Apostille Services: When to Pay, and When to Do It Yourself
The FCDO charges £45, the US State Department $20 and Global Affairs Canada nothing. What a service adds, when that is worth it, and when it is being sold.
Apostilles, consular legalisation and sworn translation, explained by jurisdiction and dated — including the steps you are sold and do not need.
Recent
China Joined the Apostille Convention in November 2023. Here Is What Changed
Since 7 November 2023 a document from another Contracting Party goes to mainland China on an apostille, not an embassy chain — with one country-pair exception.
How to Check Whether a Country Is in the Apostille Convention — and Why Last Year's Answer May Be Wrong
Reading the HCCH status table: accession date against entry into force, an objection that suspends the Convention between two countries, and what a list misses.
Apostille, Consular Legalisation, or Neither: How to Tell Which One Your Document Needs
The three answers a public document can get, and the order to work through them: both countries' Convention status, the exemptions, then the chain.