Translation department

Legalization and Apostille

Legalization is a validation of the document issued in one country to be presented in another one.

There are 2 types of legalization:

• Consular certification;
• Simplified legalization - Apostille.

Consular certification is a two-step procedure, as it requires to perform specific steps both in the country issuing the document and in the country receiving it. Unlike the Apostille it is used in the document exchange process between organizations from the countries which are not parties to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (signed on October 5, 1961).

Apostille is a more simple procedure comparing to Consular certification. Apostille is a special stamp or an allonge containing specified data, bounded to the document with threads or in some other way. It allows avoiding the consular certification and confirms the authenticity of the signature and position of the officer certifying the document (for example, Diploma) and authenticity of the stamps on it.

This stamp is put in the issuing country and valid in all countries which are parties to the Hague Convention.