Saudi Arabia’s accession to the Hague Convention in December 2022 aimed to abolish the requirement for legalization of foreign documents – an apostille issued by the state of origin was supposed to remove the need for further certification by the destination state.
However, because it proved challenging for examiners at the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property (SAIP) to identify an apostille’s authenticity, the requirement for local attestation by the Saudi Ministry of Justice was introduced.
This requirement has been recently waived, as SAIP examiners are now able to identify an apostille’s authenticity after undergoing verification trainings.
By Sara Omran