Legalization
Legalization with precision and trust
Bulgarian documents
What is legalization?
Legalization is a procedure for validation of the authenticity of a document and the capacity of the issuing authority in the country where it was issued. For this purpose, an apostille or other form of certification is made only in the country where the document was issued. Thus legalized and validated, the document can be widely used before the relevant competent authorities abroad for all kind of purposes.
Read more about the apostille here .
See what the apostille looks like here.
What documents are subject to legalization?
I. MUNICIPAL DOCUMENTS
Some of the most common documents needing legalization are the personal civil-status documents: birth certificate, marriage certificate, certificate of current/permanent address, certificate of marital status, etc. In all these cases, the respective District Administration is the competent authority and carries out the legalization procedure to attest to the authenticity of the municipal documents.
II. EDUCATIONAL DOCUMENTS
These include all kinds of diplomas and their supplements, academic statements, certificates, student certificates, etc., issued by Bulgarian educational institutions.
The competent authority in Bulgaria that legalizes educational documents is NACID (National Center for Information and Documentation).
III. JUDICIAL DOCUMENTS
Judicial documents include all notarized powers of attorney, declarations, certificates of current status, court decisions as well as any and all other notarized or court-issued documents. The Ministry of Justice is the authority that certifies the validity and the legitimacy of the judicial documents.
You need to be sure that you actually need legalization before contacting a translation agency as this is a costly and time-consuming procedure. If unsure, you’d better consult the person or institution requiring the translation of the document in the first place. Should you need more information, please do not hesitate to contact us now.
Foreign document
You have documents issued abroad and you want to use them in Bulgaria?
You are not sure whether the relevant Bulgarian authorities will accept them and/or you will not be required to do something else? You are hesitant whether you have all necessary foreign certifications for your document to be legitimate in Bulgaria?
Don’t waste your time, deadlines are always tight, do yourself a favour, save money and hassle and contact us for advice!
Translation Agency VIVA is authorized by Ministry of Foreign Affairs to perform official translations, legalization and all other types of attestations in Bulgaria. Our vast experience, more than 25 years now, as well as our profound professional expertise will help you out in any situation where information is insufficient, you are required to do something, but it has not been clearly explained to you exactly what, or you are unlawfully required to have an apostille from a country with which Bulgaria has a legal assistance treaty.
Following the amendments in the REGULATION ON LEGALIZATIONS, CERTIFICATIONS AND TRANSLATIONS OF DOCUMENTS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS and in particular the new Clause 21a (1), effective as of 01.03.2018, translations of foreign documents are certified in all notary offices in Bulgaria by a sworn translator.
How does this work in practice?
You send us your document, scanned by e-mail or by courier. We first do the translation from the source language and then the translator attends a notary who certifies (notarizes) the translator’s signature on the Bulgarian translation.
Thus, you will have a document that is translated and notarized so you can legitimately use it everywhere in Bulgaria where needed.
Does the foreign document always need to be apostilled?
Not at all. If your document was issued in a country which has a bilateral legal assistance treaty with Bulgaria, it is recognized in Bulgaria without an apostille. However, it must be in original and bear the stamp of the authority designated in the treaty.
See what the apostille looks like here .
List of countries with which Bulgaria has signed bilateral agreements on legal assistance can be viewed here.
You need to be sure that you actually need notarization/legalization before contacting a translation agency as this is a costly and time-consuming procedure. If unsure, you’d better consult the person or institution requiring the translation of the document in the first place. Should you need more information, please do not hesitate to contact us now.