The experts of the Center for Mediation and Law will assist you with legalization of your documents and obtaining the apostille within the territory of the Russian Federation, CIS countries, as well as within the territory of the Republic of Austria.
Legalization of Russian documents for use abroad
The documents aimed to be used abroad issued by official authorities of Russian Federation shall be legalized, unless otherwise stated by provisions of international agreements that cancel the procedure of legalization (which parties include Russia and the state at the territory of which the documents are to be used).
Legalization of Russian documents for use abroad usually consits of the following steps:
• the Notary's Office at the territory of the Russian Federation certifies a copy of the document and accuracy of its tranlation into the foreign language;
• the Ministry of Justice of the the Russian Federation (10, B.Karetny lane, Moscow, Tel.: 209-62-71) authenticates the signature and seal of the Notary;
• the Consulate Department of the RF MFA (12, the 1st Neopalimovskiy lane, Moscow, tel. 244-37-97, consulting hours from 10:00 a.m. to 01:00 p.m. and from 03:00 p.m. to 05:00 p.m.), certifies authenticity of the seal affixed by the Ministry of Justice of Russia and the official's signature.
After legalization in the Consulate Department of the RF MFA, the documents are to be legalized in the consulate department of the state in which they are to be used. At the same time the foreign consul shall authenticate the signature and seal affixed by the authorized official of the Consulate Department Service of the RF MFA. If the legalization in the foreign consulate is preconditioned by provision of the translation of the document from Russian to any foreign language, the document may be legalized in the Consulate Department Service of the RF MFA simultaneously with its translation.
As a rule, Russian documents shall be legalized in the copies certified by the Notary. The documents on formation of the sample set for use abroad, which are legalized in the Consulate Department Service of the RF MFA in originals, are excluded.
The documents providing proof of education issued prior to 1996 shall be legalized in copies, certified by notary. The documents confirming education issued within the territory of the former USSR prior to December 1991, may be also legalized in copies.
The employment history records, military records and ID may not be taken or sent abroad and they are accepted for legalization neither in originals nor in copies.
The documents originated from russian entities shall be legalized subject to their state registration in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation. For example, the Articles of Association of the company shall be legalized in a copy certified by Notary provided that such document has been registered with the Russian state authority and contains appropriate marks and registration seals. The certificate of origin for the products may be legalized in a copy certified by Notary if it has been issued by the state agency authorized thereto, but not by the manufacturer for own products.
For the legalization made in the Consulate Department Service of the RF MFA the state fee and charges to reimburse actual expenses shall be charged.
The period of three days is required to consider the documents submitted for legalization.
Legalization of foreign documents for use in the Russian Federation
The foreign documents for use in the Russian Federation shall be legalized in Russian consulate departments abroad after their legalization in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or an official agency of the state from which the document originates, pursuant to the procedure set forth by the laws of such state. The documents made or duly certified by the consulate departments of the foreign states within the territory of the Russian Federation shall be legalized in the Consulate Department of the RF MFA.
Abolished legalization
In accordance with the Hague Convention of October 5, 1961 abolishing the requirement to legalize foreign documents to which Russia joined on May 31, 1992, the documents to be submitted to the official authorities of the members states of the Convention shall be certified pursuant to a special simplified procedure. In such cases undergoing an ordinary legalization routine that finals at the embassies (consulates) of the State where the document is to be used is not required. Instead the authorized state body in which the document has been made affixes a special stamp - apostille.
The apostille authenticates the signature, position of the official who signed the document and a seal or stamp affixed thereto. The signature, seal and stamp put on the apostille do not require any additional certification.
Each member state of the Hague Convention shall independently determine and appoint the agencies that are granted the authorities to put the apostille. Aforementioned Convention does not cover the documents made in the diplomatic missions or consulate departments, as well as the documents directly related to the commercial or customs operations.
The consulate departments of the member states of the Hague Convention do not put the apostille and shall not legalize documents issued by the authorities or with the participation of the authorities of the state represented.
A number of bilateral agreements on legal assistance and legal relations in civil, family and criminal cases concluded by the Russian Federation, as well as the Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family and Criminal Cases, signed in Minsk by CIS Member States on January 22, 1993, determine the procedure, according to which documents issued by official authorities of the contracting party are to be treated as official and used in the territory of the other contracting party with a probative force of official documents without any additional certification, that is without legalization.