Legalisation of foreign documents

The document is certified using an Apostille (a stamp or a certificate on paper) if the country has joined the Hague Convention of 19611. You will find more information on Apostilles and the countries that have joined this Hague Convention on the website http://www.hcch.net. The website also provides information on the authorities issuing such a certificate in the different countries that are party to the Convention.

Certain public documents issued by authorities in EU Member States are accepted without an Apostille.

As from 16 February 2019, a regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/1191) according to which certain public documents issued by an EU Member State must be accepted without an Apostille when presented to a public authority in another Member State will be applied.

Such public documents are certificates the main purpose of which is to confirm one of the following matters: birth, a person being alive, death, name, marriage, capacity to marry, marital status, divorce, registered partnership, registered partnership status, dissolution of a registered partnership, parenthood, adoption, domicile and/or residence, or nationality.

The document must be the original document, a copy that has been certified as authenticby the issuing authority, or a copy issued by an authority that has the right to issue official copies in the EU country in question. You will find the EU countries at https://europa.eu/european-union/about-eu/countries_fi

If the document has been issued in a country that is not party to the Hague Apostille Convention, the procedure for legalising the document is the following: the ministry for foreign affairs of the country that issued the document legalises the document by certifying that the correct authority has issued it. After that, the competent Finnish diplomatic mission in the country in question legalises the document by attaching to it a certificate proving the right of the official at the country’s ministry for foreign affairs to issue such certificates.

In other words, the legalisation of the document takes place in three stages:

1. The authority issuing the document signs the document and stamps it with its official stamp.
2. The ministry for foreign affairs of the country of origin of the document certifies the authenticity of the signature and official stamp of the authority that issued the document.
3. The Finnish diplomatic mission operating or authorised to operate in the country of origin of the document or an appointed consular official certifies the signature and official stamp of the official of the country’s ministry for foreign affairs.

Please note that a different legalisation procedure is applied in Western Africa. Separate instructions are available for it.

Legalisation of a document in an embassy of another Nordic country

The legalisation by the mission of another Nordic country (Sweden, Denmark, Norway and  Iceland) is also sufficient. If there is no Finnish embassy in the country, legalisation of the  document may also be possible in the mission of another Nordic country. In practice, however it is exceptional for the representation of another Nordic country to legalise the document for the Finnish authorities. Alternatively, the document will be legalised in the nearest Finnish  embassy.