. However, due to the requirements of international norms and international agreements and conventions, an apostille is still required for additional security to verify documents and the signatures of officials on them.
Can I get an apostille at the Belgian consulate?
According to the Hague Apostille Convention, the Apostille stamp for Belgian documents cannot be obtained at the Belgian consulate. And this does not depend on the country where the consulate is located, whether it is Moldova, Italy, Greece, and so on.
Is there an electronic apostille in Belgium – E-apostille?
In Belgium, the electronic apostille (e-Apostille) was introduced in 2021. This became possible thanks to the digitalization of processes at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium, which simplified and accelerated the procedure for obtaining an apostille. The electronic apostille allows documents to be officially certified in digital format and provides the ability to verify them online.
This system complies with the Hague Convention of 1961, which regulates the process of apostilling documents for use in international legal relations, and is part of the general trend towards digitalization of administrative services in the country.
The electronic apostille allows certification of birth and marriage certificates, medical documents, court orders, and other documents for use abroad.
How can I verify the electronic apostille?
The apostille is verified by the apostille order number and date of issue – through the QR code of the apostille located in the lower right corner of the apostille. Using the electronic apostille register, any interested party can visually verify the apostille of a document, including the apostilled document.
BUSINESS LIGA SRL · apostille.expert · +373 67 666 333 — material reviewed and published in full.