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

Austria joined the Hague Convention on the Simplified Authentication of Documents on 14 November 1967; the Convention entered into force on 13 January 1968.

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 Austria and 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 Austria

In Austria, there are a few designated competent authorities from where you can obtain an apostille for your official documents. The specific authority responsible for the procedure varies depending on the type of document:

The Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs handles documents issued by various entities such as the Federal President, federal government, Constitutional Court, Supreme Court, Court of Audit, and more.

The presidents of civil courts of first instance, or their designated representatives, excluding the Commercial Court in Vienna and the Juvenile Court in Vienna handle documents issued within their jurisdiction by courts, public prosecutor's offices, notaries, and bar associations.

Provincial governors and provincial governments, in turn, handle all other documents issued within their respective provinces in the execution of official federal duties.

The price of obtaining an apostille would generally vary depending on the type of service you choose, but will most likely include the cost of €13.70 for judicial and notarial documents.

The apostille in Austria is a square stamp in German 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 Austria

Austria 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 Law was also last amended on 01/07/2017 for Austria, with the main change including electronically issued documents with digital signatures or seal certificates. They can now be authenticated by digital signing certification (e-apostille) if technical and organizational requirements are met. E-apostilles are equivalent to paper apostilles and recognized by member states of the "Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents" but not all contracting states currently issue e-apostilles.

The apostille process can vary depending on the sender and recipient country, but typically to obtain an apostille for a document in Austria, 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 Austria, 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 Austrian educational documents for use abroad

In order for educational documents issued in Austria, 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 certification process is carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Austria.

Educational documents can be authenticated by Austrian diplomatic representations if they meet the necessary requirements. The purpose of diplomatic authentication is to confirm the authenticity of the signature, official seal, and capacity of the person signing the document, as required by international law. Documents submitted for diplomatic authentication must fulfill specific criteria, including being issued within the jurisdiction of the representation authority, not being subject to authentication suspension, not falling under the Hague Convention for apostille, and more. The document should be readable, have compliant signatures and seals, be securely bound if multiple pages, and undergo previous over-legalization by the foreign ministry of the issuing state. The original or a duplicate of the document issued by the competent authority should be provided, with exceptions allowed in cases where the legal order of the issuing state restricts authentication possibilities.

Recognition of the authenticity of public documents within the EU

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

Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden.

Multilingual documents (under CIEC Convention)

Civil status certificates and certificates of marriageability, which are issued by one of the contracting states according to the model of the Convention of the International Commission (CIEC Convention) for Civil and Civil Status Affairs (CIEC), are exempt from any formality in Austria.

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.

Contracting states of the Munich CIEC Convention of 05.09.1980 (issuance of multilingual certificates of marriageability) are:

• Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Moldova, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, Spain, Turkey.

They have specific exemptions from legalization, which apply only to judicial and certain personal status documents. These exemptions are based on special bilateral or multilateral agreements, such as the Convention on the Exemption of Certain Documents from Legalization within the framework of CIEC (Commission Internationale de l'Etat Civil), to which Austria and Türkiye are Contracting States. Varying areas of validity of these agreements explain the difference in legalization requirements for different types of documents, such as Turkish birth certificates not requiring legalization while Turkish higher education diplomas require apostille legalization.

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 Austrian 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.

This procedure is required when the destination country does not recognize or accept the apostille certification. One needs to submit the original document, along with any required copies or supporting materials, to the respective consular office. The consular officials will review the document, verify its authenticity, and affix their seal or stamp to certify its validity.

The consular legalization process may require additional steps like obtaining translations of the document into the language of the destination country or providing additional supporting documentation as requested by the consular office.

It is up to the diplomatic mission to decide about the authentication procedure
The specific requirements and procedures for consular legalization may vary depending on the regulations of the destination country.

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.