Elimination of the obligation to apostille documents

The European Parliament and the Council approved regulation 1191/2016, which entered into force on the 16^th of February, 2019. It establishes that administrations cannot demand the apostille in public documents issued in another State of the European Union, in order to maintain an area of freedom, security and justice, without internal borders in which the free movement of people is guaranteed and for this the free circulation of public documents that facilitate this objective.

“All Member States are contracting parties to the Hague Convention of the 5^th of October 1961, which abolishes the requirement of legalization for foreign public documents that introduced a system to simplify the circulation of public documents issued by other Contracting States of said Agreement.”

The scope of the aforementioned regulation would deal with the following matters:

• the nationality;
• the address or residence;
• the name;
• the divorce, legal separation or annulment of marriage;
• the absence of a criminal record;
• the birth;
• the affiliation;
• proof of life;
• death;
• marriage (including the ability to marry and marital status);
• registered domestic partnership (including the ability to register as a member of a de facto union and the status of a member of a registered de facto union);
• the cancellation of the registration of a domestic partnership, judicial divorce or the annulment of a registered de facto union;
• the adoption;
• the right of active and passive suffrage in municipal elections and in elections to the European Parliament. 

This Regulation also applies to public documents whose presentation may be required of citizens of the Union residing in a Member State of which they are not nationals when they wish to exercise their right to active and passive suffrage in elections to the European Parliament or in municipal elections in their Member State of residence.

The documents referred to in the regulation and fall within its scope are the following:

·       Diplomatic and Consular.

·       Notarial records.

·       Judicial Documents.

·       Official certificates on private documents.