Apostille, legalization and certification of documents

The Office of Country A verifies the signature of the document by the appropriate official authority, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Country A. Once approved, a stamp/sticker is placed on the document. This shows country B that the document was issued by the competent office of country A.

The office of country B verifies and legalizes the document with a stamp/sticker. This is usually done by the embassy, consulate general or honorary consul of country B in country A. After legalization, the document is allowed to be used in country B.

Legalization is not required if country A has an agreement with country B that exempts your type of document. Thus, you can use the document in country B without legalization.

Sometimes legalization is not possible in a particular country for a number of reasons. In such a case, the authorities of the host country will check and evaluate the document.