It's a well-known fact that documents issued abroad and legally valid in one country may be used in another country only after their appropriate certification. Today there are two main ways of such certification - consular legalization and provision of Apostille.

Consular legalization means confirmation of documents' correspondence to the legislation of the country of origin and represent verification of authenticity of executive signature, his/her status and, in relevant cases, the seal of the authorized government agency on documents and acts with their purpose of their use in another country.

Foreign documents to be used in Russia may be legalized in the country of origin or in the Russian Federation. In the first case the document shall first be verified in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or other authorized government agency of the country of origin and then legalized in the consular institution of the Russian Federation of that country. In the second case the foreign document shall first be verified in the diplomatic mission or consulate of the country of origin and then legalized in the Department of Consular Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. In both cases it may be necessary to provide a translation into Russian with notary certification.

As you can see, the legalization procedure is rather complicated and requires significant expenses. But it's still imperfect - the document after such a multi-stage and laborious procedure is valid only for the country whose consulate service legalized it.

To simplify the process of recognizing foreign documents in 1961 in the Hague (Netherlands) the Convention was signed, repealing the requirement to legalize foreign official documents (the Hague Convention). For Russia in came into effect on May 331, 1992.

The Hague Convention extends to the documents on education, civil status, seniority, certificates on being alive, references, powers of attorney, court decisions and materials on civil, family and criminal cases and others. Article 1 of the Convention stipulates that it does not extend to "documents executed by diplomatic or consular agents" as well as "administrative documents directly concerning commercial or customs operations" (powers of attorney for business transactions, goods transfer across the border, contracts on delivery of goods and provision of services work execution and payment for it). This means that in cases stipulated by domestic legislation of the country of document use, such papers shall be legalized in the usual way, i.e. by consulate legalization including consecutive certification by several institutions. Preserving the multi-stage system during legalization of such documents allows to ensure closer control over activities of commercial enterprises.

In accordance with the Hague Convention documents executed by competent agencies of one country but meant for use in another are provided with a special stamp (Apostille). It may be put directly on the document or on a separate sheet of paper attached to it. The Apostille "certifies the authenticity of signature, the capacity of the person signing the document and in appropriate cases authenticity of the stamp or seal of the document" (Article 5). The signature, stamp or seal put there by a competent agency do not require any further certification or legalization and the document with the Apostille can be used in any country participating in the Hague Convention.

Legalization or Apostille are not required if an international agreement stipulates revocation or simplification of these procedures. Thus, bilateral agreements on mutual legal assistance and the Convention on legal assistance and legal relations concerning civil, family and criminal cases of January 22, 1993 stipulates that properly executed documents on the territory of a Participating Party do not require any certification (legalization) on the territory of another Participating Party. For these documents only a notarized translation may be required.

In the Republic of Karelia the Apostille is provided by the Civilian Registry Office and the Administration of the Ministry of Justice of RF in the Republic of Karelia.

Best of luck to you!

The Bureau of Translations, Petrozavodsk