1. What changed for the Americas
For most of Latin America, the apostille applies.
The exceptions are small and specific.
2. The parties
Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, Ecuador, Venezuela, Paraguay, Costa Rica, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and most of the Caribbean.
3. The non-parties
Cuba and a small number of others require legalisation.
4. The language
Spanish, and Portuguese for Brazil.
Notarised with the document.
5. The commercial document question
The invoice is notarised first, then apostilled.
Some customs authorities accept the apostille on the notarised invoice without question. Others query it at first, particularly where the broker has not seen one before.
6. The scenario
An exporter shipped to a smaller Central American market where the customs broker had not handled an apostille previously.
The broker queried the document, and the exporter supplied the Convention reference.
The goods cleared, a few days late.
7. The lesson
The document is correct. Familiarity at the port is a separate variable.
8. Closing view
The Americas are largely solved by the Convention.
The remaining friction is language, and occasionally the importing broker’s unfamiliarity.
*This article is based on the Apostille Convention status table, updated October 2026.*