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A typical situation assembled from practice; details are changed.
If a company's documents must reach Thailand before 28 February 2027, legalisation is the only route: notarisation, authentication by the issuing country's foreign ministry, then legalisation by a Royal Thai Embassy or Consulate. After that date, an apostille may replace the embassy step, but only if the country of issue has not objected and the office accepts it. Here the company split its set: the urgent part was legalised now, the rest waits for the objection question to settle.
The situation
A UK company is becoming a shareholder in a Thai company on Phuket. The first filing is due in January 2027; a second set — a shareholders' resolution and a power of attorney for a representative — follows a few months later. The director had heard Thailand is joining the Apostille Convention and asked whether to wait and apostille everything at once. We started with the filing date of each document, not the apostille: the date decides the route, and the Convention's entry into force changes nothing for papers due earlier.
Legalise now or apostille after 28 February 2027
Thailand deposited its accession to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention on 30 June 2026; it enters into force for Thailand on 28 February 2027. Existing states can object until about 30 December 2026, and the Convention then does not apply between Thailand and an objecting state. So far the HCCH status table lists no objection.
| Document set | When it's needed | Route | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full set for the first filing | January 2027 | Legalisation | Convention not in force until 28 February 2027 |
| Resolution and power of attorney for the second filing | Later in 2027 | Decided after 30 December 2026 | Depends on objections and office acceptance |
| Any document, if a state objects or the office won't confirm it accepts an apostille | After 28 February 2027 | Legalisation | Convention does not apply with an objecting state |
A second question has no official answer: will offices accept a document legalised before 28 February 2027 once filed after it? We ask in writing before relying on one. The wider transition rules are in the apostille from 2027.
Which documents were needed
We built the list from what the office asked for, because the ministry or bank that accepts the documents sets its own requirements. For the first filing the company needed the certificate of incorporation, a current certificate of good standing from Companies House, the articles of association, a shareholders' resolution approving the investment, and a power of attorney for the representative.
How recent the certificate of good standing must be is also the office's call, so we confirmed it in writing before ordering it — otherwise it can age out while the rest of the chain runs. What Thai partners prepare, and how company registration in Thailand works, is on a separate page.
Check your own country on the HCCH table
Outside the UK the dates and the objection rule are the same, but the states that object differ by country of issue. The HCCH status table shows, for every Contracting Party, whether it has objected to Thailand — check it for your own country. So far none has. In recent accessions, Germany, Austria, Greece and Czechia objected to Algeria and Vietnam joining, so objections do happen.
What was chosen and how long it took
The set was split, and each part took its own route.
- Our lawyers asked the office in writing for the document list, the required form, the age limit for the certificate of good standing and the translation rules.
- The January documents were notarised in the UK, authenticated by the FCDO, and legalised by the Royal Thai Embassy in London, with a Thai translation where required.
- For the later filing, we set a review of the HCCH table for after 30 December 2026: apostille if the UK has not objected and the office accepts it, otherwise the same chain as the first.
Timing depends on the queues at the notary, the FCDO and the embassy, so we set a schedule only after checking each office's requirements, not in advance. We agree the cost of our work and fix it before we start: [price].
If your situation is similar
The filing date decides the route, not the date the Convention takes effect: anything due before 28 February 2027 goes through legalisation, and a decision on later documents waits until after 30 December 2026, once the objection picture is clear.
How we run documents through the chain is on the page document legalisation for Thailand. Send us your document list and filing date, and we will set out the route for each one and reply within 24 hours.
