Authentication of public documents to be available online from 2025

29 October 2024

On 12 September 2024, the Info-communications Media Development Authority (“IMDA”) and the Singapore Academy of Law (“SAL”) announced that public documents will be able to be authenticated for overseas use digitally from 2025. This process and the collaboration between IMDA and SAL are aimed at enhancing the efficiency, security, and reliability of document authentication. 

Online verification of documents 

From 2025, verification of documents will be able to be done online, with the relevant documents uploaded on to the SAL Legalisation Portal (https://legalisation.sal.sg/). Singapore will become one of the first countries in the world to authenticate public documents digitally through the e-Apostille framework, which is based on the World Wide Web Consortium’s (“W3C”) Verifiable Credentials (“VC”) specifications. The W3C VC standard is widely recognised and adopted, enabling better interoperability and acceptance by other countries. By adhering to this specification, the initiative aims to create a solution that is not only effective within Singapore, but also compatible with international systems and practices. 

Issuance of e-Apostille 

A digital certificate of authenticity, known as an e-Apostille, will be emailed to the user after verification. The cost for online authentication will be S$10.70, inclusive of GST, per document, which is the same as the cost of physically authenticating documents. SAL will continue to issue physical Apostilles as required. 

Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (“ACRA”) documents, such as Business Profiles (“BP”) and Business Certificates (“BC”) (Incorporation/Registration), make up about half of those submitted for legalisation and are used in various business-related activities requiring verification of key information about the business and the people involved in it. The new system utilises ACRA’s trustBar verification service to verify the authenticity of BPs and BCs before the legalisation of the documents and the issuance of the e-Apostille certification. Plans to support documents issued by other public agencies will be announced in due course. 

Reference materials 

The IMDA and SAL announcement on this development is available on the IMDA website www.imda.gov.sg.