The lawyer Kasatkina-Kouskou Svetlana provides services on the authentication with Apostille stamp, and on the demand and granting registry office documents, diplomas, certificates, certificates of marital status in Greece, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Moldova.
For more information please contact the numbers listed on the website or by e-mail.
Legalization of documents is required in almost every case, if you are going abroad:
- To get married to a foreign national
- To make the procedure for family reunification
- Buy property
- Move to a permanent or temporary residence
- Authorize the foreign lawyer for legal action
- To be treated in a foreign hospital
- Apply for training in educational institutions
- Find a job
- Register a new entity or a branch of an existing
- To open a foreign bank account
- Validation with Apostille stamp generally takes place in cases of documents issued by government authorities.
Information on certified documents with the Apostille stamp
In accordance with the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961 "Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents", the states that signed the Convention, expressed a desire to abolish the requirement of diplomatic or consular legalization for foreign public documents.
According to Article 1 of the Convention, it shall apply to public documents which have been drawn up in the territory of one of the Trucial States, and should be represented in another treaty country.
Apostille is a simplified procedure for the legalization of documents and is allowed only for official documents of the other treaty country. It is a simplified procedure because, on the one hand, the Apostille is fast enough and with only one competent authority involved, and on the other hand, the document becomes valid in all countries that have acceded to the Hague Convention.
For the purposes of this Convention, the official documents are:
a) documents emanating from an authority which operates in the area of jurisdiction of the state, including those documents that come from the prosecution, the court clerk or bailiff;
b) the administrative documents;
c) the notarial acts;
d) official certificates made on documents signed by persons in their private capacity, such as official certificates of registration of a document or a fact, documents of certain date and official with official certification of signatures.
The Convention does not apply to:
a) to documents executed by diplomatic or consular agents;
b) to administrative documents that are relevant to the commercial or customs operations.
Apostille is not stamped on the originals or copies of passport documents, military cards, work books, permits to carry weapons, registration certificates for vehicles, identity cards, regulations, explanations and legal conclusions, documents which have the character of correspondence.
For the Apostille stamp must be submitted: the original document on which the Αpostille stamp is issued, or a copy certified in the prescribed manner;
The Apostille stamp on a document shall be refused if:
- The document is intended for use in a country which has not acceded to the Convention, or is a party to the Convention, but expressed its objection to the accession of the country where the document was issued in accordance with Article 12 of the Convention;
- The text of the document can not be read due to damage;
- A document written or signed with a pencil or received via fax;
- The document has not specified because of corrections or additional notes;
- The apostille herein is not included in the powers of the competent authority;
- The competent authority is not able to obtain samples of the appropriate signatures, finger prints and / or stamps.
The list of States, held in the Hague Convention:
Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bermuda, Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei Durassalam, United Kingdom, Hungary, Venezuela, Virgin Islands, Germany, Gibraltar, Honduras, Grenada, Greece, Denmark, Jersey Beyliuik Guernsey, Dominica, Cayman Islands, Israel, India, Ireland, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, Cyprus China (only Hong Kong and Macao), Colombia, Mauritius, Macedonia, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Monaco, Moldova, Montserrat, Namibia, Netherlands, Niue, Norway, New Zealand, New Hebrides, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Gilbert Islands and Ellice Islands, Isle of Man, Turks and Caicos Islands, Romania, Russia, Saint Helena (Netherlands Antilles), Samoa, San Marino, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Christopher and Nevis, St. Lucia , Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, USA, Suriname, Tonga, Turkey, Trinidad and Tobago, Fiji, Finland, France Falkland Islands, Czech Republic, Croatia, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, Ecuador, El Salvador, Estonia, South Africa, Japan , Seychelles, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Consular legalization
If the country for which you are preparing a document is not a party to the Hague Convention, there is the need of consular legalization, which is an alternate way of legalization. This is a more complicated procedure, which includes the identification of the document by the Ministry of Justice, Foreign affairs, and then by the consulate of the destination country. Legalization includes gradual certification of the signature and the official stamp of every competent organization, in accordance with the structure of the administrative apparatus. A document will be valid only in the country of the consulate stamp that the document bears.
