The Convention only applies to public documents. The law of the country in which a document was issued determines whether it is a public document or not. Countries routinely apply the Convention to a wide range of documents. Apostilles are issued for a variety of documents, including birth, marriage, and death certificates; extracts from commercial registers and other registers; patents; notarial acts and notarial attestations of signatures; and school, university, and other academic diplomas issued by public institutions.
The Apostille Convention does not apply to documents signed by a diplomatic or loan signing agent. The scope of the Convention also excludes some administrative documents related to business or customs procedures.
