Certification of document authenticity (legalisation)
or Apostille

Certification of document authenticity (legalisation) is the certification of signature and seal authenticity carried out by a consular official for documents prepared in one country to be effective in another. Through legalisation also the legal status and authority of the official signing the document is also certified. It should be remembered that certification of document authenticity is not a notarised act. .

use of documents issued abroad in the Republic of Latvia

If the document is issued by a country that is a member of the 1961 Hague Convention 'On Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation of Foreign Public Documents' , its authenticity shall be certified in the procedure of Article 3 of the said Convention by an Apostille of the competent authority of the respective country. It is not required to certify the documents so processed by the Embassy/Consulate of the Republic of Latvia.

If the document is issued by a country that is not a member of the 1961 Hague Convention, it shall be legalised by the Embassy/Consulate of the respective country in Latvia or the nearest country and afterwards – in the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia .

use of documents issued in the Republic of Latvia abroad

If the document is issued for use in a country that is a member of the 1961 Hague Convention /, its authenticity shall be certified by an Apostille at the Consular Department. It is not required to certify the documents so processed by the Embassy/Consulate of the respective country.

If the document is issued for use in a country that is not a member of the 1961 Hague Convention /, it shall be first legalised at the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Latvia and/or Embassies/Consulates of the Republic of Latvia abroad , and afterwards at the Embassy/Consulate of the respective foreign country.

useful tips on preparation of documents

In order to carry out notary certification of translation the document shall be completely processed and effective. The document shall contain the following information:
- the name of the document issuer;
- the date of preparing the document;
- the name of place for preparing, issuing and signing;
- signature(s).

Find additional information on processing of documents in the Cabinet Regulation No 154 'Regulations for Drafting and Formatting of Documents' of 23 April 1996.

In order to approve the copy of document the original of document is required for submission to the public notary.