Sowana reports – 20.03.2021 The Russian Government has approved a document regulating the procedure for processing an application for the electronic apostille of official documents to be exported abroad.
A request for an apostille on Russian official documents to be exported abroad can be submitted via the Unified Portal of State Services. The request must be signed with an advanced unqualified electronic signature. When verifying documents, the competent authorities will interact with each other via SEMS.
The electronic apostille will be issued by creating an electronic version with a two-dimensional barcode. Upon request of the applicant, the apostille will also be issued as a paper document. The apostille registry will also be maintained in electronic form. The decree will come into force on 01.06.2022.
Many countries already have electronic apostilled legal and other official documents: Georgia, Colombia, Andorra, part of Spain, New Zealand, Bulgaria, Belgium, USA, Moldova and some other states.
The very idea of electronic apostille is not only a convenient and modern innovation, but also guarantees a higher level of information security compared to the widely used paper apostille. The file is virtually impossible to forge, and any manipulations with it will make the created document invalid. In addition, the electronic apostille system allows for remote certification of official documents, as well as for tracking the facts of violations committed by notary bodies.
