DUBAI: Amid mounting confusion over the Red Ribbon authentication system of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), Consul General Paul Raymund Cortes tonight clarified that the policy remains in effect because the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is not a signatory to the Apostille Convention on Authentication of Documents, which took effect in the Philippines on May 14, 2019.
“The Consulate will still notarize documents though it will not put a red ribbon on the documents anymore. It will simply affix the consulate’s seal on to the set of documents to be notarized,” Cortes told The Filipino Times.
According to a DFA public advisory issued, public documents executed in Apostille-contracting countries and territories, except for Austria, Finland, Germany and Greece, to be used in the Philippines no longer have to be authenticated by the Philippine Embassy or Consulate General once Apostillized.
“However, in countries and territories which are not Apostille-contracting parties, the previous process of authentication applies. Documents still have to be authenticated by the Philippine Embassy or Consulate General before they can be used in the Philippines. Also, there is still a need for authentication (legalization) by the concerned Foreign Embassies or Consulates General if the country of destination of the authenticated document is not yet a member of the Apostille Convention,” the advisory stated.
It added that authentication fees will remain at PhP100 for regular processing and PhP200 for expedited processing per document.
Check the details here: Implementation of the Apostille by DFA
