A public document destined for use in another country should have its authenticity certified in a way that is acknowledged internationally. For this the document needs to be legalised or certified with an apostille certificate, if an international agreement does not foresee otherwise.
1. APOSTILLE.
Attaching an apostille certificate is a formality by which a certificate on a separate paper is attached to a public document, with which a competent authority certifies the authenticity of the signature and the impression of a seal or a stamp on a public document or the authority of a person who signed the document. Documents issued in a foreign country has to be certified with an apostille certificate in the same country where it has been issued.
When documents have been certified with an apostil it can be used in all the countries that have acceded to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents.
The list of the authorities that certify documents with an apostil certificate can be found at the site HccH
Model of certificate
APOSTILLE
(Convention de la Haye du 5 octobre 1961)
1. Country: ________________________________________________________
This public document
2. has been signed by _______________________________________________
3. acting in the capacity of ____________________________________________
4. bears the seal/stamp of ____________________________________________
Certified
5. at ______________________________ 6. the__________________________
7. by _____________________________________________________________
8. Nr. ____________________________________________________________
9. Seal/stamp: __________________________________________10. Signature
________________ _____________________________________ __________
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2. Consular legalization.
Document should have consular legalization if documents is from a country that has not acceded to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (the country is absent in the list on a site HccH).
Documents of a foreign country destined for use in Estonia should be first legalised in the Foreign Ministry or Foreign Mission of the foreign country where the document has been issued, and thereafter in a Foreign Mission of the Republic of Estonia or in the consular department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia.
Legalisation can be performed only in case of an original document, a notarised copy or a certified copy of an original, a print out or an extract of original document, which contains the signature, first name and surname as well as the position of the person who signed it, and also the original seal of the authority that has issued the document.
Data of foreign representations of Estonia it is possible to find on a site of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
