What You Need for an Apostille: No Universal Checklist, Five Categories With Their Own Prerequisites

What the official version looks like, by category

• Civil registry. PSA-issued birth, marriage and death certificates and CENOMAR; no separate notarisation. Local civil registrar copies usually do not qualify. Since 16 March 2026 PSA electronic certificates are ordered through the PSA Helpline apostille channel and issued electronically for convention states.
• NBI clearance. The official version, which the DFA requires to carry a dry seal and be verifiable online; personal copies are not accepted. It ages, so filing too early can leave it unusable.
• Private documents. Powers of attorney, affidavits, consent letters and board resolutions need notarisation by a lawyer plus a Certificate of Authority for a Notarial Act from the supervising Regional Trial Court.
• Academic records. Certification from the relevant education regulator first; basic, higher and technical-vocational education go to different bodies, and higher-education electronic credentials have been fully digital since 16 March 2026.
• Corporate documents. Registration certificates, board resolutions and financial statements generally need an agency-certified copy or notarisation, and must first clear the Convention's exclusion of administrative documents dealing directly with commercial or customs operations.

What to bring on filing day

Filing yourself. Your valid government ID in original and photocopy — the DFA's application page lists acceptable IDs and the passport is among them — plus your online appointment confirmation. Counters have accepted online appointments only since 1 December 2024, and the venue is whatever the confirmation says.

Sending a representative. The owner does not have to appear. The representative brings 3 things: a signed authorisation letter, a photocopy of the owner's signed ID, and their own ID in original and photocopy. If you are abroad, the standard route is a special power of attorney, itself usually notarised and apostillised where you are.

Company representatives add proof of affiliation, such as a General Information Sheet or a company ID showing the position.

Two easily missed items: a minor's documents need the parents' original special power of attorney; and foreign nationals filing employment-related documents must present the DOLE Alien Employment Permit and the BI ACR I-Card.

Not sure which prerequisite your category still needs? → Send Yixing the document name and issuing agency and we will check the list against current practice

Versions that are never accepted

Four that are always refused: your own photocopy; a printed scan; a company-stamped certified true copy; and a document already outside the recipient's recency window. The first 3 share one flaw — the DFA verifies the issuing agency's signature and seal, and none of these carry it.

Three that look right but are one step short: a local civil registrar copy instead of the PSA version; a notarised private document without the court's CANA; an academic record taken straight from the school without regulator certification. None of these is impossible — each is simply missing one step.

Count your copies at step one. One apostille attaches to one document, and paper originals submitted to a registry, court or school are usually not returned. Two destinations means 2 complete sets, ordered together.

Two hard time rules: many receiving authorities want civil registry documents issued within 3 or 6 months, and uncollected apostilles are destroyed 3 months after the scheduled release date.

Yixing is a private consultancy registered in the Philippines (SEC No. CS202009551, BI Accreditation No. CA-202624381-1). We are not affiliated with the DFA, PSA, NBI or any embassy. We check document versions and prerequisites, book appointments, file and collect on your behalf, and arrange translation; acceptance is decided by the issuing authority and the receiving party, and we do not promise outcomes. This article is general information, not legal advice; current practice is whatever the DFA Authentication Division publishes at the time.