Legalization of documents –  it is the approval of the signature, duties and seal of person‘s who signed the document. Legalization of documents is carried out in Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania and diplomatic missions or consular offices. Document legalization or approval certificate (apostille) is necessary in order that official documents issued in one should be valid in another country.

Apostille of the document (Apostille)  – is a form of tag, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania marks the official non-commercial documents and authenticate the document in all countries acceding to the Hague Convention. The documentation approval Apostille is carried out in Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania.

Document authentication is not required if the document is intended for use in a country which is ascended to The Hague Convention of 1961.However, the authentic of such document should be approved by Apostille in Consular Department of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania.

The document should be legalized, if the document is for the use in the country not ascended to The Hague Convention of 1961 or the country which did not sign the agreement on legal assistance and legal relations in civil, family and criminal matters with Lithuania. Firstly it is necessary to legalize the document in Consular Department of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania or diplomatic mission or consular office of the Republic of Lithuania which is in the foreign country where the documents are provided and later in of Ministry of Foreign Affairs or diplomatic mission or consular office which is in Lithuania.

Requirements for the documents legalized:

• It must be translated into the language of the country which it will be presented (or into English language),
• translation must be filed together with the original document, piecing certified by the translation office or by notary order,
• transcripts must be notarized.

Requirements for documents, which can be legalized or approved by Apostille:

• the documents issued in the Republic of Lithuania which are provided to legalize or approve by apostille must be signed by a competent officer and approved by the seal with the Lithuanian State Emblem of the institution which issued the document.
• Transcripts of the documents issued in the Republic of Lithuania are legalized or approved by apostille only when the authenticity is witnessed by a notary.
• Onlydocuments issued in the Republic of Lithuania are approved by apostille. Documents of diplomats andconsular officials and commercial or customs operations related administrative documents are not approved by apostille.

Documents issued till 11^th March 1990 having attributes of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic  are neither legalized nor approved by apostille. They must be replaced with new documents.

On the documents legalization and approval by apostille you should apply to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania by the address: J. Tumo-Vaizganto st. 2, Vilnius.

Visitors’ reception time:    9-12 h (on weekdays, entrance from the left side of the Ministry). The documents cannot be sent by post.

Documents are legalized within 5 working days (time may be extended if necessary to check the authenticity of the document).

Along with the documentation it is necessary to present a passport or other identity document. When documents areprovided byother person the power of attorney may be requested.