Certification of document authenticity (legalisation) means verification of signature and seal of a document. Traditionally it is performed by a Consular Officer so that documents drawn up in one country would be legally valid in another one.
The Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs performs the certification of document authenticity (legalisation) in the Republic of Latvia.
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Public documents issued in Latvia intended for use in a foreign country |
Before going abroad to work, study or get married etc., a person should clarify in advance what kind of documents
will be required and whether the documents should be legalised or other procedures are in place.
The certification of document authenticity is regulated by several international conventions and intergovernmental agreements, and also by the Document Legalisation Law and the Regulations for Public Document Legislation of Latvia.
- If a document is intended for use in a foreign country which has joined the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Documents of 5 October 1961, its authenticity should be certified with an Apostille by the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The document bearing an Apostille is valid for submission in the institutions of the relevant country and is not subject to any other confirmation.
- If a document is intended for use in a foreign country which has not joined the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Documents, it must be first legalised by the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia or by the diplomatic/consular mission of Latvia in the relevant country. Afterwards the document must be legalised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the relevant country or by the the diplomatic or consular mission of the relevant country.
- As of 31 October 2010, Latvia applies the Convention Abolishing the Legalization of Documents Between the Member States of the European Communities which provides for a reciprocal exemption from the requirement of legalisation. The above-mentioned Convention is applied only as to Belgium, Denmark, France, Ireland, and Italy. The public institutions of these countries have to accept without legalization the public documents issued in Latvia.
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Public documents issued in a foreign country intended for use in Latvia |
The certification of document authenticity is regulated by several international conventions and intergovernmental agreements, and also by
the Document Legalisation Law and
the Regulations for Public Document Legislation of Latvia.
- If a document is issued in a foreign country which has joined the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Documents of 5 October 1961, its authenticity must be certified with an Apostille by the competent institution of the relevant country, and the document is valid for submission to Latvia’s institutions without any other certification.
- If a document is issued in a foreign country which has not joined the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Documents of 5 October 1961, it must be first legalised by foreign services of the relevant country and afterwards by the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or by diplomatic/consular mission of Latvia in the relevant country.
- As of 24 November 2010, the document legalisation requirements have been abolished regarding the documents issued in the countries of the European Union (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom), the European Economic Zone (All EU Member States, as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway), and the Swiss Confederation.
Persons who may submit documents, upon presentation of their identity documents, are:
- persons to whom the document directly refers;
- the spouse, relatives within the third degree of kinship, and second degree in-laws of the persons specified in (1), upon presenting documents proving their marriage, kinship, or affinity;
- persons who have received a power of attorney certified by a notary, granted by the person mentioned in (1).
Legal entity who may submit documents, upon presentation of their identity documents, are:
- CEOs of legal entities;
- persons authorised by legal entities.
If the documents are submitted by authorized representatives of either natural persons or legal entities, the letters of attorney issued abroad must be apostilled or legalised.
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Before submitting documents for authentication, it is highly recommended to consult the mission of the relevant country in advance, in order to find out if it is necessary to certify the authenticity of (legalise): |
- the original document only/copy of a document certified by a notary;
- translation of the document only;
- both the original or copy of the original document certified by a notary, and its translation.
Documents cannot be legalized if the Consular Department of the Foreign Ministry does not have at its disposal a specimen signature of the undersigning official and a sample of the relevant seal or stamp or if they do not comply with the document processing requirements specified in the legislation (for example translations or copies are not bound together and sealed, the document is laminated etc.).
A natural person or legal entity submits documents for legalisation by completing an application form, which must be filled in precisely and signed by applicant. The application can be filled in online but it must be signed by applicant after printing it out.
Legalisation of the documents is proceeded within 3 working days. Urgent legalisation of documents is performed within 24 hours on working days.
In accordance with the Cabinet Regulation No.64 of 27 January 2009 "Regulations Regarding the State Fee for the Legalisation of Public Documents", the following fees are charged for certification (legalisation) per document:
- For natural person – 5Ls
- Urgent legalisation for natural person – 10 Ls
- For an authorised person who is not a relative or the spouse of the authorizing person – 10 Ls
- Urgent legalization for an authorised person who is not a relative or the spouse of the authorizing person – 20 Ls
- For legal entity – 10 Ls
- Urgent legalization for a legal entity – 20 Ls
The Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs accepts payments for consular services only by means of non-cash payment.
Visitors can pay with payment cards ((VISA, VISA Electron, Maestro, Master, American Express) or via credit institutions.
When making a bank transfer, please, indicate in the payment order the purpose of payment - state fees for legalisation of documents, and the following requisites:
Receiver: State Treasury
Registration no: 90000050138
Account no: LV81TREL1060110919100
Receiving Institution: State Treasury
Receiver's BIC: TRELLV22
Countries that have acceded to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents (Convention de la Haye du 5 Octobre 1961)
