Starting today, May 14, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will no longer be issuing authentication certificates for documentation to be used overseas and will instead begin providing an apostille, which is a form that is attached to original documentation to prove authenticity.

According to an advisory recently put out by the DFA, the process is in compliance with the Apostille Convention, which applies to 117 nations and territories. Drafted by the Hague Conference on Private International Law, the policy seeks to eliminate the practice of “double certification.”

However, for the Philippines, an apostille will not be recognized in Austria, Finland, Germany, and Greece. In those cases, the formal authentication process will still be required.

In addition, popular destinations for overseas Filipino workers, such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates are not part of the Apostille Convention./WDJ