Legalisation of documents

A document that is official and legal in one country is not necessarily official and legal in another. Many documents must therefore be legalised if you wish to use them abroad.

The legalisation process involves checking the origin of the relevant document. Legalisation is official confirmation that the signature of the civil servant that has signed a document, or the seal or stamp on the document, is legitimate.

It is not only the signature of the person that has issued the document that is legalised, the process can also legalise the signature of the legalising registrar. Every signature, every seal and every stamp will be legalised by the person authorised to do so and who is familiar with each signature, seal or stamp. This explains why various legalisations are sometimes required, in a specific order.

A country may have signed up to a legalisation treaty that encompasses agreements about how countries accept one another's official documents. Many countries have signed up to the "Apostille Convention" of The Hague of 5 October 1961. With this, just 1 legalisation is required via an apostille stamp.

In Ukraine

Belgian consul does not legalise official Ukrainian documents for use in Belgium.

In Ukraine, the apostille on official Ukrainian documents is issued by the Ukrainian authorities. A list of these competent authorities can be found here. The link opens in Ukrainian.

In Belgium

Questions and answers about the legalisation of documents

For legalisation from abroad, you can also consult the website of our representative at the location concerned, i.e. Belgian embassies and consulates

In order to further refine your question, you can also use the Search criteria.

At the Embassy

Which documents can be legalised at the Embassy or Honorary Consulates?

• documents signed by a private person: these documents can be legalised on condition that the person who signed the document presents himself in person with proof of identity. 
• medical certificate from recognised medical institutions in Ukraine (American Medical Centres)

The cost for consular legalisation is €20.

Belgian consular missions are not authorised to issue extracts or certified copies of Belgian documents, such as driving licences, travel or identity documents, Belgian diplomas.