What the counters here can issue
Two offices in this province put the Hague stamp on paper. The Prefettura, the state's local office, takes administrative papers: registry extracts, school records, health sheets. The Procura della Repubblica takes judicial and notarial acts, so a court ruling or a deed signed before a notary goes there. Which of the two you need turns on the paper in your hand, not on where it is going.
What our facts leave open
Here is the honest part. Italy has been inside the Hague Convention since 1978, and the Convention itself was drawn up in 1961. Our facts hold no accession year for Afghanistan, and they do not settle whether a stamped paper from here is treated as complete once it arrives. We will not fill that gap with a guess, because a wrong answer sends you down the wrong road for weeks.
So treat the apostille requirements for Afghanistan as an open question until the receiving office answers it in writing. That office might be a ministry, a university, an employer or a court. Ask it plainly whether the Hague stamp alone will do, or whether it also wants a step through a mission. Its written reply, kept on file, is worth more than any general guide.
The written question that settles it
Keep the question narrow. Say which paper you hold, who issued it and what it is for, then ask what document legalisation for Afghanistan that office expects to see. Ask for the answer by email, so you can show it later if a different clerk takes over. Ask also in whose name the file should arrive and who is allowed to collect it. Vague answers are the main reason a file bounces.
The route, in order
The order of work rarely changes. You obtain the paper, we check that its signature can be traced, the right counter adds the stamp, and the file moves on. The step people skip on an apostille from Italy to Afghanistan is the confirmation, and skipping it is what costs real money. Do the writing first and the queuing second, even when the deadline is tight.
Cost, spare copies and getting it there
Money is the simple part: a €16 tax stamp on each sheet, with some papers exempt. What varies is getting the stamped sheet into the hands that need it. Delivery routes change, so ask the reader how it wants the file to arrive and whether it will work from a scan while the paper travels. Order two sealed originals where the issuing office allows it, because a replacement takes far longer than a spare.