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

Slovenia joined the Hague Convention on the Simplified Authentication of Documents on 8 June 1992; the Convention entered into force on 25 June 1992.

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 Slovenia 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.

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Designated Competent Apostille Authorities in Slovenia

In Slovenia, the designated competent authorities for issuing apostilles are:

• The Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Slovenia, responsible for certifying the authenticity of signatures and seals on public documents from notaries, district judges, and court interpreters.
• District Courts throughout Slovenia, responsible for certifying the authenticity of signatures and seals on public documents issued by notaries, notary candidates, judges (excluding district judges), state institutions, organizations, individuals with public powers of attorney, and legal entities. This designation applies to all district courts across Slovenia.

The apostille in Slovenia is a square stamp in Slovenian 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

Specific aspects and document requirements for the apostille in Slovenia

Slovenia 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.

The apostille process can vary depending on the sender and recipient country, but typically to obtain an apostille for a document in Slovenia, you must go through the following steps:

• Obtaining the original document to be apostilled;
• Verification of the signature on the document by the authorized body;
• Issuance of an apostille on a document by an authorized body;
• Submission of the document together with the apostille in the recipient country.

This process can be time-consuming, especially if it includes multiple documents and different countries. To ensure a smooth and accurate apostille process, it is recommended to seek guidance from specialists familiar with the requirements and procedures. Their expertise can help avoid delays and errors in obtaining documents apostille.

Document requirements that might 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.

The apostille is issued in a uniform format. In Slovenia, 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 legalizethem instead. However, If the country of destination of the document recognizes and issues apostilles, then legalization is unnecessary.

Legalization of Slovenian educational documents for use abroad

In order for educational documents issued in Slovenia, such as school reports, university degree certificates, transcripts of records, enrollment certificates, and other certificates from schools or universities, to be valid and recognized abroad, they must undergo a process of certification through legalization or apostille.

The process will generally involve submitting your educational documents to the designated authority along with the required fee. Once the apostille is affixed to your documents, it serves as an internationally recognized endorsement of their authenticity. This is particularly important when presenting your educational credentials to foreign institutions, employers, or authorities.

Recognition of the authenticity of public documents within the EU

Documents from countries with which Slovenia has bilateral agreements for exemption from legalization are not required to undergo any form of legalization procedures. Some of these include:

• Treaty with Austria of 16 December 1954 on mutual legal aid;
• Treaty with Belgium of 24 September 1971 on mutual legal assistance in civil and commercial matters;
• Treaty with Belgium of 24 September 1971 on issuing extracts from public registrars and abolishment of legalisation;
• Treaty with Bulgaria of 23 March 1956 on mutual legal assistance;
• Treaty with Czech republic of 20 January 1964 on regulation of legal relations in civil, commercial and criminal matters;
• Treaty with Slovakia of 20 January 1964 on regulation of legal relations in civil, commercial and criminal matters;
• Treaty with France of 29 October 1969 on issuing documents on personal status and abolishment of legalisation
• Treaty with Greece of 18 June 1959 on mutual legal affairs;
• Treaty with Croatia of 7 February 1994 on mutual legal assistance in civil and criminal matters;
• Treaty with Italy of 3 December 1960 on mutual legal assistance in civil and administrative matters;
• Treaty with Hungary of 17 March 1968 on mutual legal aid;
• Treaty with Republic of North Macedonia of 6 February 1996 on mutual legal assistance in civil and criminal matters;
• Treaty with Poland of 16 February 1960 on mutual legal affairs in civil and criminal matters;
• Treaty with Romania of 18 October 1960 on mutual legal aid;
• Treaty with Russia of 24 February 1962 on mutual legal assistance in civil, family and criminal matters;
• Treaty with Bosnia and Hercegovina of 21 October 2009 on mutual legal assistance in civil and criminal matters;
• Treaty with Serbia of 15 April 2011 on mutual legal assistance in civil and criminal matters.

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, Cyprus, 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 Slovenian 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.