Apostilles and certificates in Panama

What an apostille is

An apostille is a certificate that makes a public document valid internationally. It comes from the Hague Convention of October 5, 1961, which abolished the legalization of foreign public documents.

Panama has been a party since August 4, 1991, according to the official HCCH status table. As of June 30, 2026, it had 130 parties, including the United States, Colombia, Spain, Canada and China.

According to The ABCs of Apostilles, an apostille certifies the origin of the document: the signature, the seal and the capacity of the signer. It does not certify what the document says.

Before the apostille: prior authentication

In Panama, MIRE only apostilles signatures of officials registered with its Authentication and Legalization Department. According to MIRE's signature registry rules, the registered signature must match the one on the document exactly.

If your document was signed by a private entity, a school or a private doctor, it must be authenticated first. That can be by the relevant public institution or by a notary. This step is the most common cause of rejections.

Court documents follow a different route: the General Secretariat of the Supreme Court apostilles them, not MIRE.

If the destination country is not a party: consular legalization

An apostille only works between Convention countries. If the country where you will use the document is not a party, it is legalized instead: MIRE issues a certification and then that country's consulate legalizes it.

The HCCH advises contacting the embassy or consulate of the destination country in those cases. We check it for you before we start.

Apostille and certificate services we handle

Each document has its own path before it reaches MIRE. These pages explain each one in detail:

• Document apostille in Panama: requirements, fees and online apostille.
• Apostille of a university degree: diploma and transcripts.
• Apostille of birth and marriage certificates from the Electoral Tribunal.
• Apostille of a police record.
• Apostille of powers of attorney and notarial documents.
• Panama apostille from abroad, with international shipping.
• Public Registry certificates for land and companies, with apostille.

What apostilles and certificates cost

MIRE charges B/.2.00 per apostille or certification, plus stamps by document type. For example, an original university diploma is exempt and a police record pays B/.7.00, according to MIRE's fee schedule.

Our fee starts at US$50 per document apostilled in Panama, plus government fees. If you live abroad, it starts at US$75 per document, plus shipping. Public Registry certificates start at US$25 each, plus the Registry fee. For several documents, we offer volume pricing.