Following Rwanda’s accession to the Apostille convention, Rwandans and the diaspora community will be able to receive foreign document authentication through Irembo, an e-government services platform.

A move announced by the government took immediate effect on June 5, whereas the country acceded to the Apostille convention in October 2023, and has become the first country to issue the documents electronically through email.

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The 1961 Apostille Convention was established to facilitate the use of public documents abroad by abolishing the requirement of legalisation for foreign Public documents.

An apostille is a certificate issued by a designated authority in a country that is a member of the Hague Apostille Convention, which verifies the authenticity of the document's origin, making it recognised and accepted in other member countries without further certification.

The commonly apostilled documents include birth certificates, marriage licenses, academic diplomas, and business documents.

The development, according to Alain Mukuralinda, Deputy Government Spokesperson, will address the challenge of having to undergo the often long and costly legalisation process and enhance the smooth running of other engagements for which the documents are needed.

"It used to take many days and lengthy queues in ministries’ offices for simple documents such as validating one’s school transcripts, birth certificates, and others to be taken and used in foreign countries. This is going to change.”

The process will now only involve the notary and application on Irembo which is expected to take a maximum of three days, instead of going through various institutions such as ministries and embassies, as it was previously.

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This will enhance the ease of doing business in the country for foreign investors and business actors given that they will acquire some of the necessary documents faster and online, Mukuralinda added.

However, he noted that this does not include documents that involve the transfer of movable and immovable properties, which will continue to be acquired through the existing process because of the complexities often surrounding them.

"When acceding to this convention, a country has an option to abstain from certain sections due to various reasons. Rwanda did not include providing those services [movable and immovable properties] due to the many challenges we continue to see during such process,” he explained.

Noella Dushime Kajeneri, Director of Business Development and Partnerships, Irembo, emphasised that the new services will be monitored for three months to assess whether the delivery period of within three days is convenient or can be adjusted.

The service fee ranges between Rwf2,000 and Rwf2,500 depending on the case of the document being requested, she added.

The electronic Apostille Programme (e-APP) was launched in 2006 to support the electronic issuance and verification of Apostilles around the world.

Sandrine Maziyateke Uwimbabazi, Director of Rwanda Community Abroad, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, said that two letters of recommendation that were previously provided by the foreign ministry for the diaspora community will also, henceforth, be acquired through Irembo.

These include the recommendation letter of tax exemption on properties for a Rwandan diaspora who decides to move back to the country permanently and a letter of recommendation for transfer of properties bought in the country such as land.

The Apostille Convention has over 127 Contracting Parties, and has become one of the most widely applied multilateral treaties in the area of legal cooperation, with several million Apostilles issued each year.

The contracting parties include members of the European Union, Asia, and African countries including Botswana, Burundi, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Morocco, Namibia, Tunisia, Swaziland, and South Africa.

Rwanda is now a Contracting Party to two HCCH Conventions, namely the 1961 Apostille Convention and the 1993 Adoption Convention.