Legalisation service

Document authentication for use abroad

Save your time, and spare your nerves and effort

You do not have to wait in long queues at various institutions and adjust your time schedule to the office hours of each authority.

We can help you and arrange everything for you

We can advise you on how to prepare your documents correctly and then take care of everything else.

We have years of experience and know how to go about it

We have been providing legalisation services for documents to be used abroad since 1995 and have plenty of experience in the industry.

Legalisation / Embassy attestation – a higher authentication of documents intended to be used abroad

Studying or working in a foreign country, getting married abroad or perhaps exporting goods around the globe. These are some of the situations in which you may need to deal with foreign authorities that require you to present documents with a higher authentication proving that these are indeed valid documents.

What is Legalisation / Embassy attestation?

Legalisation / Embassy attestation is a higher authentication of a document proving to a foreign authority that the presented document is genuine and not a fake. The process of legalisation involves a number of relevant authorities that verify the authenticity of the stamps and signatures of subordinate authorities, up to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. The authenticated documents are then translated by a court-appointed translator into the required language, including all the stamps that have been added during the process. The last authority to verify the original document and its translation is the diplomatic mission of the country in which the legalised document is intended to be used.

Which countries require Legalisation / Embassy attestation?

When dealing with foreign authorities, you are required to present documents that have been authenticated as genuine. Legalisation / Embassy attestation is a rather complex authentication process. Some countries only require an apostille certificate added to documents, which involves a simple procedure. It is certainly a good idea to find out beforehand which type of higher authentication of documents is required in a given country. We will be happy to provide you with such information upon your request. An apostille is accepted by signatory countries to the Hague Convention, whereas legalisation / Embassy attestation is needed for all countries that are not party to the Hague Convention, such as Egypt, China, the Emirates, Canada, Kuwait, Thailand and others.

You can find the updated list of all participating countries to the Hague Convention here.

Request a legalisation

Legalisation / Embassy attestation process

To have documents legalised, a number of authorities must be attended that will authenticate signatures and stamps. This is done in a bottom-up order, i.e. starting at lower authority levels going up to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The authenticated document is then translated by a court-appointed translator, and the final certificate is issued by the embassy of the country in which the document is intended to be used.

Getting documents legalised is clearly a time-consuming process. If you fail to submit all the required documents, or if the documents do not include the correct stamps, you will have to return to the relevant authority. Thanks to the option to apply for legalisation / Embassy attestation on somebody else’s behalf, we can take care of the entire process for you. As we have plenty of experience with the legalisation / Embassy attestation procedures required by a variety of countries, you can count on us to complete the whole process.

If you need a document issued by an authority in the Czech Republic (a copy of your criminal record, a registry certificate and any other certificate or statement) and you are currently abroad or cannot obtain the required document in person, all you have to do is send us a power of attorney with your signature verified by a notary public in the Czech Republic, or by an Embassy of the Czech Republic in a foreign country, and we will take care of the rest. We are happy to send you a power of attorney template upon your request.

Some of the countries for which we arrange legalisation / Embassy attestation most frequently:

THE EMIRATES

EGYPT

CHINA

CANADA

KUWAIT

Vietnam

The legalisation of documents intended to be used in the United Arab Emirates

To apply for the legalisation of documents to be used in the Emirates, you need to submit the documents together with their translation into Arabic or English. Both the original document and the sworn translation must have a ‘legalisation certificate’ issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Subsequently, the documents must be verified by the UAE’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA).
Another option is to send the documents to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the UAE via Aramex courier service. You will then receive your documents in the same manner.

The legalisation of documents intended to be used in Egypt

To apply for the legalisation of documents to be used in Egypt, you need to submit the original documents (not their notarised copies, with the exception of university diplomas), together with their translation into Arabic or English. Both the original document and the sworn translation must have a ‘legalisation certificate’ issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The verification of one stamp issued by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs costs
– CZK 2 200 for personal documents
– CZK 5 800 for business documents

The turnaround time at the Embassy is normally the next working day.

The legalisation of documents intended to be used in China

To apply for the legalisation of documents to be used in China, you need to submit the original documents (not their notarised copies, with the exception of university diplomas), together with their translation into Chinese or English. Both the original document and the sworn translation must have a ‘legalisation certificate’ issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The Chinese Embassy requires the person submitting the documents to present a power of attorney signed by the owner of the documents confirming that he/she are allowed to act on the owner’s behalf (the power of attorney need not be verified by a notary public). We are happy to send you a power of attorney template upon your request.

The verification of one stamp issued by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs costs
– CZK 1 110 for personal documents
– CZK 2 210 for business documents

The turnaround time at the Embassy is normally one week.

The legalisation of documents intended to be used in Canada

To apply for the legalisation of documents to be used in Canada, you need to submit the original documents (not their notarised copies, with the exception of university diplomas), together with their translation into English or French. Both the original document and the sworn translation must have a ‘legalisation certificate’ issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The verification of one stamp issued by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs costs
– CAD 100 (Canadian dollars); we will pay the fee for you and then invoice you in CZK.

The turnaround time at the Embassy are normally three working days.

The legalisation of documents intended to be used in Kuwait

To apply for the legalisation of documents to be used in Kuwait, you need to submit the documents together with their translation into Arabic or English. Both the original document and the sworn translation must have a ‘legalisation certificate’ issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The documents are subsequently legalised at the Kuwait Embassy.

The verification of one stamp issued by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs costs
– CZK 650 for personal documents
– CZK 1 200 for business documents

The turnaround time at the Embassy is normally the next working day.

The legalisation of documents intended to be used in Vietnam

To apply for the legalisation of documents to be used in Vietnam, you need to submit the documents together with their translation into English. Both the original document and the sworn translation must have a ‘legalisation certificate’ issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The documents are subsequently legalised at the Vietnam Consular Section.

The verification of one stamp issued by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs costs
– CZK 1 000

Documents may be submitted only on Monday and Wednesday mornings. Normally, they are ready to be collected on the same day in the afternoon.

Are you abroad and need to arrange legalisation / Embassy attestation at Czech authorities? We can help you!

If you are abroad and need to have your Czech documents legalised in the Czech Republic, we will be happy to help and take care of everything for you.

More about arranging legalisation from abroad

How much does your legalisation / Embassy attestation service cost?

The cost of higher authentication depends on the type of documents that need to be super legalised and which country is the authentication intended for. This also determines how many authorities that charge administration fees will need to be attended. Detailed information is provided in our price list. You can also write to us and we will give you a price breakdown.

Are you based outside Prague, or do you need to travel? No problem!

You can post your documents to our Prague office address. We will return them in the same way to the address you provide us with. We have partnered up with the DHL Express courier company, with which we have a contract ensuring favourable prices, so we can send your documents anywhere around the globe.

Request a legalisation

Is there anything else you need to know? Would you like to know the price of our legalisation / Embassy attestation services? Send us a message and we will get back to you within two hours.