Do Apostilles Expire?

The short answer

An apostille itself does not expire. The Hague Apostille Convention sets no validity period, and an apostille remains a valid certification of the signature it covers. However, the authority receiving your document can require that the document, or the apostille, be recent. Many immigration offices, consulates and civil registries only accept documents issued within the last three to six months, and some require background checks issued within the last 90 days. In practice, the age of your document is often what matters most.

Why recency rules exist

A birth certificate or background check reflects the facts on the day it was issued. A marriage may have ended, a name may have changed, or a criminal record may have changed since then. Authorities that need current information set their own rules about how recent a document must be. These rules come from the receiving country or office, not from the Convention, so they vary widely.

Common recency requirements

These are typical patterns, not rules. Always follow the checklist from the office receiving your documents.

Does the apostille date or the document date count?

It depends on the office. Some count from the date the document was issued, some from the date of the apostille, and some from the date of translation. When an office says documents must be "issued within six months," it usually means the underlying document. When timing is tight, we order fresh certified copies so both dates are recent.

What about a notary's commission expiring?

An apostille on a notarized document certifies that the notary held a valid commission on the day of the notarization. If the notary's commission later expires, the notarization and apostille remain valid. A receiving office may still ask for a recently signed document for its own reasons.

How to time your documents

• Start with the slowest document. FBI background checks and their federal apostilles take the longest, so start them first. See How to Apostille an FBI Background Check.
• Work backward from your appointment. Plan for documents to be issued close enough to your appointment to meet the recency rule, with time left for apostilles, translation and shipping.
• Order new certified copies. An old certified copy from your files may be too old, even if it is perfectly valid.
• Ask about translations. Some countries also require the translation to be recent.
• Use our planner. Our free Document Route Planner maps your steps and deadline by country.

If your documents are already too old

If an office rejects a document because it is too old, you will usually need a newly issued copy and a new apostille. We order new Massachusetts vital records directly and coordinate records from other states, then apostille and return them quickly. See Vital Records Retrieval and Rush Apostille.

Country examples

Recency rules differ widely. Spanish authorities commonly require criminal background checks issued within a few months of the application. Italian consulates handling citizenship files publish their own instructions on how recent civil records must be. Portuguese visa checklists frequently specify how recent background checks and bank statements must be. Requirements change often, so we review the current checklist with every order rather than relying on what applied last year. See Spain, Italian Citizenship and Portugal D7.

A sample timeline

Adjust the timeline to your destination's recency rule. If documents must be issued within 90 days, avoid ordering them too early.