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Cyprus has joined the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents in the year 1973. Therefore no diplomatic authentication or legalization of documents from Cyprus is required for the legal communication with another member state of the convention. The documents only need to be stamped with an "apostille" by the issuing state's authorities in order to be valid in the state of destination.
Responsible for issuing the apostille is the Ministry of Justice.
Apostille certified documents may be issued by the official authorities of Cyprus and drawn up in Greek, Turkish or English. If the document is written in another language, it must be accompanied by a translation into one of the official languages of Cyprus, drawn up by a judicial translator. Copies of documents certified by a Cypriot notary and having confirmation of compliance of the copy with the original from the authority issuing can also be apostilled.
The process of legalization of documents in Cyprus includes verification of the origin of the document and confirms that the signature, seal or stamp on the document is affixed by authorized officials. After passing through this procedure, a special stamp - an apostille - is affixed to the document. Usually the apostille is placed on the back of the document, or on a separate sheet, after which the document is stitched.
An apostille is a stamp of rectangular shape. The heading "Apostille (Convention de La Haye du 5 Octobre 1961)" must be in French.
The following documents can be authenticated by apostille:
- Certificates of civil status (certificates of birth, death, marriage and divorce)
- Education documents (school reports, certificates, diplomas)
- Extracts from the commercial register
- Judicial decisions
- Notarially certified copies of documents
- Notarially certified translations
- Further notarial documents (authorizations, last will, declarations)
- Commercial documents legalized by a state organ of registration (articles of incorporation, registration certificates, tax registrations etc.)
Requirements for the documents:
An apostille can be issued exclusively on an original document. Therefore, the latter must be in an apparent good condition, all stamps and signatures have to be clear and readable. Furthermore, it must not contain alien marking and labels.
Additional services
In addition to the legalization of your documents, we can provide you with high-quality translations.
If you want to bring company information before the court, it needs to be legalised as well. We are therefore offering extracts from the commercial register of Cyprus including apostille and translation.
Cyprus Apostille Service - Original Documents Express Service
Express Service 14 Business Days