Apostille and consular legalization of documents in Bulgaria

Schmidt & Schmidt covers the full spectrum of legalization services for documents issued in Bulgaria.

Bulgaria joined the Hague Convention on the Simplified Authentication of Documents on 1 August 2000; the Convention entered into force on 29 April 2001.

The apostille, or the “Hague apostille” is a certificate that authenticates the origin of a public document (e.g., a birth, marriage or death certificate, a judgment, an extract of a register or a notarial attestation). It confirms the authenticity of the signature and the authority of an official who signed the public document.

Documents issued in Bulgaria are certified with an apostille in accordance with the Hague Convention of 1961 are recognized in all Member States of the Hague Convention and do not require any other form of certification, such as consular legalization, which considerably reduces the costs and time required for the certification of documents. So far, more than 120 states have joined the Convention.

The apostille is not sufficient for use in the states that are not party to the Hague Convention. In this case, consular legalization applies to a public document.

Bulgarian civil status documents and certificates of no impediment for marriage issued in accordance with the CIEC Convention following the International multilingual model are exempt from legalization in any form. More.

Designated Competent Apostille Authorities in Bulgaria

An Apostille is an official certificate issued by the government that is affixed to documents to ensure their recognition when presented to authorities in another country. By attaching an Apostille, the authenticity of the seals and signatures on the documents is confirmed. Once the Apostille is attached, the documents are deemed suitable for submission to any country that recognizes the Apostille. They will be accepted as valid and authentic without the need for further proof or evidence.

In Bulgaria, the designated competent authorities for Apostille and consular legalization are the following:

For notaries and court acts: The Ministry of Justice
For certification and educational documents: The National Centre for Information and Documentation
For documents issued by municipal administrators or mayors: The regional administrations
For all other acts: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Bulgaria is a signatory of the Hague Apostille Convention. If you intend to use documents from the UK, Ireland, or EU countries in Bulgaria the only form of confirmation you will need to obtain is an apostille. There is no need for a separate legalization certificate.

The apostille in Bulgaria is a square stamp in Bulgarian with the obligatory heading "Apostille" and a reference to the 1961 Hague Convention in French (Convention de La Haye du 5 octobre 1961). The apostille certificate’s sides will be at least 9 centimeters long.

Types of documents

Can be apostillized	Cannot be apostillized
Extracts from Bulgarian trade register Land register extract Documents issued or certified by a notary public Documents issued by courts Translations by court interpreters Official documents issued by state authorities Educational certificates from state and state-recognised institutions: School transcripts, university degree transcripts, overviews of subjects and grades, matriculation certificates, additional certificates from schools or universities as well as certificates. Powers of attorney, testaments, declarations Other government documents	Trade contracts Invoices Customs documents, diplomatic and consular documents ID Cards

Specific aspects and document requirements for the apostille in Bulgaria

Bulgaria is among the 120 countries that recognize and issue apostilles in accordance with the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961. The apostille serves as a confirmation of the official status of a document.

Document Requirements for Apostille in Bulgaria

To obtain an apostille for a document in Bulgaria, the following requirements generally apply:

The document must be an original or a certified copy issued by the competent authority.
The document should contain all relevant and accurate information.
The document must be in the official language of the issuing country or translated into the official language of the country where the apostille is sought
The apostille must be affixed by the designated competent authority in accordance with regulations.

It is important to present your document in good condition, as this facilitates the notarization process and eliminates the need for corrections. We recommend following these steps before bringing your document for notarization:

Ensure that the document is fully completed.
Provide an official form of identification, such as a passport or driver's license.
Verify that the name on your document matches the name on your identification.

The apostille is issued in a uniform format. In Bulgaria, it has the form of a printed sticker with a handwritten signature of an official, an official seal, and a hologram.

In cases where apostilles are not recognized, holders of foreign documents will need to legalize them instead. However, If the country of destination of the document recognizes and issues apostilles, then legalization is unnecessary.

If you require new original documents, the information here will help you.

Legalization of Bulgarian educational documents for use abroad

For educational documents issued in Bulgaria such as school reports, university degree certificates, transcripts of records, enrollment certificates, and other school or university certificates, to be recognized and valid abroad, they must undergo a certification process through either legalization or apostille, if issued in one of the member countries of the Convention.

Diplomas issued in countries that are party to the Lisbon Recognition Convention or are members of the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, or Switzerland do not require legalization or certification.

Generally, the process of legalization will include the following steps:

Certification by the responsible Ministry, Agency, or authority for higher education in the country of origin. This includes certifying the signature and official function of the university rector who signed the diploma.
Certification by the Consular Section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the issuing country to authenticate the signature and official function of the previous authority.
The seal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the foreign country should be certified by the Bulgarian diplomatic or consular representation in that country. If there is no Bulgarian Embassy/Consulate in the issuing country, the stamp of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should be certified/legalized by the Embassy of that country in Bulgaria. The signature and certification of the Embassy Consular Office must be certified by the Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The certified documents should be accompanied by a legalized translation into Bulgarian, with the translator's signature notarized.

For any inquiries regarding document translation and certification, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria is the relevant authority.

Recognition of the authenticity of public documents within the EU

For countries with which Bulgaria has bilateral legal aid agreements that include provisions for exempting documents from apostille legalization, the documents issued by the foreign state must bear the stamp of the respective authorized institution as per the bilateral agreement. These documents will also require a certified translation in the same manner as documents with apostille.

Bulgaria has signed bilateral legal assistance treaties (Legal Aid Agreements) with the following countries:

Austria, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Vietnam, Georgia, Italy, Yemen, Cyprus, People's Democratic Republic of Korea, Cuba, Kuwait, Libya, Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, The Russian Federation, Syrian Arab Republic, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Croatia, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Hungary, France, Czech Republic, and Slovakia.
Lisbon Recognition Convention: If a Bachelor's degree diploma is issued in a country that is a party to the Lisbon Recognition Convention, it does not require legalization and certification with an apostille stamp. However, the diploma should be translated into Bulgarian by a sworn translator. If the translation is done in Bulgaria, it is necessary to have the translator's signature notarized.
The Lisbon Recognition Convention applies to the following countries: Australia, Estonia, Malta, USA, Austria, Israel, Netherlands, Serbia, Azerbaijan, Ireland, New Zealand, Tajikistan, Bulgaria, Iceland, Norway, Turkey, Andorra, Spain, Poland, Ukraine, Armenia, Italy, Portugal, Hungary, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Finland, Belgium, Canada, Moldova, France, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Romania, Croatia, Great Britain, Latvia, Russia, Montenegro, Germany, Lithuania, San Marino, Czech Republic, Georgia, Switzerland, Greece, Luxembourg, Slovakia, Sweden, Denmark, Macedonia, and Slovenia.

Regulation on public documents (EU) 2016/1191 of 6 July 2016

Furthermore, Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 of 6 July 2016 on public documents simplifies the circulation of certain public documents that must be presented in an EU Member State and have been issued in another EU Member State, thus exempting public documents from the confirmation of authenticity with the Apostille with the aim of reducing administrative burden and costs for citizens.

Consular legalization of Bulgarian documents for use abroad

Consular legalization is the process of authenticating or certifying a legal document so a foreign country's legal system will recognize it as with full legal effect that is carried out by the diplomatic or consular mission of the country in which the document is to be used.

Consular legalization is more complex, time-consuming and costly than the simpler apostille procedure. Whereas apostille is usually issued within one step, consular legalization requires several pre-certifications before a public document can be certified at the embassy or consulate of the destination country.

It is a common requirement that the document has to be translated into the official language of the destination country before submission to the embassy. It is up to the diplomatic mission to decide about the authentication procedure.

The main differences between an apostille and consular legalization of documents

The common feature between apostille and consular legalization is that they authenticate an official document for presentation to institutions in another country. However, they have many differences.

	Apostille	Consular legalization
Legal effect	Can be used in all countries that are party to the Hague Convention on the Simplified Legalization of Documents.	Use between States one or both of which is not a member of the Hague Convention, or where one of the contracting States has protested the accession of the other.
Difficulty	Moderate. To obtain an apostille, contact the competent apostille authority of the state of origin of the document.	High. For consular legalization, various inland authorities and a diplomatic mission of the state of destination must be involved.
Pre-certification	Usually not required.	Is obligatory.
Attestation at the state of destination embassy in the state of origin of the document	No need to contact the Consulate of the country of destination.	Is the final step of legalization.

Apostille and consular legalization in all cities of Bulgaria

Schmidt & Schmidt provides apostille and consular legalization services for public documents originating from all regions across Bulgaria. We handle the entire process, from document review to obtaining the necessary certifications, ensuring that your documents are valid and recognized internationally. With our reliable services, you can confidently use your Bulgarian public documents abroad.

Procurement of documents from Bulgaria

If the important documents are lost or damaged, or current copies of the documents are needed, the re-issue of the documents is required. It is not unusual for people outside Bulgaria to encounter difficulties with obtaining new documents when abroad. Our consultants will help you procure new documents from Bulgaria remotely, and we can arrange for your documents to be sent by courier anywhere in the world.

Certified translation of documents from Bulgaria

Copies and transcripts of civil status documents can be translated into any language by a sworn translator in Bulgaria or the translation can be done in the country of destination. We offer certified translations of civil status documents with further certification. The cost of the work is calculated according to the volume of the document in question.

Does the translation have to be apostillized?

Any foreign document issued in one country and used in another country must be legalized for use abroad. Therefore, the authenticity of a certified translation from Bulgaria needs to be certified by an apostille. Consequently, many authorities may not accept certified translations from Bulgaria if the translation has not been properly authenticated in Bulgaria for use abroad. To avoid this confusion, translations should better be made in the state of the destination of the document.