The one-stamp system
Between convention countries, the apostille replaces embassy chains: the issuing country’s designated authority stamps the public document once, and every other member accepts it. Corporate extracts, notarised powers of attorney, birth and marriage certificates — stamped at origin, valid here. Countries outside the convention run consular legalisation instead: the multi-step chain through ministries and the embassy, slower and plannable.
What actually needs stamping
The Dutch notary’s file asks for it where foreign public documents carry legal weight: the corporate shareholder’s extract and the signatory’s power of attorney are the classics in incorporations: the digital route’s file. Private documents travel by being notarised first (creating a public document), then apostilled. And documents in other languages add a sworn translation — ordered together with the stamp, arriving together.
The scheduling checklist
Per document: issue fresh (registries and banks want recency — under a month is the safe habit), notarise where needed, apostille at origin, sworn-translate, courier. Started the week the incorporation is decided, the stamps land before the notary needs them — the two-week delay in half of international formations is exactly this checklist, started late: the wider binder and the practical hub.