Does an Apostille Expire?

Short answer: no. An apostille does not expire. The certificate has no expiration date, and it stays valid for as long as the document it is attached to. What changes over time is not the apostille. It is whether the authority receiving your document still accepts the underlying document as current.

Why an apostille cannot expire

An apostille certifies one narrow thing: that the signature and seal on a document are genuine, and that the person who signed it held the office they claimed at the time of signing. That fact about the past does not change, so the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention gave the certificate no expiry date. The apostille records who signed the document, in what capacity, and which authority issued the certificate. None of that runs out.

What does have a shelf life: the document underneath

Receiving authorities abroad judge the document, not just the certificate attached to it. Background checks are the clearest example: many employers and immigration authorities treat an FBI background check as a snapshot and only accept one issued recently, apostille or not. Certified copies of birth, marriage and other vital records can be treated the same way, with some authorities requiring a recently issued copy rather than one kept in a drawer for years. If the underlying document is too old for the receiving authority, the apostille on it does not rescue it.

So is my old apostille still good?

Usually, yes, if the document underneath is still the document the receiving authority wants. An apostille issued years ago on a birth certificate is still a valid apostille. The real question is not whether the apostille expired, but whether the office receiving the document will accept a document of that age and type. That answer belongs to the receiving authority in the destination country, and it differs by country and by purpose: employment, residency, marriage, property.

When a new apostille is the answer

A new apostille is needed when the document itself changes:

• The underlying document was reissued or replaced.

• The receiving authority requires a more recently issued document, such as a background check.

• The document is going to a different country than the one it was prepared for, and that country is outside the Hague Convention, so the legalization route applies instead.

There is no renewal. An apostille is not extended or refreshed. When a current document is required, the apostille is issued on that current document.

Questions we hear

Does an apostille have an expiration date?

No. The certificate has no expiry date. Any deadline you are running into concerns the age of the underlying document in the eyes of the receiving authority.

My apostille is several years old. Is it still valid?

The apostille is. Whether the package is accepted depends on the document under it and the rules of the office receiving it. Background checks are the documents most often refused for age.

Can an apostille be renewed?

No, because there is nothing to renew. If a current document is required, a new apostille is issued on that document.

Sources: Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH), Status Table for the 1961 Apostille Convention. Last verified October 26, 2026.

Not sure whether your document is still current enough for the country you are sending it to? Email me at jared@apostillellc.com or call 848-467-7740 to request my services or learn more.