Schmidt & Schmidt covers the full spectrum of legalization services for documents issued in Norway.
Norway joined the Hague Convention on the Simplified Authentication of Documents on 30 May 1983; the Convention entered into force on 29 July 1983.
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 Norway 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.
Designated Competent Apostille Authorities in Norway
In Norway, the authentication process for Apostille is carried out by the County Governors. Before proceeding with the Apostille authentication, the document must be notarized by a Public Notary in Norway. It is also necessary to inform the County Governor about the country where the document will be used before the legalization can take place. The Apostille authentication is affixed on the back of the original document. However, in certain cases, you might need to certify a photocopy as authentic by a Public Notary in Norway. Then, the document can be submitted to the County Governor for Apostille legalization.
In Norway, the Designated Competent Authorities are:
- The County Governors
- Royal Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
The apostille in Norway is a square stamp in Norwegian 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 |
|---|---|
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Specific aspects and document requirements for the apostille in Norway
Norway 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 Norway:
To obtain an apostille for a document in Norway, it will usually need to meet the following requirements:
- The document should bear the original stamp of the issuing authority, clearly displaying the name of the authority.
- The document must include the signature and printed name of the individual who applied for the stamp.
- The position or official title of the person who stamped the document should also be indicated.
Additional requirements that might apply:
- 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.
The apostille is issued in a uniform format. In Norway, 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.
Legalization of Norwegian educational documents for use abroad
In order for educational documents issued in Norway, such as school reports, university degree certificates, transcripts of records, enrollment certificates, and other school or university certificates, to be recognized and accepted abroad, they need to go through a certification process involving either legalization or apostille. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Norway is responsible for conducting the legalization process intended for submission to foreign authorities.
Foreign documents must be legalized in the country of their issuance.
The standard process of legalization is as follows:
- The document is certified by a notary public, typically the district court.
- It is then legalized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
- In most cases, it will also require certification by the embassy/consulate in Oslo representing the country where the document will be used. The individuals authorized to act as notary publics are specified in Section 1 of the Act on Notaries Public and Section 2 of the accompanying regulations.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs legalizes documents for use in countries that are not party to the Hague Apostille Convention. For an up-to-date list of countries that are party to the Hague Apostille Convention, please refer to the Convention of 5 October 1961 Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents.
Recognition of the authenticity of public documents within the EU
Contracting states of the Vienna CIEC Convention of 08.09.1976 (issuance of multilingual extracts from civil status registers: birth, marriage, and death certificate) are:
- Austria, Germany, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Estonia, France, Italy, Cape Verde, Croatia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Switzerland, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey.
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 Norwegian 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 Norwaya
Schmidt & Schmidt provides apostille and consular legalization services for public documents originating from all regions across Norway. 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 Norwegian public documents abroad.
Procurement of documents from Norway
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 Norway to encounter difficulties with obtaining new documents when abroad. Our consultants will help you procure new documents from Norway remotely, and we can arrange for your documents to be sent by courier anywhere in the world.
Certified translation of documents from Norway
Copies and transcripts of civil status documents can be translated into any language by a sworn translator in Norway 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 Norway needs to be certified by an apostille. Consequently, many authorities may not accept certified translations from Norway if the translation has not been properly authenticated in Norway for use abroad. To avoid this confusion, translations should better be made in the state of the destination of the document.
