APOSTILLE AND CONSULAR LEGALIZATION

A document issued in a country can get authenticity in another country after its' authentication by apostille or attestation by consular legalization.

Apostille

1.Apostille Convention

The documents apostilled by relevant authorities of member states of Hague Convention dated October 5, 1961 on “Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents” enter into force in all member states of the Convention.

In 2005 both Azerbaijan and India acceded to the Convention and introduced the practice. Apostille is not recognized in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka where the Embassy concurrently accredited . Documents for the use in these countries and Azerbaijan are to be legalized.

2.Apostille in Azerbaijan

By the rules of Azerbaijan documents:

- emanated from courts, public prosecutors and justice authorities,

- certified in Notary,

- on State Civil Acts Registration are to be apostilled by the Ministry of Justice or “ASAN Service” centers. Other documents are apostilled at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Legalization of documents issued in Azerbaijan

1. Attestation in Azerbaijan

• if it is a copy of the original document, copies to be attested by notary,
• if it is a translated document, signature of the translator is to be attested by notary
• if it is a notarized document, verification of the Notary signature and stamp by the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan is required. After all documents are to be submitted to the Consular Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

There are two ways to legalize the documents:

- attestation by the diplomatic or consular missions of the third country in Azerbaijan,

- attestation by the diplomatic or consular missions of Azerbaijan abroad.

In both cases the document is to be attested by concerned country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then, becomes legalized.

Warning!

Originals and copies of following documents are never legalized by authorities of Azerbaijan:

-        identity card of citizens,

-        documents on the membership of a political party,

-        trade-union membership cards,

-        employment record books,

-        army service document,

-        testimonials,

-        documents on conviction,

-        documents contradicting the legislation of Azerbaijan,

-        documents against the interests of the Republic of Azerbaijan or disrespectful to its' citizens.

2. Legalization of documents at the Embassy of Azerbaijan to India:

Following documents are required for legalization:

- original and a copy of ID of the applicant,

- if appealed through authorized agent, notarized authority letter,

- payment receipt of state fee $10.

Legalization takes 3-5 working days depending on the number of documents.

Documents issued in Azerbaijan but not legalized by Consular Department of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan are sent to Azerbaijan for verification and then authenticated.

The document authenticated by the Embassy should:

• be legalized by Consular, Passport and Visa Division of Ministry of External Affairs.
• be legalized by respective country's embassy or consulates in India to forward for authentication by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of that country.

Legaliation of documents of foreign countries

All documents requiring attestation or apostille are first to be verified by the designated authorities of the concerned State/Union Territory:

- for personal documents, Home/General Administration Department of the concerned State Government/Union Territory,

- for educational documents, Education Department of the concerned State Government/Union Territory,

- for commercial documents the respective Chambers of Commerce are the designated authorities.

Next verification is to be done by the CPV Division of MEA of India. (http://mea.gov.in/apostille.htm)

The documents apostilled by CPV is in accepted in Azerbaijan, but authenticated document to be attested by the Embassy.

The documents issued in other states to be attested by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the concerned country, verified by its' embassy or consulate in India and then to be submitted to the Embassy of Azerbaijan:

Bangladesh (http://mofa.gov.bd/service/power-attorney)

Bhutan (https://www.citizenservices.gov.bt/judiciary-services)

Maldives (http://www.foreign.gov.mv/v2/en/consular-service/documents-attestation-service/)

Nepal (https://www.mofa.gov.np/the-ministry/departments/)

Sri Lanka (http://www.mfa.gov.lk/index.php/en/consular-services/authentication-of-documents-)

Notice: Documents with dubious signatures or contradicting the legislation of the issued country will be forwarded to the authorities of concerned country for clarification. In such cases, legalization will need more time.