- On 14 May 2019, the Philippines becomes a member of the Apostille Convention. This development will benefit many, but not all, persons with public documents.
DOCUMENTS SIGNED OR ISSUED IN DENMARK FOR USE IN THE PHILIPPINES:
- Documents issued and notarized in Denmark and apostillized or legalized by the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs on or after 14 May 2019 NEED NOT be authenticated (or attached with a red ribbon) by the Philippine Embassy in Copenhagen.
- Examples of such documents are: business permits, government licenses and clearances, school records or diplomas, bank statements and other documents consularized or notarized by local authorities.
- The following documents still need to be acknowledged (or attached with a red ribbon) and the contents thereof verified by the Philippine Embassy:
- Au pair contracts (requirement of the Commission on Filipinos Overseas for the Country Familiarization Seminar)
- Employment contracts (requirement of the Philippine Overseas Employment Agency for the Overseas Employment Certificate)
- Affidavits and SPAs which are not notarized by a local notary.
- Births, marriages and deaths which occurred in Denmark are not affected and still need to be reported to the Philippine Embassy.
DOCUMENTS SIGNED OR ISSUED IN THE PHILIPPINES FOR USE IN DENMARK:
- Beginning 14 May 2019, for documents issued in the Philippines for use in Denmark, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) will issue Apostilles instead of authentication certificates (red ribbon). Apostillized documents need not be legalized by the Danish Embassy in Manila.
- For example, marriage contracts and birth certificates issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority for use for family reunification in Denmark have to be apostillized by the DFA. The apostillized document will be recognized in Denmark. There is no more need to have the document legalized by the Danish Embassy in Manila.
