Document attestation and apostille for Saudi Arabia, done right the first time.

Authenticating a foreign document so Saudi authorities accept it, by apostille or embassy legalisation, usually followed by Arabic translation.

A certificate from a Hague Apostille Convention member confirming that a public document’s signature, seal or stamp is genuine, so other members accept it without legalisation.

Yes, since the Convention entered into force for Saudi Arabia on 7 December 2022.

Loosely, yes. Legalisation usually means the embassy chain; attestation is often used for any authentication.

MISA and the Ministry of Commerce for formation, banks for the account, the passports directorate for residency, plus courts and notaries.

Not for use inside Saudi Arabia. For use abroad, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs issues the apostille, and its ratification portal can verify one.

A plain photocopy can’t. A certified copy made by a notary or the issuing body can.

A few days for an e-apostille; several weeks for a full embassy chain.

We plan and coordinate the route for any country, working with notaries and offices there. For Pakistani shareholders, our guide to forming a Saudi company from Pakistan shows where the documents fit.

Convention members, including the UK, the US, most of Europe, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Japan and Canada. The HCCH table lists them all.

An authority each country designates, often its foreign ministry or a court.

From members for which the Convention is in force with Saudi Arabia. We check the pair before anything is stamped.

No. The apostille replaces that step.

Yes. SAMA’s circular of 6 April 2023 tells banks an apostilled document needs no further stamp from MOFA or an embassy. Some banks kept refusing them, so SAMA repeated the instruction on 24 October 2023 (circular No. 2310250731).

Many carry a QR code or register number the issuing authority can check.

An apostille issued electronically. Bangladesh is one of the countries that issues them online.

A resolution is a private document. Notarising makes it a public document that can then be apostilled.

The Convention entered into force for India on 14 July 2005, for Pakistan on 9 March 2023 and for Bangladesh on 30 March 2025.

China’s membership took effect on 7 November 2023, Canada’s on 11 January 2024 and Vietnam’s on 11 September 2026.

Non-members such as the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Jordan, Egypt and Malaysia. The list shrinks over time, so we check the current status per country.

A notary, the issuing country’s foreign ministry, sometimes its chamber of commerce, then the Saudi embassy or consulate.

Sometimes. The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs ratifies papers inside the Kingdom, and it accepts a translation of a foreign document only when the original carries the full legalisation chain. We tell you if yours needs it.

No. The UAE is not a Convention member, so UAE papers are legalised through to the Saudi embassy or consulate.

Each office certifies the one before. A gap at the start invalidates everything after it.

In practice, no. Legalisation happens in the country that issued the document, because each office there certifies the signature of the one before it.

In some non-member countries, yes, before the foreign ministry.

Not beyond the embassy’s own service times. A correct chain avoids rejections, which is where time goes.

Yes, in almost every case. Saudi authorities work in Arabic, so foreign documents go in with a certified Arabic translation.

Certified translators whose work Saudi authorities accept. We arrange and check it.

After, so the translation covers the authentication stamps.

With a glossary: one Arabic form for each name across every document and registration.

Some authorities accept them; others still want a certified translation. We follow the receiving authority.

A few working days for a typical formation pack; longer for lengthy financial statements.

It is corrected and re-certified before filing.

Yes, through certified translators for that language.

So the people you name can sign and file with Saudi authorities on your behalf while you stay at home.

Only the steps needed, such as MISA, the CR, ZATCA and bank applications.

Before a notary in your country, then apostilled or legalised and translated.

Practice differs between Saudi missions. A local notary followed by an apostille or legalisation works from every country, so that is the route we plan.

Yes, through the Ministry of Justice’s Najiz services while you are in the Kingdom. MISA’s guide notes that a visitor first registers in Absher with the border number from their visa.

As long as its terms say, until revoked. Banks may ask for a recent one.

It can if drafted that way, but banks find one per company easier to accept.

Yes, by revocation and notice to those relying on it.

We work to three months, because older extracts get questioned.

Yes for MISA. Its guide asks for the last fiscal year’s statements “authenticated by the Saudi embassy”; from a Convention country, an apostille fills that role. See MISA registration.

For some work visas and professional registrations, often with verification by the relevant Saudi body.

Authenticated where issued and translated, for family residency. See visas and Iqama.

Where a visa needs one, it is obtained and authenticated in the issuing country.

Include the change-of-name certificate so the chain of names is clear.

Yes, if the papers are still recent when each one receives them. We order enough certified copies for all three. See corporate bank accounts.