The following explanations relate exclusively to public documents, i.e. documents drawn up by a court, an authority, or by a 'person vested with public faith', such as a notary. Public documents from one country can often only be used by the authorities or courts of another state if their authenticity has been established in a special procedure.
To be distinguished from this is the question of whether a foreign public document is suitable for fulfilling the formal requirements existing under domestic law.
For example, if it is stipulated in German real estate law that certain declarations must be notarized, this usually refers to notarization by a domestic notary or consular officer. The equivalence of foreign notarial acts is currently only affirmed under very specific, narrowly defined conditions. Therefore, in each individual case, an examination is required to determine whether a foreign notarization is even suitable to meet existing German formal requirements. When it comes to the recognition of school and university certificates, it is not only about proving their authenticity. The question of equivalence with domestic educational programs usually arises. Information on the equivalence of foreign school and university certificates can be obtained from the Central Office for Foreign Education of the Secretariat of the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany.
Two types of procedures have been developed to prove the authenticity of foreign public documents:
Legalization is the confirmation of the authenticity of a foreign public document by the consular officer of the state where the document is to be used.
Due to an international agreement, in certain countries, the legalization in legal transactions is replaced by the 'Hague Apostille' or there is even a waiver of all formalities.
German public documents for use abroad
If German public documents are to be used abroad, there is the possibility of legalizing the document. This does not apply if legalization is excluded by an international agreement and possibly replaced by an apostille. Whether legalization is required, you will be informed by the foreign authority to which the German document is to be submitted. Legalization is carried out by the diplomatic or consular representation of the respective foreign state in Germany.
Usually, for this purpose, a pre-authentication of the document by German authorities is required, occasionally also another authentication, which is referred to as final authentication or over-authentication. For binding information on the requirements for legalization and the fees, please contact the relevant foreign representation in Germany.
Through Regulation (EU) 2016/1191, certain public documents (see Article 2 of the Regulation) to be presented to the authorities of another EU Member State are exempt from legalization or apostille.
In Contracting States of the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents of 5 October 1961, legalisation is replaced by the so-called Hague Apostille.
The apostille confirms the authenticity of the signature and, if applicable, the seal of the signatory, as well as their authority to issue the document. The document must be presented in its original form for this purpose. For German documents, the apostille is issued by a designated German authority (see below). Involvement of the foreign representation of the state where the document is intended to be used is not necessary. List of countries to which the convention applies in relation to Germany
In the Federal Republic of Germany, the following authorities issue the so-called Hague Apostille:
- Documents of the Federation: Federal Foreign Office (BfAA) Ausnahme: For documents from the Federal Patent Court and the German Patent and Trademark Office, the apostille is issued by the President of the German Patent and Trademark Office. * Documents of the German federal states: Responsibility is not uniformly regulated in the federal states. Therefore, in specific cases, it is recommended to inquire with the issuer of the document about who can issue the 'Hague Apostille'. Generally responsible for: a) Documents of administrative authorities (excluding judicial administrative authorities): Ministries (Senate administrations) for Interior; Regional Presidents; President of the administrative district; District Government; in Berlin: State Office for Citizen and Regulatory Affairs; in Lower Saxony: Police Directorates in Rhineland-Palatinate: Supervisory and Service Directorate in Kaiserslautern; in Saxony: Regional Directorates in Chemnitz, Dresden, and Leipzig; in Saxony-Anhalt: State Administrative Office in Magdeburg; in Thuringia: State Administrative Office in Weimar; b) Documents of judicial administrative authorities, ordinary courts (civil and criminal courts), and notaries: Ministries (Senate administrations) for Justice; Regional (District) Court Presidents c) Documents of other courts (excluding ordinary courts): Ministries (Senate administrations) for Interior; Regional Presidents; President of the administrative district; District Government; Ministries (Senate administrations) for Justice;
Land- (Amts-)gerichtspräsidenten;
German civil status certificates and certificates of capacity to marry issued in accordance with the model of the International Commission on Civil Status (CIEC) are exempt from any formality in the other contracting states. Contracting states of the Vienna CIEC Convention of 08.09.1976 (issuance of multilingual extracts from civil status registers: birth, marriage, and death certificates) are: Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, France, Italy, Cape Verde, Croatia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey.
Contracting States of the Munich CIEC Convention of 05.09.1980 (Issuance of multilingual certificates of marital status) are: Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Moldova, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain, Turkey.
German public documents may be exempt from all formalities by the respective contracting parties under bilateral international treaties. The Federal Republic of Germany has concluded bilateral international treaties in the field of civil status matters or certification of documents with the following states:
Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland.
In these contracts, a waiver of legalization for certain documents or their replacement by a special intermediate certification was agreed upon. In addition, there are separate international treaties for documents used in legal or commercial transactions.
In the legalization process, the preliminary authentication of the document by authorities of the issuing state is usually required. In the German federal states, the responsibility for this is regulated differently. Therefore, in case of doubt, you should inquire with the issuer of the document which authority can provide the preliminary authentication.
In general, are responsible for:
- Documents from administrative authorities (e.g. civil status certificates, registration certificates): - Regional presidents; President of the administrative district; District government; - In states where no administrative districts are established: the state ministries of the interior - In Berlin: State Office for Citizen and Regulatory Affairs - In Bremen and Hamburg: Senate Administration or Authority for Internal Affairs; - In Lower Saxony: Police Directorates - In Rhineland-Palatinate: Supervisory and Service Directorate in Kaiserslautern; - In Saxony: Regional directorates in Chemnitz, Dresden, and Leipzig; - In Saxony-Anhalt: State Administrative Office in Magdeburg;
- in Thuringia: State Administrative Office in Weimar.
- Judicial and notarial documents: Land (district) court presidents
- Documents from schools or universities: as for documents from administrative authorities; However, different responsibilities apply in the following federal states: - Baden-Württemberg: Ministry of Education and Sports or Ministry of Science and Research; - Brandenburg: Ministry of Science, Research, and Culture;
- Saarland: Ministry of Education, Culture and Science;
- Commercial documents (certificates of origin, commercial invoices, etc.):<br> Chambers of Industry and Commerce as well as Chambers of Crafts<br>* Police clearance certificates<br> Federal Central Register at the Federal Office of Justice in Bonn
The representations of the following states require an additional so-called final authentication for the legalization of German documents, regardless of the pre-authentication described above: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Iraq, Iran (except for university certificates), Jordan, Cambodia, Qatar, Lebanon (only for school and training certificates), Mali, Mauritania, Myanmar, Nepal, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan (Taipei Trade Office, only for documents from the judicial sector), Togo, United Arab Emirates (except for commercial documents).
The Federal Foreign Office has transferred the issuance of the final authentication of German documents to the Federal Office for Foreign Affairs with effect from 01.01.2023. The Federal Office for Foreign Affairs (BfAA) can only issue the final authentication if the document has been pre-authenticated by the competent authority (see above).
Translations are considered expert services, not public documents. The confirmation note or stamp of a publicly sworn or recognized translator does not make the translation a public document. The certification and apostille procedures described under items I to II are therefore not applicable to translations.
However, there is the possibility that the competent court president confirms the translator's status as a recognized expert or certifies their signature. This official note is a public document, for which a Hague Apostille or legalization can subsequently be issued.
Whether a translation made in Germany is recognized in another state depends on the law of the state where the translation is intended to be used.
Foreign public documents for use in Germany
If foreign public documents are to be used in Germany, there is the possibility of legalization by the German diplomatic mission in the state of origin of the document. This does not apply if legalization is excluded by an international agreement and possibly replaced by an apostille. In some countries, the verification of documents is carried out instead of legalization as part of administrative assistance. For specific information on translations and documents from foreign embassies and consulates, see below.
The determining factor for which procedure is to be applied is therefore the state of establishment of the respective public document.
Foreign public documents to which none of the agreements listed below apply can be legalized for use in German legal traffic. Whether legalization is required or whether the foreign document will be recognized as genuine without further proof is decided by the authority in Germany where the document is to be used.
Legalization is carried out by the German embassies and consulates. The legal basis is § 13 of the Consular Law, which states, among other things: 'Consular officers are authorized to legalize public documents issued in their consular district. Legalization confirms the authenticity of the signature, the capacity in which the signatory of the document has acted, and, if applicable, the authenticity of the seal affixed to the document. Legalization is carried out by a note to be placed on the document.'
Consular officers are called upon to participate in safeguarding the domestic document traffic and protecting the trust in the reliability of official certificates. Therefore, the consular officer not only rejects legalization if the document is forged, but also if it is obviously an incorrect document certifying a situation that does not actually exist.
Some foreign missions have had to determine that the conditions for the legalization of documents are not met in their consular district. Therefore, with the approval of the Federal Foreign Office, they have suspended legalization until further notice. The list of affected countries and more detailed information can be found below on this page.
For the legalization of documents, the following general principles apply:
- The application for the legalization of documents must be submitted to the responsible German diplomatic mission abroad. * Foreign documents must be presented in their original form; even certified copies are not sufficient. * In most states, the legalization of documents is only possible if they have first been authenticated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or other authorities of the issuing state. * For the legalization, fees and expenses are charged by the diplomatic missions according to the Special Fee Regulations of the Federal Foreign Office for individually attributable public services (AAGebV). The fee is currently EUR 28.11 to 37.41 per document according to I.7.1 AABGebV. If the legalization cannot be carried out, for example because the document has proven to be false, a processing fee in the amount of the costs incurred by the diplomatic mission for the requested official act is charged according to § 10 paragraph 2 sentence 1 of the Federal Fees Act (BGebG).
For more information on the legalization process, please contact the German diplomatic mission in whose consular district the document was issued. Please note that in some countries, there is no German diplomatic mission, and the corresponding consular district is covered by a German embassy in a neighboring country.
Through Regulation (EU) 2016/1191, certain public documents issued by authorities of another EU Member State (see Article 2 of the Regulation) are exempt from legalization or apostille.
In the Contracting States of the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents of 5 October 1961, legalisation is replaced by the 'Hague Apostille'.
The apostille confirms the authenticity of a public document, which must be presented in its original form for this purpose. It is issued by an authority of the state that issued the document. List of countries to which the convention applies in relation to Germany
Each Contracting State shall designate the authorities in its State that issue the 'Hague Apostille'. The Apostille authorities are published, for example, on the website of the Hague Conference
The address of the responsible apostille authority can usually also be provided by the office from which the document originates. The website of the locally competent German diplomatic mission often contains information about the apostille authorities in the consular district of the diplomatic mission. Fees for the 'Hague Apostille' are levied in accordance with the respective national law.
The apostille must generally be obtained by the holder of the document. If necessary, a private local service provider can be used.
Civil status certificates and certificates of capacity to marry issued by one of the contracting states according to the model of the conventions of the International Commission on Civil Status (CIEC) are exempt from any formality in Germany.
Contracting Parties to the Vienna CIEC Convention of 08.09.1976 (Issuance of multilingual extracts from civil status records: birth, marriage, and death certificates) are:
Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, France, Italy, Cape Verde, Croatia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey.
Contracting Parties to the Munich CIEC Convention of 05.09.1980 (Issuance of Multilingual Certificates of Marriageability) are:
Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Moldova, Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain, Turkey.
The Federal Republic of Germany has concluded bilateral treaties in the field of civil status law with the following states or on the certification of documents:
Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland.
In these contracts, a waiver of legalization for certain documents or their replacement by a special intermediate certification was agreed upon.
For certificates used in legal or commercial transactions, there are also separate international treaties.
After some foreign missions had to determine that the conditions for the legalization of documents are not met in their consular district, they have suspended legalization until further notice with the approval of the Federal Foreign Office. List of countries affected by this procedure
The German missions abroad in most of these countries can, depending on the local circumstances, examine whether a document is formally authentic and whether the certified facts are correct within the framework of administrative assistance for German authorities or legal assistance for the courts, and thereby provide decision-making aids to domestic authorities. Please refer to the fact sheets for each country below on this page.
German authorities or courts presented with documents from any of the countries mentioned above may request such verification if there are doubts about the probative value of the documents or the identity of the document holder.