Schmidt & Schmidt offers the legalization of documents from Turkmenistan.

Consular legalization in Turkmenistan

Turkmenistan has not joined the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents. Therefore, documents from Turkmenistan cannot be legalized by apostille, they will only be recognized abroad after they undergo consular legalization, a procedure by which the signature and the seal of foreign documents are authenticated. Responsible is the respective embassy of the country in which the document shall be used.

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. 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.

Consular legalization includes confirmation of a document by the authorized bodies of the Ministry of Justice, divisions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then by the consulate (or consular section of the embassy) of the destination country. It must be remembered that the document will have legal force only in the territory of the country whose consulate stamp is on it.

Not only documents issued in Turkmenistan are subject to consular legalization for their use in other countries, but also documents from other countries for their use in Turkmenistan.

Document Requirements for legalization in Turkmenistan

To obtain a consular legalization for a document in Turkmenistan, 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 consular legalization is sought.

It is advisable to find out in advance the requirements for the legalization of your documents at the Turkmenistan embassy or at the place of submission of documents, especially if you want to legalize non-standard documents.

It is not possible to legalize heavily damaged, unreadable and dilapidated documents, as well as documents with corrections. In this case, you will have to get a duplicate.

Many certificates and other documents have a deadline after which you will have to re-legalize them.

Claim of documents in Turkmenistan is carried out by the following bodies

  • Central Archive of the Registrar of Turkmenistan;
  • Main Archive Office under the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan;
  • Ministry of Internal Affairs;
  • Red Crescent Society of Turkmenistan.

Turkmen citizens can request the CO of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan for the claim of documents from other states.The claim procedure depends on the completeness of the input data and the requirements of the legislation of the state of the origin of the document.

Consular legalization of documents in Turkmenistan

  • Original Document or Notarized Copy: Original documents or notarized copies are required for the consular legalization process.

    • Notarization Certificate: Documents need a notarization certificate from a notary's office in Turkmenistan.

  • Ministry of Justice Authentication: The Ministry of Adalat (Justice) authenticates the notary's signature and seal.
  • Consular Office Confirmation: The DCS of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms the authenticity of the Ministry of Adalat's seal and the official's signature.

Consular legalization of documents for Turkmenistan

  • Foreign documents intended for use in Turkmenistan are first legalized by diplomatic missions or consular offices of Turkmenistan abroad.
  • After the primary legalization, these documents undergo a secondary legalization process at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.

    • If foreign documents arrive in Turkmenistan without prior legalization, a different process is followed.

  • In this case, documents are first legalized by diplomatic representations of the foreign country in Turkmenistan where they were made.
  • Subsequently, these documents are further legalized by the Consular Office (CO) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan.

Consular legalization of documents for use abroad

  • Notarization: A notary's office in Turkmenistan certifies a copy of the document.
  • Ministry of Justice Authentication: The Ministry of Adalat (Justice) authenticates the notary's signature and seal.
  • DCS Confirmation: The DCS of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan confirms the authenticity of the Ministry of Adalat's seal and the official's signature.
  • Legalization Abroad: After DCS legalization, documents are further legalized in the diplomatic mission or consular office of the destination country.
  • Foreign consuls verify the authenticity of the DCS official's signature and seal.
  • Document Types and Form: Documents are usually legalized in notarized copies, with exceptions for documents formed in a specific format for use abroad.

Exceptions:

  • Certain documents, such as education documents for use abroad, are legalized in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan in their original form.
  • Documents containing information contrary to Turkmenistan's laws or content harmful to its interests are not subject to legalization.