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Documents from state authorities or municipalities for use abroad; application for an apostille or preliminary certification for legalization

If you wish to use a document from a Bavarian state authority or a municipality abroad, you may need to have the document notarized. The authenticity of the document can be certified by legalization or the issue of an apostille.

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Procedure details

The governments certify German public documents issued by state authorities or municipalities in the respective government district by issuing an apostille in accordance with the Hague Convention or as part of the legalization procedure for foreign representations. In many cases, this involves documents issued by registry offices, registration certificates, school or university certificates, etc.

The apostille is a simplified form of certificate of authenticity. It certifies the authenticity of the signature, the capacity in which the signatory has acted and, where applicable, the authenticity of the seal or stamp affixed to the document. It only replaces legalization in the contracting states of the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Documents. There are international agreements according to which certain documents are exempt from the apostille.

German public documents are generally only recognized abroad if their authenticity has been confirmed by the competent representation of the country concerned in Germany (legalization). The representations of foreign countries generally require the German documents to be legalized by the competent German authorities beforehand.

You would like to use a document from a Bavarian state authority or municipality abroad and require an apostille or a preliminary certification for legalization.

  • Original certificate from state authority or municipality
    (see also note under "Description")

If you need an apostille or certification for a legalization procedure, you can send a short informal letter to the responsible government, explaining your request (apostille or certification? For which foreign country?). The application can also be made using the form under "Forms".

The documents concerned must be submitted in the original.

The government in whose district the document was issued by a local or state authority is responsible.

The issuing of the apostille and the certification as part of the legalization procedure are official acts subject to a fee, for which a framework fee is provided.

A fee of around EUR 20.00 is to be expected for each document. You can find out more from the responsible governments.

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As a rule, it takes only a few days to settle the matter by mail. In urgent cases, the matter can also be settled - after making an appointment by telephone - during a personal visit.

If you need an apostille for a document issued by a Bavarian judicial authority (e.g. a local or regional court, the Bavarian State Ministry of Justice, the Bavarian Constitutional Court, the Bavarian Supreme Court and the former public prosecutor's office at the Bavarian Supreme Court), the local court, regional court or the Bavarian State Ministry of Justice is responsible (see under "Related topics").

Status: 03.03.2025
Editorial responsibility Bayerisches Staatsministerium des Innern, für Sport und Integration
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