Since the 16 th of March 1999, Venezuela has formed part of the AGREEMENT TO ABOLISH THE REQUIREMENT ON FOREIGN PUBLIC DOCUMENTS DRAWN UP IN THE HAGUE FROM BEING AUTHENTICATED, of the 5 th of October 1961. As a result, such Agreement will be applied to every public document which has been authorized in the United Kingdom, Great Britain, North Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and that must be presented in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

For the purposes of this agreement, the documents considered as public are:

• Documents emanating from an authority or a government employee linked to State Courts or Tribunals, including those coming from the Public Ministry, or from a secretary, an officer or a judicial agent.
• Administrative documents.
• Documents that are required to be registered.
• Official certificates that have been put on private documents, such as registry entries, verification of the accuracy of a date and official authentication and registration of signatures.

However this agrement will NOT apply to:

• Documents issued by diplomatic or consular agents
• Administrative documents directly related to a commercial or to customs operation.