Legalization and Apostille

The apostille or legalization is required to submit documents to foreign authorities. These procedures include the translation of documents and their certification in the respective institutions.

1. Consular legalization;
2. Apostille (apostillization of copies);
3. Apostillization of Original Documents;
4. Legalization at the RF Chamber of Commerce and Industry;

A document can be legalized in different ways depending on the country of destination: apostille of documents (for Hague Convention countries) or consular legalization (for countries, which did not sign the Hague Convention). After this procedure, the document is valid in the territory of a particular country or a group of countries, and recognized by all official bodies and institutions of this country, located abroad.

1. Consular Legalization

The price of the consular legalization = 2500 + (+20% stamp duty) rubles.

Consular legalization is one of the ways to legalize documents. It is similar to an apostille. In contrast to the apostille, it is used for the document management with organizations originating from the countries, which do not participate in the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (signed on October 5, 1961). Compared to the apostille, it is the more complex bilateral procedure.

Stages of the consular legalization:

1. Certification of a technical copy by a notary, the document must be completely reprinted, along with all the seals and stamps. The certified copy is filed with a notarized translation;
2. Certification of the signature of a notary by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation. It takes 7 business days to be made;
3. Certification of the seal of the Ministry of Justice and the signature of an authorized official of the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation. It takes 7 business days to be made;
4. The subsequent certification in the consulate of the State accepting the outgoing document;
Since each consulate puts their own terms of document preparation, this procedure can take up to 3 weeks. The consular legalization of a document is carried out only for documents issued in the territory of the Russian Federation, drawn in Russian, with original documents available.

2. Apostille

The price of an apostille = 1500 + (+20% stamp duty) rubles.

An apostille is a simplified form of legalization. It is applied to send official documents to countries which have acceded to the Hague Convention dated October 5, 1961. The apostille does not require additional verification and certification of the documents, and it is in force in all member countries of the Convention. The Russian Federation has been a party to the Hague Convention since May 31, 1992.

It takes from 5 to 7 weeks to apostille a document.

An apostille is affixed ONLY to notarized copies. The copy must be certified by a notary of Moscow. Agency, authorized to affix an apostille: Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation.

Requirements for Documents to be Apostilled

All seals and stamps in the document should be readable. Otherwise it is necessary to make a technical copy of the document. An apostille is affixed only to documents issued in the territory of the Russian Federation, drawn in Russian, with the originals available.

Apostille can not be affixed to commercial correspondence documents, bank documents (certificates, invoices, and settlement information), customs and commercial documents.

3. Apostillization of Original Documents

The price of apostillization of original documents = 2500 + (+20% stamp duty) rubles.

An Apostille stamp may be affixed to original documents issued by various governmental bodies.

The Apostille stamp is affixed to original educational documents, issued in the territory of the Russian Federation and in territory of the RSFSR, by the Ministry of Education. In this case, the territory is not taken into account - the document may be issued in any city/region of the Russian Federation. It takes 2 months to be issued.

The Apostille stamp is affixed to original documents issued by a registry office only if they are issued in Moscow. It takes 7 business days to be issued.

4. Legalization in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation

The cost of the legalization in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation = 2000 + (+20 % stamp duty) roubles.

Only documents that are not subject to apostille or consular legalization may be legalized in the Chamber of Commerce of the Russian Federation, namely: commercial and consignment documents, as well as other foreign trade documents. However, before subjecting them to legalization in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, it is better to clarify the way of legalization with the party, for which the documents are intended. There are also a number of documents, at registration of which, it will be necessary to legalize them in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation according to the requirements of a particular country.

Legalization in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation is carried out in two stages:

1. Certification of the document in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation;
2. Certification at the consulate of the country of destination in the Russian Federation.

The legalization of a document in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation is carried out only for documents issued in the territory of the Russian Federation, drawn in Russian, with original documents available.

The term of legalisation in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Fedeartion is 2 business days.

In most cases, it is necessary to notarize apostilled documents. It is possible to make notarized copies of legalized and apostilled documents.

Applying to Martin Translation Services, you will save your time, and our experts will supervise the entire process of legalization of your documents. Martin Translation Services has extensive experience in affixing apostilles and legalization of documents for many countries of destination, so you get both the quality service and the optimal time of order execution.

Order the apostille and legalization of your documents only in a certified translation agency!