France Apostille Service

Certify documents issued in France for official use in the United States and abroad - apostille stamps from the Court of Appeal and Legalization of documents at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Certify documents issued in France for international use
Apostilles in France can be obtained to authenticate official French documents such as Criminal Record Extracts (Extrait de Casier Judiciaire), birth and marriage certificates, Kbis company extracts, university diplomas and transcripts and notarized documents,

Apostilles on French documents can normally be obtained in 1-2 weeks from the Court of Appeal. French documents required for countries that do not recognise apostilles, such as Qatar, Vietnam, UAE or Taiwan, are legalized by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then at the respective embassy:

Right arrowFAQs - France Apostille Services

Right arrowGet a Quotation to Apostille French Documents

Right arrowCertify international documents for use in France

French Documents that can be authenticated with Apostille Stamps

  • Apostille French birth certificates, death certificates and marriage records at the Court of Appeal.

    Civil status documents

    We apostille French birth certificates, death certificates and marriage records at the Court of Appeal. Civil status certificates are available from the Mayor’s Office in the municipality where the event took place and can also be ordered online.
    Right arrowFrance Civil Status Extracts
  • apostille French Criminal Record Extracts at the Court of Appeal of Rennes

    Criminal Record Certificates

    We apostille French Criminal Record Extracts (Extrait de Casier Judiciaire) at the Court of Appeal of Rennes. To obtain an apostille, we need the digital certificate issued by the Ministry of Justice – it should be no more than 3 months old.
    Right arrowFrance Criminal Record Certificates
  • Apostille French university degrees and course transcripts, legalize at embassy of UAE and Qatar in Paris

    University Degrees

    To legalize French university degrees and course transcripts, certified copies are made. These can then be authenticated with an Apostille Stamp or by the Foreign Ministry and respective embassy.
    Right arrowFrench academic diplomas
  • Apostille certified copies of French ID cards and passports

    Certified Copies

    Copies of documents such as French identity cards, passports and family records can be legalized or apostilled, when certified as true copies of an administrative document by a town hall, prefecture or notary.
  • Apostille French Kbis Extract

    French Corporate Documents

    Documents certified by the corporate register (Infogreffe), including Certificates of Registration (Kbis Extracts) and Articles of Association.
  • Apostille French certificates of origin, GMP compliance and certificates of origin

    Trade documents

    Apostille French certificates of origin, certificates of free sale, commercial invoices, product health certificates, GMP certificates and other trade documents

  • Sworn Translations

    Official translations must be performed by a sworn translator and accompanied by the French original. The sworn translator’s signature must be authenticated by the town hall or notary.
    Right arrow Sworn translations in Denmark
  • Certificates of no impediment to marriage (certificat de célibat) can be authenticated when obtained from the local Mayor’s Office.

We will review your documents to ensure that everything is correctly prepared for submission to the Court of Appeal or Ministry of Foreign Affairs, avoiding unnecessary delays and expensive rejections. If you need help obtaining original French documents, such as birth certificates, criminal extracts or court document, please Contact us. We are here to help and happy to advise.

We also provide Apostille and legalization services for documents issued in French overseas departments and territories, as well documents issued in MC MonacoMonaco - AD AndorraAndorra

Examples of France Apostille Stamps

Obtaining Apostilles and legalizing documents in France

Isarey can obtain Apostille Stamps for your French documents. Our expert local team in France will ensure that your documents are attested securely and successfully in the shortest time. We will take care of the entire procedure, dealing with local notaries, embassies, translators and government agencies.

Isarey provides document attestation services in France to private, corporate and institutional clients worldwide. To find out about certifying French documents for use in the United States and abroad, use our online quotation form or email us a scan or description of the documents you need to certify. We will get back to you directly with a quotation and details of how to proceed:

6 steps to certify document issued in France

  1. Upload the documents you need attested or send them to us by email.
  2. Our experts will pre-check your documents to ensure that they are eligible for Apostille certification or consular legalization in the country where they are issued, and we’ll assist you locally in preparing them if required.
  3. We’ll send you a quotation with the total cost of the process (final price including all fees, certified translation when required and courier costs) and an estimation of how long the process will take to complete.
  4. We’ll arrange a secure courier to collect your original documents (where electronic versions are not sufficient).
  5. As soon as we receive your documents, we will confirm your order and proceed with the attestation process. Where appropriate, we will arrange certified copies for the attestation process so that we can return your originals directly.
  6. We return the attested documents to you by secure international courier.

Legalize French Documents

French documents can be legalized for cross-border use by means of Apostille Certification or Consular Legalization

Apostille Certification

An Apostille Stamp is a simplified procedure of international attestation. When affixed to documents, Apostilles are directly recognised by the authorities of over 120 countries (Signatories of the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents Hague Apostille ConventionExternal link (opens in new tab)) as certifying the document’s validity, without requiring additional certification.

Since France is a signatory to the convention, Isarey can assist by obtaining Apostille Certification for French documents so that they are valid for official use in other signatory countries, including: ES SpainSpain - IT ItalyItaly - PT PortugalPortugal - GR GreeceGreece - CY CyprusCyprus - SA Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia - DE GermanyGermany - CN ChinaChina

See additional notes below

French Apostille Stamps are issued by Courts of Appeal. Each Court of Appeal is responsible for authenticating documents issued within their zone of jurisdiction. Criminal record certificates are authenticated by the Court of Appeal in Rennes.

Consular Legalization
Consular Legalization is required when a document from France is to be used in a non-signatory country. In this case, following authentication by authorities in France, the document must be certified a second time in France by the embassy representing the country where the document is to be used.

Countries which do not recognise Apostille certification and require consular legalization include: AE United Arab EmiratesUnited Arab Emirates - QA QatarQatar - TH ThailandThailand - TW TaiwanTaiwan - VN VietnamVietnam

French documents required for submission to non-apostille countries are legalized by the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (Ministère de l’Europe et des Affaires Étrangères) for final attestation by the embassy of the recipient country in Paris.

European Union

Submission within the European Union
Certain French documents do not require Apostilles when they are presented to authorities of other European Union countries (the receiving authority should accept the original or a certified copy).

When applying for certain public documents, a multilingual standard form may be requested to accompany the original. A multilingual standard form must always be issued and signed by a French authority, providing a translation aid designed to help the receiving authority to understand a public document which is in a language not accepted by the receiving EU country.
See: A multilingual standard form is a translation aid designed to help the receiving authority to understand a public document which is in a language not accepted by the receiving EU country. EU Multilingual standard formsExternal link (opens in new tab)

French documents not requiring Apostilles include birth, death, marriage certificates, absence of a criminal record (a clean criminal record of a French citizen), certificates of nationality and residence:
See: Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 on promoting the free movement of citizens by simplifying the requirements for presenting certain public documents in the EU Regulation (EU) 2016/1191External link (opens in new tab)

Other French documents, including academic certificates, still require Apostille certification and certified translation to be valid in other EU countries.

Civil status certificates (multilingual extracts from the civil status registers)
French birth, marriage and death certificates) issued in accordance with the conventions of the International Commission on Civil and Civil Status should not require Apostille Stamps when being submitted to one of the following countries:

Austria, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cape Verde, Estonia, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey.

Certified Translation

Where French documents are to be used abroad and where the receiving country has a different official language, a sworn or certified may also be required. Isarey takes care of any certified translations required as part of the document attestation process, ensuring that translations are carried out and certified in accordance with local regulations.

Right arrowCertified French Translations

To legalize or Apostille a document translated from French for use outside the European Union, a sworn translation (traducteur assermenté) must be presented along with the original document. The translation must be done by a sworn translator (traducteur agréé) registered with the Court of Appeal, and the translator's signature must be certified by the Town Hall or by a French notary.

A certified translation on its own only provides assurance that the translation itself is accurate and true; it does not confirm the authenticity of the original document. The original document must be legalized for a certified translation to carry equivalent legal weight.

France Document Resources

External resources and news about French documents, apostilles and certification procedures.

FR
France Document Resources
Apostilles and Legalization
Decree No. 2021-1205 of 17 September 2021 on the legalisation and apostille of public documents
Decree No. 2021-1205 of 17 September 2021 on the legalisation and apostille of public documents
Right arrowwww.legifrance.gouv.fr

Regulatory provisions relating to the legalisation and apostille of French public documents - the decree defines legalization, apostille and public acts. Unless otherwise agreed by international commitment, any French public document intended to be produced abroad must be legalised. Legalisation is the formality by which the veracity of the signature of the author of the deed, the capacity in which the signatory of the deed acted and, where applicable, the identity of the seal or stamp with which the deed is affixed is attested.

Summary table of the current state of the law in matters of legalization (PDF)
Summary table of the current state of the law in matters of legalization (PDF)
Right arrowwww.diplomatie.gouv.fr

This table concerns documents issued by French authorities which must be presented abroad. It lists, by country and document type, whether a French document requires an Apostille, Consular legalization or if the requirement for further authentication is waived by bilateral or international convention.

Birth, Death, Marriage Certificates
Guidance: When someone dies in France
Guidance: When someone dies in France
Right arrowwww.gov.uk

The process when a British national dies in France, including registering the death, funerals and cremations, and bringing the person’s body to the UK.

Find a French will
Find a French will
Right arrowwww.notaires.fr

Search for a French will in the Central Database of Last Will Dispositions to obtain the name and contact details of the notarial office which holds the will.

Corporate documents
Kbis Extract
Kbis Extract
Right arrowwww.infogreffe.com

The Kbis extract in France provides a certified identification snapshot of a French company. It is valid for 3 months from issue.
The Kbis confirms the identity and address of the company, its business activity, legal form, SIREN identification number, Directors etc. It also confirms whether or not insolvency proceedings have been brought against the company. A Kbis Extract can be certified for presentation abroad by Apostille at the Court of Appeal or legalized by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Criminal Record Certificates
Apply online for the French National Criminal Record Certificate
Apply online for the French National Criminal Record Certificate
Right arrowcasier-judiciaire.justice.gouv.fr

French National Criminal Record Certificate (Extrait du Casier Judiciaire Bulletin nº 3). Applications can be made online. May only be issued to the person concerned and may never be issued to a third party. French criminal record certificates are issued digitally and don’t need to be presented physically for apostille or legalization.

Notary Services
Find a notary in France
Find a notary in France
Right arrowwww.notaires.fr

The French notaire is a legal specialist with a mission of public authority to draw up authenticated contracts on behalf of clients. They have the power to authenticate acts by affixing their seal and signature and issue notarial certificates in respect of documents and persons

FR
France Document News
Attestation: The magic 'key' to French bureaucracy problems
Right arrowwww.thelocal.fr
If you're stuck in a French bureaucracy quagmire, there is one document that might be able to get you out. Here's how the attestation works and how to get one.

The above links are provided as a convenience and for informational purposes only; Isarey bears no responsibility for the accuracy, content or policies of external websites.

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