Legalisation

Visa Support Bonn provides document legalisation, apostille and notarisation  services.

Documents from the Eurasian Economic Union
Apostille for documents from countries of the European Union

Apostille for documents from Japan, China, India, South Korea
GHORFA (Arab-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry e.V.)
Bahrain, Iraq, Yemen, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, UAE
- Civil status documents
- Adoption records
- Medical documents

Legalisation confirms the authenticity of the last signature and seal of foreign documents at the request of natural persons, legal entities or organisations. Consular legalisation aims at certifying a legal document so a foreign country's legal system will recognize it as with full legal effect. It should be noted that legalisation does not certify the genuineness, legality or credibility of a document.

The apostille can be affixed provided that the country you are going to use your document in is a member of the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents dated October 5, 1961. In relation to Germany, the Hague Apostille Convention applies to the following states

What is the difference between the apostille and legalisation?

Legalisation verifies the authenticity of a signature and confirms the issuer of the document. Legalisation is carried out by the consular mission of the country in which the document is to be used.

Have the states entered into international agreements, there is no need for document legalisation. In some cases the legalisation procedure is replaced by the Hague Convention (Apostille).

The Hague Apostille like legalisation verifies the authenticity of a signature and confirms the issuer of the document. However, when compared to the legalisation, it is issued by a designated authority of the state by which the document was issued, according to the standardized apostille example stated in the Hague Convention. No consular officials of the state the document is to be used in are responsible for issuing apostille certificates.

I would like to use a foreign document in Germany and require a certification that my document will be recognized. What does it mean?

In case foreign public documents are to be used in Germany, they might be legalized by the German mission abroad in the country the documents were issued in ("country of origin"). It is not necessary when the states have entered into international agreements or are members of the Hague Convention. In some countries, instead of legalisation the documents are verified in the context of administrative assistance. The issuing state of the particular public document determines the legislation procedure

I would like to use a German document abroad and require a certification, legalisation or apostille. What does it mean?

If German public documents are to be used abroad, they may be legalized. It is not necessary when the states have entered into international agreements or are members of the Hague Convention. Please ask the foreign authority you are going to present the German document to whether the legalisation is required or not. Legalisation is carried out by the diplomatic or consular mission of the foreign state in Germany.

Please use our order form or feel free to ask any questions at info@visa-support.de

Fee per document and consulate - 76 Euro
Surcharge express processing - 25 Euro