Legalization of documents for international use There are several kinds of legalization of documents issued in foreign states. It is as follows: A. Apostille B. Consular legalization C. According to reciprocity agreements A. Apostille Apostille refers to the legalization of a document for international use under the terms of the 1961 Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents. Documents which have been notarized by a notary public, and certain other documents, and then certified with a conformant apostille are accepted for legal use in all the nations that have signed the Hague Convention. States of the Convention Albania
Iceland
Russian Federation
Argentina
India
Serbia
Australia
Ireland
Slovakia
Austria
Israel
Slovenia
Belarus
Italy
South Africa
Belgium
Japan
Spain
Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria
Korea, Republic of Latvia
Suriname Sweden
Lithuania
Switzerland
Luxembourg Malta Mexico Monaco Montenegro Netherlands New Zealand Norway Panama Poland Portugal Romania
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland United States of America Venezuela
China, People's Republic of Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Ecuador Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary
Apostilles may only be issued by a Competent Authority designated by the State on whose territory the public document has been executed. The apostille verifies the signature, status of an official who signed the document, seal and stamp. The signature, seal and stamp do not require any additional verification. Each state – party of the Convention designates authorities competent to issue apostille. Please refer to the official website of Haague Convention to find out the authorized body in corresponding state: http://www.hcch.net/index_en.php?act=conventions.authorities&cid=41
B. Consular legalization In countries which are not signatories to the 1961 Convention and do not recognize the apostille, a foreign public document must be legalized by a consular officer in the country which issued the document. Consular legalization confirms the legal status and authenticity of a document. Foreign documents needed for use in Russia are strictly legalized in state of its origin. In this case, first of all, a document is verified by a Competent Authority like Ministry of Foreign Affairs and secondly, in the Consular office of the Russian Federation. In circumstances of compelling force (disasters, wars, etc.) foreign documents can be directly legalized in Russia. Firstly, document is verified by diplomatic or Consular office of origin and then submitted to Consular department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. Both cases require notarized translation of a document into Russian. C.Reciprocity agreements Russia has concluded reciprocity agreements on admittance of official documents with a number of states. It means that documents issued in a proper way in states – parties of reciprocity agreements are admitted by other parties without any formalities. In this case notarized translation into the state language of the corresponding state is necessary. No apostille or consular legalization is required.
Reciprocity agreements have been concluded with the states as follows: Azerbaijan
Cuba
Mongolia
Armenia
Cyprus
Panama
Albania
Estonia
Poland
Algeria
Hungary
Romania
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Kazakhstan
Serbia and Montenegro
Bulgaria Byelorussia Croatia Czech Republic China Ukraine
Moldavia Latvia Lithuania Moldavia Macedonia Uzbekistan
Slovakia Slovenia Tunisia Turkmenistan Tadjikistan Vietnam
* This legal alert is not a legal opinion proper, nor may it replace the need of legal consultation in any specific instance.
Should you have any questions or need additional information with regards to immigration procedures in Russia please contact TIM Services, The Professional Immigration Agency. Contact:
Tatyana Dumnova t.dumnova@timservices.ru cell: +7.926.255.0872 Oksana Romanova o.romanova@timservices.ru cell: +7.926.535.4888
Elena Filippova Đľ.filippova@timservices.ru cell: +7.926.527.2822 Marina Gordeeva m.gordeeva@timservices.ru cell: +7.926.629.9642