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Home →Documents and Forms →Account Opening and Maintenance →What is Apostille?

What is Apostille?

An Apostille is a form of verification issued by Competent Authority in the country verifying the signature and seal of a notary or other public officer, so that the document bearing his/her signature and seal can take effect in countries which have ratified the Hague Convention for the Abolition of Consular Legalisation of 1961. It is normally possible to obtain the Apostille on a same day or next day basis.


Q. Where can I get an Apostille?

The information on how to obtain an Apostille in your country will appear in new window.

Canadian citizens may contact us for information on how to authenticate your signature in Canada.

If your country is not listed above, please also check with an up-to-date list of member countries at the web site of Hague Convention as it is constantly changes.

You can also contact a notary to get an Apostille. Please note, that there are some countries that did not sign Hague Convention yet and thus no Apostilles can be obtained.

If your country is still not listed, please contact us to see if there are alternative ways of legalizing your documents.


Q. Why do I need one?

As you open a bank account by mail, you are not visiting the bank personally.

The people who process your application in the bank will not meet you in person and have to make sure that submitted documents are legally recognized in Latvia and your account application is legal according to the Latvian law.

To make legalization process simpler, many countries signed "Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents".

It allows members of this convention use standard form of verification, so-called Apostille, for the public documents intended to be used abroad:

  • documents issued by a state court;
  • administrative documents;
  • documents executed before a notary public;
  • official certificates which are placed on documents signed by persons in their private capacity, such as official certificates recording the registration of a document or the fact that it was in existence on a certain date and official and notarial authentications of signatures.


Q. Can I visit Rietumu Bank personally?

Sure! We encourage our customers to visit the Bank personally. Following the EU accession, getting to Riga has never been easier!

In this case, you do not require either notary public or Apostille for opening an account.

When opening a business account personally at the Bank, please make sure that you have originals of the corporate documents, which contain an Apostille.

You may schedule a meeting with us by e-mail at open.account@rietumu.lv or telephone at +371-67020560.

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