What is an apostille?

Stamping with an apostille (apostilization) is a simplified form of document lecalization. If the country of destination is a party of the Hague Convention of October 5, 1961, this simplified form will apply. Apostilization is, in essence, a confirmation of authenticity of the signature and stamp as well as the powers of the persn who isuued the document. Depending of the type of the document you can apostilize it in the following institutions: Ministry of Justice, the Registry Office, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Interior.

Apostille in the Ministry of Justice (Federal Registration Service )
Apostille in the Ministry of Justice is put on documents coming from a notary. It is put on notarized copies (documents of education, documents issued by Registry Office, medical certificates, non-conviction certificates, documents of a legal entity – statute, foundation agreement, registration certificate, etc.)as well as on documents issued and certified by a notery (power of attorney, consent of parents, applications, etc.).

Apostille of the Registry Office
Apostille of the Registry Office is put only on original documents issued by the Office itself. These can be: certificate of birth, death, marriage, divorce.

Apostille of the Ministry of Education
Apostille of the Ministry of Education is put only on the original state documents of education, for example: diploma of higher education and its annex, certificate of secondary education and its annex, academic certificate.

Apostille of the Ministry of Interior
Non-conviction certificates are aposilized at the Ministry of Interior, but isuued at Regional Information Center of the police department.

A decision to apostilize the original document or its notarized copy depends on the requirements set by the authorities of the country of destination.

Apostilixation of copies

In most cases notarized copiesare apostilized (these may be copies of personal documents: certificates of birth, death, marriage, divorce, diplomas, certificates, etc. as well as copies of documents of a legal entity – statutes, foundation agreements, certificates of registration with tax authorities, and many more) or on documents issued by a notary (power of attorney, consent of parents, etc.).

In the above mentioned cases apostilization is performed by judicial authorities of the RF on a territorial basis. This means that documents issued by a notary in one region can be apostilized in this region only.

Apostilization of original documents

Apostille can be put on original documents, issued by various authorities.

Apostilization of documents of education issued in the Russian Federation and in the RSFSR during the Soviet period is performed by the Russian Ministry of Education. Territorial criterion does not apply: a document can have deen issued in any city or region of the Russian Federation (or the RSFSR in the Soviet period).
Apostilization of original documents issued by the Registry Office is performed on a territorial basis: documents issued in a region are apostilized in joint archive of the Registry of this region.

Is translation necessary?

In most countries the rule applies that authorities accept only documents performed in the official language of this country. This means that you will definitely need translation.

Nevertheless it is not necessary to translate a document before legalization. This can be done beforehand in order to legalize it together with the translation or you can legalize the documents “as is” in your language and translate it in your country or in the country of destination. The choice depends on requirements set by authorities where the document will be presented.
Apostille is put on the document itself, as it will not be difficult to translate an apostilized document. This can be performed in Russia (including translation agency Translation.ru) as well as in the country of destination.