# Check an apostille you receive

Lesson 1 of [Verify apostilles and choose document services](https://apostilles.fyi/academy/verify-apostilles-and-document-services.md), 18 minutes.

If you receive an apostilled document, check the apostille before you rely on it.

## Read the certificate

The Convention sets a model form for the apostille. Its numbered fields include:

- the country the document comes from
- the person who signed the document, and in what capacity
- the seal or stamp on the document
- the place and date the apostille was issued
- the authority that issued it
- the certificate number

Read each field. Compare the country and the signer with the document underneath.

## Check the issuing office

The HCCH authority record for each contracting party names the offices that the party designated. Compare the issuing authority on the certificate with that record. If you cannot match them, contact an office that the record names and ask.

## Check the register

Many issuing offices run a public register. You enter the certificate number, and the register confirms the apostille. The guides on this site, updated 7 October 2026, name registers run by Ireland, by Global Affairs Canada (for apostilles from Ottawa, Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia), by Quebec, by Singapore and by Hong Kong. If a number does not verify, phone or write to the issuing office. Do not give the certificate the benefit of the doubt.

## What a valid apostille does not prove

- It does not prove that the content of the document is true. Your organisation still judges the content under its own rules.
- It does not prove that the person who hands you the document is the person named on it.
- It does not replace consular legalization for a country outside the Convention.

## Electronic apostilles

An e-apostille has the same standing under the Convention as a paper one. Your own systems decide if you can read and check it. If your organisation accepts only paper, say so in your instructions to applicants.

## Sources

- HCCH, Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, Annex (model certificate): https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/full-text/?cid=41
- HCCH Apostille Section, United States authority record (an example): https://www.hcch.net/en/states/authorities/details3/?aid=353
- Apostille Finder guides: Electronic apostilles and online registers; Apostille or legalization: which one your document needs (both updated 2026-10-07)

This course is general information, not medical, legal or financial advice.

Also on the [web page](https://apostilles.fyi/academy/verify-apostilles-and-document-services/check-an-apostille-you-receive).