Why do you need an apostille for documents? Apostille of documents. What is it and why is it needed. Apostille or notarization of documents - what is the difference

An apostille is a stamp of a certain form, approved by the Hague Convention of 1961. Its goal is to simplify the procedure for the international legalization of documents; the rules for issuing and using an apostille are reflected in the articles of the Convention. According to Article No. 5, an apostille confirms the authenticity of the signature of the official who signed the document, his powers, as well as the authenticity of all stamps and/or seals certifying the document. Documentation with an apostille acquires legal force and in the future does not require additional certification and legalization actions.

For example, a Russian diploma certified by an apostille will have the same legal force in Germany as in Russia.

The heading “Apostille (Convention de la Haye du 5 October 1961)” must always be on French. According to the provisions of the Convention, it is possible to apply an apostille both on the original document and separately on a sheet attached to the document.

In practice, the methods of affixing an apostille in different countries differ: it can be applied using a rubber stamp, glued, attached using tape, wax seal, relief printing, self-adhesive stickers, as well as paper clips, stationery rings...

The apostille sample is also approved by the Convention. The stamp is usually typed in English or French, as well as in the official language of the country carrying out the legalization procedure. Often, stamp inscriptions are written in 2 languages ​​(English/French and the official state language).

What is document legalization?

Legalization is any action that gives legal force to a document. There are 3 types of legalization: apostille, notarization, consular legalization.

Apostille is a simplified type of legalization, carried out by applying an apostille (stamp of the established form) to the required document. Documentation certified in this way can be used in any country that participated in the Hague Convention in 1961.

Notarization is the most commonly used type of legalization, because used to certify copies and translations of official papers. A notarized document will have legal force in the state where it was certified, as well as in other states where the law does not require mandatory certification of documents with an apostille or other means.

Consular legalization is perhaps the most difficult type in terms of registration. Typically used when conducting foreign economic activity. The purpose is to confirm the compliance of a document sent abroad with the laws of the country where such a document was issued.
The first stage of the procedure is certification by a notary.
The second stage is certification of the notary's signature on the document by the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation (in Moscow).
The third stage is the certification of the notary’s signature and the seal of the Ministry of Justice at the Consular Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry (in Moscow).
The last stage is certification of the document by the consulate of the receiving state.
Official documents must undergo consular legalization during document flow between states that are not parties to the Hague Convention.

What documents are apostille affixed to?

Apostille (French Apostille) can be placed on any official documents.
According to the definition of the Hague Convention, this is:
- outgoing documents of government authorities;
- administrative documents;
- notarized acts;
- official notes (marks on document registration; marks confirming the date, signatures).

For example, birth certificates, marriage/divorce certificates, passports/international passports, various certificates, diplomas, certificates are subject to apostille...

An apostille can be affixed to both the original official document and its notarized copy. IN special cases An apostille can be affixed only to the original (applications, consents, powers of attorney, contracts) or only to a copy, for example, to a certificate of registration with tax authority. It is always necessary to clarify the requirements for apostilled documents at the institutions where the documents will be sent. The validity period of an apostille is limited only by the validity period of the document being certified.

What documents are NOT affixed with an apostille?

According to Article 1 of the Hague Convention, the possibility of affixing an apostille does NOT cover commercial or customs documents (export documentation, agreements (contracts) for the supply of goods/services...).
These documents must undergo the consular legalization procedure. Maintaining a multi-stage approach and some difficulties in legalizing such documents allow the state to more strictly control the activities of commercial enterprises.

Also, the Convention does not apply to documents issued by consular and diplomatic services.

How is an apostille affixed?

The apostille is affixed based on what you need to certify. If it is an original, it is certified by the relevant department. For example, in order to certify educational documents, you should contact the territorial bodies of the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science, to certify the marriage certificate - to the registry office. When certified by an apostille, the territorial principle applies, i.e. documents issued or certified by a notary in Moscow or the Moscow region are apostilled only in Moscow or the Moscow region.

If you need an apostille to certify a notarized translation or a copy of a document, you should contact the territorial offices of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation.

If not only an official document is required, but also its translation, there may be two design options:
1. the document is translated (the original or a notarized copy, including the certifying inscription and seal of the notary), after which the translation is filed with the document, notarized and transferred to the relevant department for affixing an apostille;
2. The apostille is placed on the original document, and then the entire document along with the apostille is translated into the required language. For such a translation to have legal force, it may also need to be notarized and apostilled.

To affix an apostille, the following documents are submitted to the relevant department:
- documents that require an apostille;
- application for apostille;
- identity document;
- document confirming payment of state duty.

Before starting the procedure for certification of documents for use in another country, we strongly recommend that you find out in advance the requirements for certification from the authorities for which the documents are intended.

What are the deadlines for affixing an apostille?

The entire procedure for affixing an apostille in Moscow (in the Ministry of Justice, civil registry offices and other authorized departments) takes no more than 7 days.

Can there be any grounds for refusing to affix an apostille?

List of reasons:
1. If the document is not intended for use abroad.
2. If the document does not contain the details required by the legislation of the Russian Federation.
3. If the document is signed by an official and/or certified with a seal that is not identical to the samples available to the certifying authority.
4. If an official document is signed by a person who does not have the appropriate authority.
5. In other cases, according to the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Certification of documents with an apostille may be refused orally or in writing. If there is a written refusal, it can be appealed in court.

What are the requirements for documents sent for apostille in Moscow?

Documents presented for affixing an apostille in Moscow must necessarily indicate the details provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation (document number, date, stamp, signature). All documents (both originals and copies) must be clear, without corrections. The seals and signatures of officials affixed to documents must be legible.

The person who signed the document must stipulate all amendments and additions contained in it. At the same time, all such amendments and additions must be executed in such a way that everything that was erroneously written and then corrected or crossed out can be read in its original form.

Apostille or notarization of documents - what is the difference?

Apostille and notarization of documents are used in different cases. Apostille is a form of legalization of a document, giving it legal force, and notarization is confirmation by a notary of the authenticity of the signature of an official (translator).

Surely you have already visited numerous sites and forums for preparing documents. Our blog contains the latest and most relevant information today. List of countries where Apostille is required(fr. Apostille) is a special stamp that is placed in Russia so that your documents are accepted abroad. An apostille is placed on documents only if they are needed for countries that have signed the Hague Convention of 1961. apostille.

Documents that need to be apostilled may vary depending on the purpose for which you are leaving. Most often, our company apostilles birth certificates, diplomas and police clearance certificates, as they are necessary for almost any purpose.Also often required is a marriage certificate, divorce certificate, certificate, various certificates from the registry office or from the place of study, powers of attorney and other documents.

It is a mistaken belief that an apostille can be placed on all documents in one place. Also, some people think that this can only be done in Moscow. This is incorrect information. An apostille is placed on various documents in different authorities. Please note that the affixing of an apostille is not affected by your citizenship, place of residence, registration and residence - everything depends only on the place of issue of the document.

Please note that some documents cannot be affixed with an apostille. According to Federal law dated November 28, 2015 N 330 (Article 5, paragraph 3), “the apostille is not affixed on documents executed by diplomatic missions and consular offices, as well as on documents directly related to a commercial or customs operation, including in cases if the specified documents are made in the form of copies, the accuracy of which is certified by notaries.”

Apostille for Civil Registry Office documents

All documents issued by the registry office: birth certificate, marriage certificate, divorce certificate, death certificate, certificate of change of name, surname, patronymic, certificate of unmarriage, death certificate, etc., including the USSR sample and duplicates (repeated evidence).

An apostille on the originals of the Civil Registry Office documents must be placed in the main department of the Civil Registry Office of the region where they were issued.

Let's say you need to issue a birth certificate issued in Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk region. Since the apostille must be affixed at the main department of the civil registry office of the region where the document was issued, you must contact State Committee for the affairs of the Civil Registry Office of the Chelyabinsk Region, which is located in Chelyabinsk. If you contact the registry office of Magnitogorsk, or even Moscow, they will not provide you with such a service, since they do not have such rights. Therefore, do not waste your time, contact Chelyabinsk immediately. If you were born in one region and got married in another region, then the apostille on these documents will have to be affixed in the corresponding regions. If you are in another city or abroad, this is not a problem for us, and we ourselves will provide you with an apostille. This will take from 3 to 10 working days depending on the city.

Apostille for education documents

Certificates of secondary, secondary special, higher education, certificates of associate professors and candidates of sciences, personal files of students, academic certificates, educational programs, certificates of internship, residency and advanced training. Including their duplicates.

An apostille on original education documents is affixed to the Ministry of Education of the capital of any region, regardless of the place of issue of the document.

For example, you received a diploma in Tyumen, and now you live in Sochi. Since Sochi is not the capital of the region, to affix an apostille you will have to go to Krasnodar yourself to the Department of Education of the Moscow Region of the city of Krasnodar, or even to Maykop to the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Adygea, since it is geographically closer to you. But if you need to get an apostille as soon as possible, we recommend contacting the Ministry of Education of the region where you received your diploma, in this example it is the Department of Education of the Tyumen City Administration. When apostilling a diploma in the same region where it was issued, the process goes much faster (2-3 weeks), since the Ministry of Education is constantly in touch with local educational institutions and does not spend much time forwarding requests. You can also send your diploma to us in Moscow so that we can put an apostille on it at the Moscow Department of Education, but this will take about 1.5-2 months. Details and samples in this article.



As for academic certificates, it is possible to affix an apostille to the original of such a certificate only if you completed your studies before 2010, and the certificate was issued before December 2013. For example, an apostille will not be issued if you graduated from a university in 2011 and received a certificate in 2012, or if you graduated in 2009 and received a certificate in 2014. In such cases, you can put an apostille only on a notarized copy of the certificate, details below.

Apostille for documents of the Ministry of Internal Affairs

This refers to a certificate of good conduct, which can be obtained in different ways. An apostille can be placed on the original certificate of no criminal record only if it was issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs with their wet seal and signature.

An apostille on the original certificate of good conduct issued in Moscow is placed by the State Administration or GIAC of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. If the certificate was issued in the region, the apostille can be affixed to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the regional capital or to the GIAC of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow.

For example, if you received a police clearance certificate in Ufa, then an apostille can be placed on it either at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Bashkortostan, or at the Main Information and Analytical Center (GIAC) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow.

Apostille for court documents

This means a copy of the court decision, certified by the court that issued it.

An apostille for a court decision is issued by the Ministry of Justice of the capital of the region in which it was issued.

If a court decision was issued in Nizhevartovsk, then an apostille can be placed on it only at the Office of the Ministry of Justice of Russia for the Khanty-Mansiysk District. In Moscow or other cities, an apostille will not be placed on this court decision. Please note that the court decision must have a stamp on entry into legal force and other marks.




Apostille for notarial documents

Powers of attorney, consents, permits, inheritance documents, affidavits, notarized copies of all documents (registry office, Ministry of Internal Affairs, education, judicial and others).

An apostille on documents certified by a notary is placed in the Ministry of Justice of the capital of the region in which the notary is located.

For example, a power of attorney was drawn up by a Pyatigorsk notary, which means an apostille can be placed on it only in Stavropol at the Department of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for the Stavropol Territory. The Ministry of Justice of Moscow or other places will not put an apostille on this power of attorney. Read more information.

Or if the diploma was issued in Nizhny Novgorod, and the notarized copy is certified by a Moscow notary, then an apostille on this copy can only be affixed to the Moscow Ministry of Justice.


Apostille for other documents

Documents of doctors: specialist certificate, accreditation certificate. They are not educational documents, but only give the right to work in a certain specialty if you have a medical diploma, therefore they are apostilled by the Ministry of Justice of the region in which they were issued.

You can submit your application for paperwork in the form below.

The scary and incomprehensible word “apostille” comes across on the way of citizens who enter or leave another country with a newly issued document. Therefore, it is worth understanding this issue and understanding what it is and why an apostille is needed. The article gives detailed instructions on stamp design, and how to do everything in a short time.

Apostille of documents. What is it?

In fact, an apostille is a common stamp that is placed on documents when traveling abroad to work, live or study. That is, a document with an apostille in another country is official. For example, when applying for a job, you will be required to provide a certificate of marriage or birth of children. If there is an apostille on it, then there will be no problems. The situation is worse when the stamp is missing. They will no longer be able to hire you and you will have to go to your country to legalize all your documents.

The apostille has a standard form - square dimensions of at least 90 mm. The document must be completed in English or French.

  • the state in which the mark was placed;
  • details and position of the employee who put the stamp;
  • name of the organization that issued the document;
  • the city in which the stamp was placed;
  • date when the mark was placed;
  • name of the body that issued the apostille;
  • serial number of the stamp;
  • seal of the organization and signature of the employee.

An apostille can be placed both on the document itself and on a separate sheet, which are stapled together.

The procedure is very similar to Only other supervisory authorities are involved in this work.

Where to put an apostille?

Apostille is only carried out government bodies. No commercial company has the right to independently certify documents. Therefore, only intermediary services are offered on the market in order to save you from visiting government agencies.

But in reality, everything is not as complicated as commercial organizations tell you.

It is enough to take with you the document that you want to legalize. No copies or additional certificates are required. The supervisory authority independently makes a request to the archive, and on this basis an apostille is issued.

List of organizations that provide apostille:


Cost of providing the service for individuals- 2,500 rubles* The fee is not paid by persons who have any benefits. Additional fees may apply, for example for urgency.

The supervisory authority has the right to refuse apostille for the following reasons:

  • the document is severely wrinkled or torn;
  • there is lamination;
  • corrections have been made;
  • scuff marks on letters;
  • discrepancies in personal data (replacing the letters “e” with “e” or “Alesya - “Olesya”).

Ideally, the document should be clean, free of stains, with clearly legible letters and without errors.

The portal tries to make it possible to receive documents without visiting government agencies, but with apostille, not everything is so simple.

The website only suggests filling it out in advance. necessary statements and pay the state fee. Next, you can sign up with the department through the State Services website and take all the documents on the appointed day. After verification, the employee will announce the deadline for receiving the document with the apostille. Mostly this takes up to 30 days.

  1. Try not to contact commercial organizations. Employees often push unnecessary, expensive services, such as document translation. As a rule, one apostille is enough.
  2. When going abroad to study, it is enough to put a stamp on your education diplomas.
  3. If you are leaving, put an apostille on all possible documents. This will help save you time and money.
  4. All documents issued by government agencies are apostilled.

Surely you have already visited numerous sites and forums for preparing documents. Our blog contains the latest and most relevant information today. List of countries where it is required.

Documents that need to be apostilled may vary depending on the purpose for which you are leaving. Most often, our company apostilles birth certificates, diplomas and police clearance certificates, as they are necessary for almost any purpose.Also often required is a marriage certificate, divorce certificate, certificate, various certificates from the registry office or from the place of study, powers of attorney and other documents.

It is a mistaken belief that an apostille can be placed on all documents in one place. Also, some people think that this can only be done in Moscow. This is incorrect information. An apostille is placed on various documents in different authorities. Please note that the affixing of an apostille is not affected by your citizenship, place of residence, registration and residence - everything depends only on the place of issue of the document.

Please note that some documents cannot be affixed with an apostille. According to Federal Law of November 28, 2015 N 330 (Article 5, paragraph 3), “the apostille is not affixed on documents executed by diplomatic missions and consular offices, as well as on documents directly related to commercial or customs operations, including in cases where these documents are made in the form of copies, the accuracy of which is certified by notaries.”

Apostille for Civil Registry Office documents

All documents issued by the registry office: birth certificate, marriage certificate, divorce certificate, death certificate, certificate of change of name, surname, patronymic, certificate of unmarriage, death certificate, etc., including the USSR sample and duplicates (repeated evidence).

An apostille on the originals of the Civil Registry Office documents must be placed in the main department of the Civil Registry Office of the region where they were issued.

Let's say you need to issue a birth certificate issued in Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk region. Since the apostille is required to be affixed at the main department of the civil registry office of the region where the document was issued, you must contact the State Committee for Civil Registry Office of the Chelyabinsk Region, which is located in Chelyabinsk. If you contact the registry office of Magnitogorsk, or even Moscow, they will not provide you with such a service, since they do not have such rights. Therefore, do not waste your time, contact Chelyabinsk immediately. If you were born in one region and got married in another region, then the apostille on these documents will have to be affixed in the corresponding regions. If you are in another city or abroad, this is not a problem for us, and we ourselves will provide you with an apostille. This will take from 3 to 10 working days depending on the city.

Apostille for education documents

Certificates of secondary, secondary specialized, higher education, certificates of associate professors and candidates of sciences, personal files of students, academic certificates, educational programs, certificates of internship, residency and advanced training. Including their duplicates.

An apostille on original education documents is affixed to the Ministry of Education of the capital of any region, regardless of the place of issue of the document.

For example, you received a diploma in Tyumen, and now you live in Sochi. Since Sochi is not the capital of the region, to affix an apostille you will have to go to Krasnodar yourself to the Department of Education of the Moscow Region of the city of Krasnodar, or even to Maykop to the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Adygea, since it is geographically closer to you. But if you need to get an apostille as soon as possible, we recommend contacting the Ministry of Education of the region where you received your diploma, in this example it is the Department of Education of the Tyumen City Administration. When apostilling a diploma in the same region where it was issued, the process goes much faster (2-3 weeks), since the Ministry of Education is constantly in touch with local educational institutions and does not spend much time forwarding requests. You can also send your diploma to us in Moscow so that we can put an apostille on it at the Moscow Department of Education, but this will take about 1.5-2 months. Details and samples



As for academic certificates, it is possible to affix an apostille to the original of such a certificate only if you completed your studies before 2010, and the certificate was issued before December 2013. For example, an apostille will not be issued if you graduated from a university in 2011 and received a certificate in 2012, or if you graduated in 2009 and received a certificate in 2014. In such cases, you can put an apostille only on a notarized copy of the certificate, details below.

Apostille for documents of the Ministry of Internal Affairs

This refers to a certificate of no criminal record, which can be obtained. An apostille can be placed on the original certificate of no criminal record only if it is issued by the Ministry of Internal Affairs with their wet seal and signature.

An apostille is placed on the original certificate of good conduct issued in Moscow. If the certificate was issued in the region, the apostille can be affixed to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the regional capital or to the GIAC of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow.

For example, if you received a police clearance certificate in Ufa, then an apostille can be placed on it either at the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Bashkortostan, or at the Main Information and Analytical Center (GIAC) of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow.

Apostille for court documents

This means a copy of the court decision, certified by the court that issued it.

An apostille for a court decision is issued by the Ministry of Justice of the capital of the region in which it was issued.

If a court decision was issued in Nizhevartovsk, then an apostille can be placed on it only at the Office of the Ministry of Justice of Russia for the Khanty-Mansiysk District. In Moscow or other cities, an apostille will not be placed on this court decision. Please note that the court decision must have a stamp on entry into legal force and other marks.




Apostille for notarial documents

Powers of attorney, consents, permits, inheritance documents, affidavits, notarized copies of all documents (registry office, Ministry of Internal Affairs, education, judicial and others).

An apostille on documents certified by a notary is placed in the Ministry of Justice of the capital of the region in which the notary is located.

For example, a power of attorney was drawn up by a Pyatigorsk notary, which means an apostille can be placed on it only in Stavropol at the Department of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation for the Stavropol Territory. The Ministry of Justice of Moscow or other places will not put an apostille on this power of attorney. Read more information.

Or if the diploma was issued in Nizhny Novgorod, and the notarized copy was certified by a Moscow notary, then an apostille on this copy can only be affixed to the Moscow Ministry of Justice.


Apostille for other documents

Documents of doctors: specialist certificate, accreditation certificate. They are not educational documents, but only give the right to work in a certain specialty if you have a medical diploma, therefore they are apostilled by the Ministry of Justice of the region in which they were issued.

You can submit your application for paperwork in the form below.

Apostille is a method of legalizing documentation, confirming its legal and legal force for foreign countries. Over the course of many centuries, foreign trade and various political processes took place, thanks to which population migration and comprehensive integration took place. In the last twentieth century, due to the fact that many different economic and political processes were taking place, most countries refused to carry out the long procedure for legalizing certain documents. Since the beginning of 1961, at a conference held in The Hague, it was decided to legalize this documentation using a special seal having a rectangular or square shape. It contained information about the date, place and witness. This seal became known as an apostille. Now you know what an apostille of documents is. With the help of an apostille, you can confirm the signature in a document, or the role of the citizen who signed it. It is also very often used to confirm the legitimacy of a stamp.

Apostille form

An apostille can be more than just a stamp or seal. It can be in the form of embossed, rubber stamps, as well as glue, stickers, and colored tapes. An apostille can be affixed both to a document and to a special individual sheet that is attached to the same document. Some differences from the standard sample may lead to various legal nuances - for example, non-recognition of a document in case of violation of the standard apostille certification form. Most countries that are not members of the Hague Convection fully recognize the power of apostille and recognize all documentation that is certified in this way.

An apostille looks like a square seal (its width and length can be 9 cm) on a free space at the end of a document, or on its reverse side. A document can only be certified once. In the event that there is a consular certification, the apostille does not lose its basic meaning. The apostille can use international languages ​​(English and French) and the language of the country of certification. As a rule, both international and national languages ​​are used for apostille.

The apostille must contain the following information: title APOSTILLE. Its text must be written only in French. It cannot be changed; place of apostille (in this case, the city, country, name of the organization or its representative office that issued this apostille must be indicated); Information about official(his full name and signature); serial number; dating; seal or stamp of the authority that was involved in apostilling the document. In this case, the apostille should resemble a blank in which the text (date, etc.) will be entered. But its full content will be certified by a stamp, which contains the name and coat of arms of the organization that is engaged in the endorsement of this document.

Sample of apostille in Russian:

What is certified by an apostille

Only official papers and documentation of the following types may be suitable for apostille:

  1. Court documents;
  2. Notarial and administrative papers;
  3. Marks of an international or official nature;
  4. Court documents, which include a number of papers coming from the prosecutor's office, papers on criminal records.
  5. Administrative documents are various certificates issued by authorities civil status and some educational institutions. These documents usually include documents such as: birth certificate; marriage or divorce certificate; about death; change of surname, various notarial acts that are subject to apostille - powers of attorney, or other documentation certified by a notary - consent of both spouses to carry out all kinds of actions, copies of contracts and charters.

Those marks that are of an official nature usually include a stamp indicating the place of registration, visas that have not been notarized, and medical certificates. But still, when drawing up relevant agreements between countries and using a simplified method of providing documentation, the use of an apostille may not be required. Basically, the need to use an apostille is not mandatory, according to the Hague Convention for:

  • documentation certified by consuls or diplomats and their services,
  • for economic and trade documentation that is of interest to the customs service (agreements for the shipment and supply of products; primary accounting papers; inventory of transported property),
  • for documentation that does not have official status;
  • for documents that prove identity, a person’s relationship to a certain status or layer ( driver license, passports, military and student IDs, pension certificates).

The Minsk Convention, in which the CIS countries took part, completely eliminated the use of apostilles for internal exchange of documentation.

Features of certification

Both notarized copies and those documents that comply with established restrictions can be apostilled - if the apostille is not affixed to official documents, then their notarized copies can be legalized. Mandatory application to a particular authority for apostilling documents, as a rule, will depend on the type of activity and use to which these papers relate. The certification procedure can take several days if the documentation form is standard and can last for a month if the document form is not approved and it is necessary to carefully study it. You can certify your documents at these institutions yourself, or you can also turn to private companies for help. By Russian legislation The following package of documents is provided for certification with an apostille in any body that performs these actions:

  • application for holding;
  • certification of documents;
  • passport or other identification document;
  • package of documentation that needs to be certified;
  • confirmation of payment of state duty.

Apostille sample:

Where should I go to get an apostille?

To have documents apostilled, you can contact both authorized authorities and private offices. In this case, a person may be charged both for a state fee and for the provision of services to this organization. In such a situation, the certification procedure may take longer. This method is justified if, to certify documents, it is necessary to visit various competent institutions, all documentation is standard, the legalization period is only a week, and there is no opportunity to waste your time on personally contacting government agencies.

The Ministry of Justice or territorial authorities can certify documents with an apostille if they are notarized. The Ministry of Defense can certify certificates and various statements about work and service in military organizations and departments of Russia and the USSR. Documents related to the educational field for certification with an apostille refer to federal service on supervision, in the field of science and education. You can also confirm with an apostille a certificate of conferment of a particular educational qualification or degree, and the educational document itself. The documentation provided by the territorial civil registry offices can be submitted for apostille certification to the general archive of the civil registry office of a certain district, or to another authorized organization. The Federal Archival Institution and its authorized bodies have the right to certify with an apostille the documentation submitted from the paper archives. The Prosecutor General's Office is also vested with these powers. The Ministry of Internal Affairs can also apostille papers in accordance with the law, but without specifying the type of activity.

How can translations be certified with an apostille?

In most countries, it is simply not possible to review a particular document without the presence of a translation. In the event that the official language of the country that provides the document does not coincide with the national language of the place of submission, then it will be possible to certify the documents with an apostille both before and after translation. In addition, the apostille will be affixed to the original document, and the translation will be made from a previously certified document. All samples and the general certification procedure should be clarified with the organization where the document necessary for affixing the apostille will be provided. If you only need to certify the original, but there is no need to certify the translation, then this method is called an ordinary apostille. In this article you can find a sample of an apostille in Russian.

Apostille sample:

Where can I affix an apostille to a birth certificate?

We tried to understand the concept of apostille above. Now we'll find out where to put an apostille on a birth certificate. According to Russian legislation, the right to affix an apostille on documentation can be exercised by:

  • Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation - for notarized documentation, as well as for certified copies.
  • Russian Ministry of Defense - for documentation related to military service.
  • Russian Archives – for archival documentation.
  • Rosobrnazor - on papers about education and various educational degrees.
  • Registry office bodies - for documents provided by this organization.

If we talk about the legalization of a birth certificate using an apostille, then this procedure can be carried out at the Registry Office, where this document was provided. In this case, the apostille will be affixed to the original of the certificate itself. You can go through a similar procedure with the justice authorities and affix an apostille on a notarized copy and the translation attached to it, which is also notarized. In order to avoid unnecessary costs and certifications, it is necessary to find out in advance at the consulate of the state for which the certificate is being legalized, the original and a notarized copy, with an apostille, will be required for presentation. For apostille, as a rule, a state fee of 2,500 rubles is paid, which is paid before the apostille is affixed to the documents. Therefore, everyone should remember this point.

Sample of an apostille for a birth certificate:

Apostille of educational documents

With the concept Apostille We have already reviewed this in detail in this publication. Now it’s worth talking about what an apostille of education documents is. So, a stamp such as an apostille is placed on original educational documents. This stamp indicates the authenticity of the seal.

An apostille is required if a Russian or foreign student decides to leave their homeland in order to continue their studies abroad.

The government authority of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation can accept student documents for affixing an apostille. If we talk about the time frame for reviewing this document, it is 45 days from the moment the student submits his application.

It is also worth noting that for affixing an apostille on some educational document must be paid to the state. duty. Its size is 1500 Russian rubles. Below you will find a sample of an apostille for educational documents.