Apostille and consular legalization of documents in Kosovo

Schmidt & Schmidt offers the legalization of public documents from Kosovo by apostille.

Kosovo acceeded to the the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents. Documents from Kosovo can, therefore, be easilybe attested by an apostille certificate with an "apostille" stamp on it by the issuing state's authorities in order to be valid in the state of destination.

However, some states of the Hague Convention, including Argentina, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Germany, China (for Hong Kong and Macau), Cyprus, Georgia, Greece, India, Israel, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Mexico, Moldova, Namibia, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Russia, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Venezuela limited the acceptance of Kosovar documents certified by the apostille on their territory. Therefore, Kosovar public documents should undergo a consular legalization for use in these countries.

Responsible for the apostille are the following institutions:

Agency for civil registration of the Ministry of Interior for civil registration documents and documents confirming civil status
Department of Consular Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - other documents

Documents issued in the Albanian or Serbian language by the authorities of the Republic of Kosovo can be legalized by apostille.

The apostillization of public documents in Kosovo the authentication of the origin of the document and the authority of the officials who have affixed the signature, seal or stamp on the document. After such verification, a special stamp - the apostille - is affixed to the public document. The apostille is usually placed on the back of the underlying public document or on a separate attached page.

The apostille is a stamp of rectangular shape. It should be filled in in the official language of the issuing authority. The heading "Apostille (Convention de la Haye du 5 octobre 1961)" written in French is a necessary requirement for the apostille's validity.

The following documents can be authenticated by apostille:

Certificates of civil status (certificates of birth, death, marriage and divorce)
Education documents (school reports, certificates, diplomas)
Trade register excerpts
Court decisions
Notarially certified copies of documents
Notarially certified translations
Further notarial documents (authorizations, last will, declarations)
Commercial documents legalized by a state registration body (articles of incorporation, registration certificates, tax registrations etc.)

Requirements for the documents:

The apostille can be exclusively issued for the original document. Therefore, the latter must be presented in good condition, with all stamps and signatures clear and readable. Furthermore, it should not contain alien markings or labels.

Consular legalization of public documents for use in Kosovo

Foreign documents require consular legalization before they can be used in Kosovo. The representations and embassies of Kosovo all over the world are in charge of this process.

Consular legalization of public documents from Kosovo for use abroad

The exact legalization process of documents from Kosovo depends on the country you wish to use them in. Please feel free to contact us with your request and we will do our best to assist you!