Legalization
of documents from/to abroad
Foreign documents for use in the Republic of Bulgaria
In order to be valid in the Republic of Bulgaria and to be able to serve in the Bulgarian institutions, the documents issued by another country, when these documents are required to be certified with an apostille or legalized, should be further formed in a certain way, which depends on whether the respective state is a party to the Hague Convention, whether a Legal Aid Treaty has entered into force between it and the Republic of Bulgaria or is still in force; or that country does not fall into any of the first two groups of countries.
Documents issued by the authorities of a foreign state that is a party to the Hague Convention should be certified by an apostille issued by the authorities designated by it, in accordance with their official duties to perform the certification. The foreign documents certified in this way are not subject to additional legalizations and certifications.
For the countries with which the Republic of Bulgaria has signed bilateral agreements for legal assistance, which contain texts for exemption of documents from legalization and other certificates, the documents issued by the foreign country should bear the relevant details, according to the bilateral agreements. The document issued in this way is recognized by the Bulgarian institutions and needs only a translation into Bulgarian and certification of the translation.
The documents issued by a foreign country that is not a party to the Hague Convention and with which the Republic of Bulgaria does not have a valid Legal Aid Agreement are subject to legalization in accordance with the Rules on Legalization, Certification, and Translation of Documents. These documents abroad are legalized by the Bulgarian diplomatic and consular missions only if they are certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country in which the missions are located. Foreign documents legalized by the diplomatic or consular missions of the Republic of Bulgaria do not need additional certification and are valid on the territory of Bulgaria.
Legalizations of documents and other papers originating from a country with which the Republic of Bulgaria has no diplomatic relations shall be performed by the diplomatic or consular missions of the Republic of Bulgaria in a third country where it is represented and of the country from which the document originates. In these cases, the document is legalized only if it is certified by the foreign representation of the country from which the document originates and by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the third country in which the foreign and Bulgarian representation is located.
In some cases, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs directly legalizes such documents and papers, but only if they are certified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country of origin.
If the party has assigned the protection of its interests to another party, the document shall be legalized by the diplomatic or consular mission of that party.
Translation into Bulgarian of documents issued abroad intended for use in the Republic of Bulgaria:
Foreign documents intended for use in the Republic of Bulgaria should be translated into Bulgarian in one of the following two ways:
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By a person appointed by an order of the head of the diplomatic or consular mission of the Republic of Bulgaria abroad.
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From individuals working individually as translators / or to translation companies /. For a foreign document translated into Bulgarian, intended for use on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria, it is necessary for the signature of the translator, placed in the translation made by him, to be notarized by a Bulgarian notary.
Bulgarian documents for use abroad
In order to be valid abroad and to be able to serve foreign institutions, the documents issued by the Republic of Bulgaria for use abroad should be further formalized in a certain way, which depends on whether the respective country is a party to the Hague Convention on Abolition the requirement for legalization of foreign public acts, whether between it and the Republic of Bulgaria there is a legal aid agreement that has entered into force and is still in force or this country does not fall into any of the first two groups of countries.
The certification of documents in accordance with the procedure specified in the Convention on the Elimination of the Requirement for Legalization of Foreign Public Acts, in accordance with the competence of the relevant department, shall be performed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education and Science. authorized by the Republic of Bulgaria to issue the certificate.
For the countries with which the Republic of Bulgaria has signed bilateral agreements for legal aid, which contain texts for exemption of documents from legalization and other certificates, the documents issued by the Republic of Bulgaria should bear the relevant details, according to the bilateral agreements. The document issued in this way is recognized by the foreign institutions and needs only a translation into a foreign language and certification of the translation.
Documents issued by the Republic of Bulgaria intended for a country that is not a party to the Hague Convention and with which the Republic of Bulgaria does not have a valid Legal Aid Agreement are subject to legalization. The legalization and certification of documents and other papers are carried out in the country by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and abroad - by the diplomatic and consular missions of the Republic of Bulgaria.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs legalizes documents issued by the central authorities of the executive, as well as to institutions subordinate to a separate ministry or directly to the Council of Ministers, only if they are certified by the latter. Documents issued by bodies of the municipal administration in need of legalization shall be certified by the mayor of the municipality or by an official authorized by him.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs legalizes documents issued by institutions that are not directly subordinate to a separate ministry or the Council of Ministers, as well as by socio-political, mass, economic, cultural, educational and other organizations, only after they shall be certified by the central management of those institutions and organizations when required or accepted by the State in which they will be used.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs legalizes transcripts of official documents and other papers if they are duly certified by a notary and the Ministry of Justice.
Legalization of documents and other papers signed by private persons is carried out only if the signatures of these persons are notarized and the signature of the notary is certified by the Ministry of Justice.
Legalization of a translation into a foreign language, of documents issued in the Republic of Bulgaria, intended for use abroad
The translation of the document may be certified by the "Legal Service of Citizens" section of the Department of Consular Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Bulgaria.
We are informing the citizens that in the authentication of official Bulgarian documents with an "Apostille," or legalized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or by the Bulgarian diplomatic and consular representations for the purpose of foreign use, it is not mandatory for documents to be provided in the Republic of Bulgaria and a certified translation into a foreign language.
Information received from certain diplomatic and consular representations of the Republic of Bulgaria abroad on the recognition abroad of translations in the Republic of Bulgaria, Bulgarian documents equipped with a translation into a foreign language, certified in the "Legal Service of Citizens" of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, may not be recognized and translations carried out under domestic legislation may be requested.
In order to save costs and time, we recommend that citizens should be informed in a preliminary order whether, in any particular case, certified translations in the Republic of Bulgaria will be recognized by the relevant institutions in the country of destination.
Source: www.mfa.bg /МВнР/
