EU Legalisation For Documents Issued In The EEA
The EU Countries:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
Legalisation Authorities In Member States:
Legalisation in Austria:
The Federal Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs.
As of 1 November 2014, Austrian Embassies and Consulates (except for Honorary -General- Consulates) will be empowered to issue Apostilles for the following documents:
- birth certificates
- marriage certificates
- death certificates
- proof of citizenship (Staatsbürgerschaftsnachweis)
- certificate of exit from the State (Bestätigung über das Ausscheiden aus dem Staatsverband)
- criminal records
Legalisation in Belgium:
Ministère des Affaires étrangères, du Commerce extérieur et de la Coopération au Développement
Legalisation in Bulgaria:
The Ministry of Justice – in respect of the documents of the courts and notaries;
The Ministry of Education, Youth and Science – in respect to educational and certifying documents, issued by higher education institutions, by institutions of the public education system and by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Science and its structures;
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs – in respect of all other documents.
Legalisation in Croatia:
Municipal courts or the Ministry of Justice and Administration
Legalisation in the Republic of Cyprus:
The Ministry of Justice and Public Order of the Republic of Cyprus
Legalisation in the Czech Republic:
The Ministry of Justice (judicial documents including documents issued or certified by notaries); and
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (other than judicial documents).
Legalisation in Denmark:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Legalisation in Estonia:
“Since 1st of January 2010 Notaries, under the supervision of Ministry of Justice will be the designated competent authority described in the Article 6 of the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents. Contact details of all 100 Notaries will be forwarded by the Ministry of Justice. Although the Ministry of Justice shall exercise supervision over the Notaries, the Ministry itself nor any other Ministry shall no longer issue apostilles. The register described in the Article 7 of the Convention shall be kept by the Chamber of Notaries in accordance with the decree provided by the Minister of Justice.”
Contact details: http://www.notar.ee/19765
Legalisation in Finland:
Maistraatti
Useful link: http://www.maistraatti.fi/en/Services/notary_public/Apostille/
Legalisation in France:
Les Procureurs généraux près les Cours d’appel”
Useful link: http://www.hcch.net/upload/auth12_fr2014_rev.pdf
Legalisation in Germany:
Bundesverwaltungsamt (Federal Office of Administration)
Legalisation in Greece:
The Prefect, for all documents issued by the services/offices of the Prefectural Administration;
The Secretary General of the Region:
for all documents issued by the public civil services of the County (in greek: Nomos) or the Prefecture (in greek: Nomarchia) which do not fall under the competence of the Prefectural Administration;
for all documents issued by the Legal Entities of Public Law;
for all documents issued by first degree Local Government Organizations;
for all documents issued by the Registry Offices.
For judicial documents, the First Instance Court of the region where the issuing authority is seated shall remain as the responsible Authority
Legalisation in Hungary:
The Ministry of Public Administration and Justice of the Republic of Hungary, Department of Private International Law, in respect of public documents and legalizations executed by judicial authorities, with the exception of public documents issued and legalized by civil law notaries;
Hungarian Chamber of Civil Law Notaries in respect of public documents and legalizations executed by civil law notaries;
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Hungary in respect of public documents and legalizations executed by other authorities.
Legalisation in Ireland:
The Department of Foreign Affairs
Legalisation in Italy:
1) In the case of judicial documents, civil status documents and notarial acts:
the public prosecutor at the courts in the jurisdiction in which the documents were issued;
2) in the case of all other administrative documents provided for in the Convention:
the prefect with territorial competence, for the Valle d’Aosta the President of the Region, and for the provinces of Trente and Bolzano the Government Commissioner.
Notification of 8 August 2011:
[..] as from 31st March 2011 the competent authority for “les actes de l’état civil” is the Prefect with territorial competence, for the Valle d’Aosta the President of the Region, and for the provinces of Trente and Bolzano the Government Commissioner.
To view the contact details for a particular Procureur, please visit the following website and click on the appropriate region:
http://www.giustizia.it/giustizia/it/mg_4.wp?facetNode_1=3_2&selectedNode=3_2_13
Legalisation in Latvia:
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Legalisation in Lithuania:
The Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Useful link: http://www.urm.lt/
Legalisation in Luxembourg:
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Useful link: http://www.mae.lu/
Legalisation in Malta:
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Useful link: http://www.foreign.gov.mt/
Legalisation in the Netherlands:
The contact details of the designated Rechtbanken can be obtained by clicking: www.rechtspraak.nl/Gerechten/Rechtbanken/
Competent Authorities for the Caribbean part of the Netherlands:
Bonaire:
- Gezaghebber en Waarnemend Gezaghebber (Lieutenant Governor and Acting Lieutenant Governor of Bonaire)
- Hoofd en Waarnemend Hoofd Burgerzaken Bonaire (Head and Acting Head of the Bonaire Population Affairs Department)
Legalisation in Poland:
Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Useful link: www.msz.gov.pl/
Legalisation in Portugal:
The Attorney General of the Republic; The Attorneys General on behalf of … Porto, Coimbra and Évora and the Assistant Attorneys General with the Representants of the Republic of the Autonomic Regions of Madeira and Açores.
Useful link: http://www.pgr.pt/
Legalisation in Romania:
“(…) Tribunals are competent authorities for the official documents referred to in article 1 letters a) and d) of the Convention;
Chambers of Notaries Public are competent authorities for the official documents referred to in article 1 letter c) of the Convention;
Offices of the Prefect are competent authorities for the official documents referred to in article 1 letter b) of the Convention.
The aforementioned changes were operated by Law no. 202/2010 for accelerating judicial proceedings (article V), published in the Official Journal no. 178/26 October 2010 (…)”
Useful link: http://www.hcch.net/upload/auth12ro_pref.pdf
Slovakia,
All Regional Courts (“Krajský súd”) for: a) public documents issued or certified by District Courts, notaries or huissiers de justice within their territorial jurisdiction; b) translations executed by official (court appointed) translators or opinions issued by official experts;
The Ministry of Justice of the Slovak Republic (“Ministerstvo spravodlivosti Slovenskej republiky”) for all documents emanating from judicial authorities other than the documents specified in point 1 above (i.e. documents emanating from courts other than District Courts.).
The Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic („Ministerstvo vnútra Slovenskej republiky”) for public documents emanating from authorities within its jurisdiction with the exception of documents specified in point 7 lit. a/ below;
The Ministry of Education of the Slovak Republic („Ministerstvo školstva Slovenskej republiky”) for public documents emanating from authorities within its jurisdiction;
The Ministry of Health of the Slovak Republic (Ministerstvo zdravotníctva Slovenskej republiky), for public documents issued by authorities falling under its jurisdiction;
The Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic („Ministerstvo obrany Slovenskej republiky”) for public documents emanating from authorities within its jurisdiction;
The District Office (obvodný úrad) for:
- extracts from registers of births, deaths and marriages (matrika), except for decisions concerning civil status;
b. documents issued by autonomous local authorities.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic („Ministerstvo zahranièných vecí Slovenskej republiky”) for any other public document issued in the Slovak Republic not specified above.
Slovenia,
The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Slovenia (for certification of the authenticity of the signatures and seals of notaries, district judges, and court interpreters on public documents);
District Courts in Slovenia (for certification of the authenticity of the signatures and seals of notaries, notary candidates, judges (except district judges), state institutions, organisations and individuals, executing public powers of attorney and legal persons on public documents-applicable for all district courts in Slovenia).
Useful link: http://www.mp.gov.si/
Legalisation in Spain:
“[…] the competent officers and authorities designated for the purposes of the Apostille include:
1) For the Apostille of administrative documents, the following are designated:
- a) Governance Secretaries of the High Courts of Justice (Secretarios de Gobierno de los Tribunales Superiores de Justicia) and the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, or their legal deputies, as well as the officers in whom the latter may delegate, within the respective Governance Secretariat;
b) The Head of the Unit of the Ministry of Justice in whom, at any particular time, the powers in the field of informing and attending citizens have been vested or whoever may substitute him legally, as well as those persons in whom these may delegate;
c) The Territorial Managers of the Territorial Management Bureaux (Gerencias Territoriales) that the Ministry of Justice has throughout Spain or their legal deputies, or those persons in whom the former may delegate, within the aforesaid Bureaux;
d) The Deans of the Notarial Colleges or those acting in lieu thereof pursuant to the regulations or other Public Notaries in whom the former may delegate.
The authorities and offices mentioned in this Section may carry out, without distinction, the single legislation or Apostille of the documents mentioned in Article 1.2 of the […] Royal Decree [1497/2011, dated 24 October, designating the competent officers and authorities to carry out the single legislation or Apostille (Official State Gazette No. 276, dated 16 November 2011)], regardless of where in Spain such documents were issued.
Pursuant to the provisions contained in the Royal Decree, the following are deemed “public documents”: (please click here).
2) Apostille of judicial documents: The power to carry out the single legislation or Apostille on judicial documents, regardless of the place of issuance in Spain of such documents, is vested in the following authorities (except as provided in Paragraph 4 hereof):
- a) Governance Secretaries of the High Courts of Justice (Secretarios de Gobierno de los Tribunales Superiores de Justicia) and of the Cities of Ceuta and Melilla, or their legal deputies, as well as the officers in whom the latter may delegate, within the respective Governance Secretariat;
b) The Head of the Unit of the Ministry of Justice in whom, at any particular time, the powers in the field of informing and assisting citizens have been vested or whoever may substitute him legally, as well as those persons in whom the former may delegate.
c) The Territorial Managers of the Territorial Management Bureaux (Gerencias Territoriales) that the Ministry of Justice has throughout Spain or their legal deputies, or those persons in whom the former may delegate, within the aforesaid Bureaux.
3) Apostille of notarial documents: The power is vested in the Deans of the Notarial Colleges or those acting in lieu thereof, pursuant to the regulations, or in those Public Notaries in whom the former may delegate, regardless of where in Spain such documents were issued.
4) Apostille of documents issued by judicial authorities or officers of the Supreme Court and the National High Court: Only the Governance Secretary (Secretario de Gobierno) of the relevant Court for documents issued by the Court in question or their legal deputies as well as the officers in whom the latter may delegate are competent.
5) Apostille of other public documents: the remaining public documents may be the object of the single legalisation or Apostille, at the citizen’s choice and both on paper or electronically, by any of the authorities mentioned in Section 1 above.
Likewise, the aforesaid Royal Decree establishes and regulates in Chapter II, the form and register of the Apostille, whether on paper or in electronic format.
The Sole Transitional Provision of the aforesaid Royal Decree establishes that the Apostille of the documents issued by the Civil Register shall be regulated pursuant to the provisions contained in Article 2 thereof (Apostille of Judicial Documents) until the entry unto force of Act 20/2011, dated 21 July, on the Civil register, and shall be regulated thereafter by Article 1 of the Royal Decree (Apostille of Administrative Documents).”
Useful link: Legalización única o Apostilla de la Haya
Legalisation in Sweden:
Since 1 January 2005, the Judicial Office at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs no longer issues Apostilles. Sweden has decentralised the issuance of Apostilles and designated all notaries public as Competent Authorities. There are approximately 250 notaries public in Sweden. They are appointed by the local County Administrative Board (Länsstyrelsen).
There is no centralised register of all notaries public. A comprehensive list is, however, published annually in the “Sveriges Statskalender“, which can be ordered from: Fritzes kundservice, SE-106 47 Stockholm; Tel: +46 (8) 690-9190; Fax: +46 (8) 690-9191; e-mail: order.fritzes@liber.se; website: www.fritzes.se. The Statskalender contains the full addresses of the Swedish administration, down to the level of individuals. The cost of a Statskalender is approximately €140. The publication is not available in electronic form.
Contact details of notaries public may also be available from the relevant County Administrative Board.
Legalisation in the United Kingdom:
Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the UK.
Bermuda
The Parliamentary Registrar
The Parliamentary Registry Office
Valerie T. Scott Building
60 Reid Street
HM12 HAMILTON
Bermuda
Cayman Islands
4th floor
Government Administration Building
Elgin Avenue
George Town
Grand Cayman
Cayman Islands
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Falkland Islands
Government House
Stanley
Falkland Islands
Gibraltar
Civil Status and Registration Office (on behalf of the Governor of Gibraltar)
3 Secretary’s Lane
Joshua Hassan House
Gibraltar
Guernsey
The Legalisation Office
Greffe
Royal Court House
St Peter Port
Guernsey
GY1 2PB
Isle of Man
Isle of Man Courts of Justice
Deemsters Walk
Bucks Road
Douglas
Isle of Man
IM1 3AR
Jersey
The Legalisation Office
Maritime House
La Route du Port Elizabeth
St Helier
Jersey
JE1 1JD
Monserrat
Lancaster House
Olveston
Montserrat
St. Helena
The Castle
Jamestown
St Helena Island
South Atlantic Ocean
South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands
Government House
Stanley
Falkland Islands
Turcs and Caicos Islands
Waterloo
Government House
Grand Turk
Turks and Caicos Islands
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For further information on the above or any country in the world please do not hesitate to contact us.