Apostille and exemption from legalization
What it is
An Apostille is a certificate, issued under the terms of the Hague Apostille Convention, which authenticates the origin of a public document.
To find out if you need to apostille a document so that it can take effect in another country, you must first identify whether the countries where the document is issued and where it is destined are on the list of countries that are party to the Apostille Convention. Both Brazil and Japan are party to the Convention, so in order for public documents issued by Japanese authorities to be valid in Brazil, consular legalization has been replaced by the issuance of the Hague Apostille, which will be attached to the document.
⚠️ The Consulate General does not legalize Japanese public documents.
⚠️ If the country of origin or destination of the document is not on the list of countries party to the Apostille Convention, the document must be legalized.
How to apply
Documents issued by Japanese governmental or notarial authorities must be apostilled (アポスティーユ) by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Gaimusho - 外務省) or by a Japanese notary public in order to have effect in Brazil.
In the prefectures of Tokyo, Kanagawa and Miyagi, as well as in the Sapporo metropolitan area, notaries public are also authorized to apostille documents themselves.
In other regions, documents notarized by notaries need to be sent to the Gaimusho to be apostilled.
Here are the places where you can apply for an apostille, depending on the type of document:
| Gaimusho | Notary public |
| School documents | Power of attorney |
| Koseki touhon | Declaration |
| Birth certificate | Gensen choshu hyo (源泉徴収票) |
| Marriage certificate | Technical and vocational course certificate |
| Divorce certificate | |
| Death certificate | |
| Tax declarations | |
| Legal documents | |
| Articles of association (Toukibou) |
💡 See the Gaimusho website for information on which Japanese documents can and cannot be apostilled.
Notes
- The services of notarization and authentication of copies are not covered by the "Apostille Convention" and therefore continue to be provided normally by the Consulate General.
- Administrative documents directly related to commercial or customs operations, authenticated by the Chamber of Commerce (Shōkō kaigisho - 商工会議所), cannot be apostilled. Such documents must be legalized by the Consulate in order to have legal effect in Brazil.