What is an apostille or superlegalisation?

If you are submitting documents to authorities in other countries, you may often find that a certified translation is not enough and that they require an apostille or, in certain cases, superlegalisation. What exactly does this mean?

While it may sound complicated, it’s really quite simple. An apostille and superlegalisation are both ways of verifying public documents to ensure they are authentic for use abroad. They are basically confirmation that the submitted document is genuine. In this manner, Czech authorities assure the foreign authorities or institutions that they can trust the document and that it is not a forgery.

Co jsou apostila a superlegalizace?

Odpověď je prostá, ačkoli zní složitě. Apostila i superlegalizace jsou způsoby ověření veřejných listin, které dokládají pravost listiny a úřady v zahraničí mohou tyto dokumenty bez obav považovat za legitimní. V podstatě to tedy znamená, že je předkládaná listina pravá. České úřady tak dávají potvrzení zahraničnímu úřadu nebo instituci, že této listině mohou věřit a nejedná se o padělek. 

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Apostille

An apostille is added to a document to certify it is genuine – it is issued for countries that are signatories to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents, or the Apostille Convention. For these countries, if a document already has an apostille, it no longer needs to be verified by the embassy of the given country.

Apostilles are issued by the Ministry of Justice of the CR or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the CR. Each type of document has its own specific requirements, which is why there is no uniform way to obtain an apostille. However, we can make all necessary arrangements and you can contact us at any time. We will be glad to obtain an apostille for you and will then also arrange for a certified translation of this document.

Countries using apostilles to verify authenticity are listed here.

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Superlegalisation

Superlegalisation is necessary for all countries that are not signatories to the Apostille Convention.  This is a more complicated way to verify the authenticity of documents for use abroad and concludes with certification at the embassy of the given country.

The document is first legalised by Czech authorities and then must be superlegalised at the embassy. In most cases, the embassy also requires legalisation of a certified translation. Superlegalisation is more time-consuming and also more expensive.

If you need to obtain superlegalisation, contact us and we will make all the necessary arrangements so that you can submit the document without worry in the given country..

What kind of documents typically require an apostille or superlegalisation?

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 extracts from criminal registers

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powers of attorney

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marriage certificates

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birth certificates

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university diplomas

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affidavits of legal capacity to marry

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extracts from registers of companies

We offer our services in Prague and only for documents that were issued in the CR.