There are two types of legalisation of official documents:

• consular legalisation
• apostille

In what cases is it necessary to legalise or apostille documents intended for use abroad?

Consular legalisation or apostille is required in the case of:

• employment abroad;
• moving to another country for permanent residence;
• studying in foreign educational institutions;
• marriage outside the Republic of Kazakhstan;
• other cases when there is a need to interact with the competent authorities of a foreign country

Which documents are subject to legalisation or apostille?

The following Kazakhstani documents can be legalized or apostilled for submission to other countries:

• education diploma (including an appendix)
• university archive certificate
• general secondary education certificate
• marriage certificate, certificate of birth
• certificate of marriageability
• certificate of criminal record and tax residency
• other official document

Consular legalisation of documents is required in those countries that have not acceded to the Hague Convention. For example, Canada, China, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Thailand, Vietnam, etc.

The process consists of two stages:

1. certification of the document by the Department of Consular Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan
2. Recognition of the document by the consular service of a foreign embassy/consulate accredited in Kazakhstan

Note:

• If there is no embassy/consulate in Kazakhstan, legalisation is carried out in the nearest embassy (e.g. in Russia).

What documents will be required for consular legalisation?

• Identity document
• Application form
• The document to be legalised and its notarised copy with a translation into the relevant language
• Receipt of payment of the state duty / consular fee
• Notarised power of attorney in case of submission by a representative
• Other documents at the request of the foreign consulate

Processing time and rates of fees:

• The standard term for legalisation of a document in the Department of Consular Service of the MFA is 3 business days.
• Consideration of a document in a foreign consulate takes on average from 5 to 15 business days depending on the type of document and requirements of the consulate.
• The consular fee for legalisation of a document in the Department of Consular Service of the MFA is 0.5 MCI (1,725 tenge).
• The amount of consular fee for legalisation of a document in a consulate depends on the rate of each individual consulate.

Apostille is a simplified procedure for legalisation of documents between countries that have acceded to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961.

The process of apostille of documents in Kazakhstan is carried out in one stage, the service can be obtained at the State Corporation "Government for Citizens".

In Kazakhstan, the apostilled document is stamped with a standard four-cornered stamp in the state, English and French languages with the stamp of the authorised state body.

What documents will be required for apostille?

• Identity document
• Document subject to apostille (documents are accepted for apostille both in originals and in notarised copies)
• Document confirming payment of the state fee
• Notarised power of attorney, in case the representative of the beneficiary applies.

Processing time and fees
The process of apostille of a document at the Public Service Center takes up to 5 business days, not including the date of submission.

The consular fee for apostille of a document at the Public Service Center is 0.5 MCI (1,725 tenge).

Which countries do not require legalisation and apostille?

Legalisation and apostille of Kazakhstani documents are not required if they will be used in the territory of one of the countries-parties to the Convention on legal aid and legal relations in civil, family and criminal cases (Kishinev, 7 October 2002).

Currently, the parties to the Kishinev Convention are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine.

In these countries documents are accepted without any consular legalisation mark or apostille stamp. It is sufficient to submit the original or a notarised copy of the document with a translation into the relevant language.