Is your paper going to a country that does not take an apostille alone? Then it may need one more stamp from that country's embassy. Our document legalisation services in Singapore take care of the whole chain for you, from the notary to the embassy counter.
We help people and companies send papers to places like the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Cambodia, Myanmar and Taiwan. Our embassy legalisation in Singapore covers school papers, family papers, work letters and company papers. If a paper is in the wrong language, we translate it first.
Before we start, we check your country on the official Hague list. Some countries joined the Apostille Convention in the last few years, and old advice online may be wrong. We tell you the shortest correct path, so you do not pay for a stamp you do not need.
You get a scan by email at each stage, so you always know where your papers are. The finished set comes back by courier in Singapore, or you can collect it at Suntec Tower One. Send us your papers and the country name for a free quote before you pay.
Notary, SAL and Embassy Covered
Country Checked Before You Pay
Papers for the Gulf Region
Translation Added When Needed
Legalisation Quote
Think of SAL authentication and embassy legalisation as a chain of stamps. Each stamp proves the one before it is real. Since 20 January 2021, the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) does the job MFA used to do. If your paper is not in the right language, start with a notarised translation ready for the SAL step.
A Singapore Notary Public checks your paper and signs a notarial certificate. If a translation is needed, we prepare it, and the notary seals it too.
SAL makes sure the notary's signature and seal are real. Since 16 September 2021, it adds its own certificate, in apostille form, to every paper, wherever it is going.
The embassy of a non-member country in Singapore then adds its stamp. Some countries, like the UAE, also ask their foreign ministry to stamp it after the paper arrives.
Based on the legalisation pages at legalisation.sal.sg (Singapore Academy of Law) and the Apostille status table at hcch.net, checked in October 2026. Each embassy sets its own rules, fees and waiting times, and these can change. Please also check with the office that will receive your papers.
Here are six common reasons people ask for legalisation of documents for overseas use in non-member countries. For a job in the Middle East, a degree translation with a notary seal is often the first paper the employer asks for.
Employers and visa offices in these countries often want your degree and records stamped by their embassy. The UAE may also want a stamp from its ministry later.
Papers often asked for
Papers for Taiwan usually go to the Taipei Representative Office in Singapore. They often need to be in Traditional Chinese first.
Papers often asked for
Opening a branch or filing a trademark abroad often needs company papers with an embassy stamp. A board paper may need a director to sign before a notary.
Papers often asked for
Some buyers abroad want trade papers legalised. These papers must first be checked by a Singapore business chamber before SAL will take them.
Papers often asked for
Registering a marriage or a child in Cambodia or Myanmar may need papers with an embassy stamp. Each office has its own list, so ask them first.
Papers often asked for
Selling land or settling a family estate in a non-member country often needs legalised papers. Banks there may also ask for an embassy stamp.
Papers often asked for
Not sure if your country needs an embassy stamp at all? Send us the country name and the office, and we will check the list and tell you the right path.
Check My CountryThese are the papers we see most for document legalisation for non-Apostille countries. Some are Singapore government papers. Others are private papers that need a notary first.
Our consular legalisation service follows four clear steps. You always know which stamp your paper is waiting for.
Hire Notarized TranslatorSend a clear scan or photo of each paper. Tell us the country, the office and what the paper is for. We check if the country is on the Hague list or needs an embassy stamp. If the embassy gave you a checklist, send it too. This first check is free, and it stops you from paying for steps that you do not need.
We send a free quote and a short plan. It shows each stamp in order: notary, SAL, embassy and, if needed, translation. It also says if we need your original paper by post or by hand. Pay by Visa, Mastercard, PayNow or PayLah. We only start the work after you say yes, so nothing extra is added later.
Our translator prepares any translation you need, and a Singapore Notary Public signs and seals the set. This works the same for a school paper or a power of attorney translation for use overseas. Then the set goes to the SAL counter. A helper can go for you, so you do not need to stand in line yourself.
Next, the set goes to the embassy or office of your country in Singapore for its stamp. Each embassy has its own days, rules and waiting time, and we keep you updated. When the last stamp is done, we email you a scan. The paper set comes to you by courier, or you can collect it from Suntec Tower One.
Get Your Document Legalised
Many embassies want your paper in their own language before they stamp it. When legalising papers for the UAE, Qatar or Kuwait, an Arabic version is often asked for. Papers for Taiwan usually need Traditional Chinese, and papers for Cambodia may need Khmer. We work in more than 200 languages, both into English and out of English.
The translation must be done and sealed before SAL sees the paper, so the order matters. If you only need the translation part, see our translation notarised before legalisation page. If your language is rare, just ask. We will find the right translator.
Chinese (Simplified)
简体中文
Malay
Bahasa Melayu
Tamil
தமிழ்
Indonesian
Bahasa Indonesia
Japanese
日本語
French
Français
Chinese (Traditional)
繁體中文
Spanish
Español
Hindi
हिन्दी
Vietnamese
Tiếng Việt
Thai
ภาษาไทย
Danish
Dansk
Czech
Čeština
Burmese
မြန်မာ
Sinhala
සිංහල
German
Deutsch
Portuguese
Português
Khmer
ខ្មែរ
Arabic
العربية
Dutch
Nederlands
Russian
Русский
Korean
한국어
Italian
Italiano
Hebrew
עברית
Norwegian
Norsk
Greek
Ελληνικά
Bengali
বাংলা
Romanian
Română
Persian
فارسی
Turkish
Türkçe
Tagalog
Wikang Tagalog
Urdu
اردو
Don't see your language? We translate 200+ languages, including rare and regional ones.
When the chain is done, your legalised document pack comes back as one joined set. Each stamp sits on top of the one before it, so the office abroad can follow the chain.
Please do not unstaple or split the set. Embassies and offices abroad may refuse papers that have been taken apart. For company deals, we can also add a notarised translation of a business agreement to the same set.
Your original or certified copy, with the translation joined to it when one is needed.
A page signed and sealed by a Singapore Notary Public. This is the page SAL checks.
SAL's stamp with a number that anyone can look up on the SAL website.
The stamp or sticker from your country's embassy or office in Singapore.
We email you a scan after each stamp. If the office abroad asks for a change to our translation, we fix it for free and have it sealed again.
These sample pages show how a translation looks before it goes to SAL and then to an embassy. Private details are hidden. More samples and services are shown on our page for trusted notarized translators in Singapore.
Read what clients say after their legalised papers for the Gulf and other places were accepted.
In each story, the first job was to find out which stamps for papers going abroad were really needed.
Two papers from Venezuela had to reach a US embassy. We looked at who would read them and kept the job to the steps that embassy really asked for.
Read Full Case Study
A client thought she needed SAL and more. One simple question about the reader showed that no extra stamps were needed at all.
Read Full Case Study
An easy guide to the SAL step. It shows where SAL fits in the chain and when a paper can skip it.
Read Full Case StudyTell us the country and the office that will read your papers. We will check the Hague list, plan each stamp and send a free quote. From the notary to the embassy, our help with embassy stamps for your documents starts with one simple message.
