Apostille
In 1961, in the Dutch city of Hague, the Convention abolishing the requirement of legalization for foreign public documents was adopted by its participants. The Convention has over 120 contracting parties (including the Russian Federation), which use a simplified procedure of document legalization — authentication of documents with a special stamp known as the apostille (from French apostille, meaning a marginal or bottom note).
The apostille is issued in accordance with the requirements. It must contain such items as the name of the country where it was issued, the name of the public official signing the document, which is the subject of the apostille, the capacity of the public official, the date of issuance. In Russia, the apostille can be issued by the authorities of the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Defense, Federal Agency of Russia, offices of vital statistics and registry, regional executive authorities, Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science, Ministry of the Interior and Prosecutor General’s Office.
The apostille is issued in one of two official languages — English or French. It can be also drawn up in the language of the issuing country.
Consular legalization
Countries that are not members of the Hague Convention require consular legalization for any document requested by these countries. It is the most burdensome type of legalization entailing a sequence of multiple steps:
- Notarization of original and translated documents (if required);
- Certification of the signature of a notary public at the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation;
- Authentication of the seal of the Ministry of Justice at the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation;
- Legalization of documents at the consulate of the country where these documents are intended to be used.
As each consulate has its own schedules, the consular legalization of documents can take up to three months. The final price for this procedure depends on the fees of the consulate of a specific country. The legalized document will be valid only in the country that provided the above legislation.
