In this post, how to Legalize and Authenticate Documents in Nigeria, we answered the following questions. What does it mean to Legalise a document? How do I legalize my document in Nigeria? What types of documents suitable for legalization? And many more. We also explained the meaning of legalization and authentication of documents, steps to authenticate and legalize a documents in Nigeria.
What does it mean to Legalise a document?
Legalisation makes documents suitable for use in another country. The process often involves several different steps. Documents that can be legalised include civil status documents, court orders and diplomas or certificates. Legalisation shows that: the document was issued by an official authority.
Legalization of a document in Nigeria
Legalization of a document in Nigeria connotes the certification of a document, which has already been authenticated. It is a process by which a foreign embassy in Nigeria certifies the genuineness of signature or stamps and/or seal made by the authorized officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nigeria. Before a document can be legalized, the first step is the authentication of such document at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja.
Read: How to Get a Document Notarized in Nigeria
Because Nigeria is not a part member of the Hague Apostille Convention, which abolishes the requirement of legalization for Foreign Public Documents, apostille stamp is not issued in Nigeria. Therefore, the replacement of the apostille in Nigeria is the document authentication by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Abuja. Certification of documents in Nigeria involves verifying the genuineness or otherwise of a public document i.e., documents issued by government agencies. Certification can be by notarization, authentication, and or legalization.
In this context a Notary Public carries out the notarization of a document. A Notary Public is a public official, usually, a lawyer authorized to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents, verification, and authentication of documents amidst other functions. The office of a Notary Public and the Notarization of documents in Nigeria is regulated by the Notary Public Act, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
When a Notary Public notarizes a document, such a document must be sealed with the notary’s seal or stamp and recorded in a register permanently kept by him. A person who can notarize a document in Nigeria is a practicing lawyer who has been appointed as a Notary Public by the government.
How long does Legalization of Documents take?
Generally, the average waiting time for legalisation is one hour. If you have more documents, you will need to wait longer. Documents submitted before 11.30 can be collected the same day.
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Do Legalised documents expire?
Legalised (Apostille certificates) documents do not have an expiry date. The apostille certificate will have a date of issue but they do not ‘run out’ or ‘expire’. In most circumstances an apostille should be accepted at any time after issue.
Are There Cases Where legalisation is not Necessary?
Legalisation is not necessary if Country A has an agreement with Country B exempting your type of document. If so, you can use your document in Country B without having it legalised. Several countries also have reciprocal agreements. Under the EU Regulation on Public Documents, for instance, public documents issued in one EU member state do not need to be legalised for use in another.
What is the meaning of Authentication of Documents?
Authentication, also called certification, is a procedure by which a document is confirmed for its authenticity by the officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). It is a process that represents an apostille in Nigeria. For a document to be authenticated at the MFA, a prescribed fee must be paid, after which the government official will confirm whether such a document is authentic and duly issued in Nigeria. If the document is found to be genuine, the document shall be authenticated by pressing the official iron seal on it.
Read: Educational Documents Legalization in Nigeria
Legalization is a process by which a public official (e.g., a consular officer at an Embassy or a consul of a Consulate) certifies the genuineness of the signature, the seal, and the position of the person/official who has executed, issued, or authenticated a document.
Authentication of a document is done by Nigerian authorities while legalization of the document is done by the foreign embassy of the country where the document is presented before.
How to Authenticate and Legalize A Document in Nigeria
- The first step is usually to notarize any document to be authenticated or legalized through a notary public in Nigeria, especially if such a document would be tendered abroad.
- After Notarization, the document shall be submitted for authentication at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters in Abuja, and the prescribed fee shall be paid in respect of it.
- After that, the applicant can apply for the document to be legalized at the relevant embassy and make payment of the prescribed fees at the embassy.
Educational Document Legalisation
The legalisation of educational documents like NECO, WAEC, B.Sc., M.Sc. ND.
HND and any higher istitution certificates, it will go through three steps of verification with the involvement of three separate authorities.
The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are the key.
– Authentication/ legalization by the Nigeria ministry of Education
– Authentication/ legalization by the Nigeria Ministry of Foreign Affairs
– Completion of the legalization process by the foreign country embassy in Nigeria
Cost of Educational Document Legalisation & Processes
- Visit to Ministry of Education office – $39.99
- Gather all the document and submit to the ministry of Education
- WAEC/NECO must be included with the higher degree certificates sent over
- Retrieve the authenticated copy from the ministry
- Visit to Ministry of Foreign Affairs office – $39.99
- Gather all the document and submit to the ministry of Foreign affairs
- Constant follow up to know the status of application
- Retrieve the authenticated copy from the ministry and mail it to customer
Cost Break down (Estimates)
- Expedited Cost of authenticating document (Ministry of Education) is 25000 naira
- Expedited Cost of authenticating document (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) is 10,000 Naira per document
- Courier Charges
Contact: Law Firm/ Lawyer in Port Harcourt Nigeria
What Documents Can Be Legalised in Nigeria?
Any document issued by any authority in Nigeria may be authenticated or legalized. Moreover, any commercial documents can also be authenticated where required.
However, the below are some of the documents that can be legalized in Nigeria.
- Birth Certificate or Declaration of Birth
- Certificate Change of Name
- Certificates Marriage
- Certificate Divorce
- Certificate Single Status
- Affidavit Adoption Papers
- Patent Application
- Death Certificate
- Police Character Certificate
- Nigerian International Passport Data Page
- Academic Documents (results certificates and transcripts, etc)
- Incorporation Documents
- Authorization Letters
- Declaration of Assets
- Bank Statements
- Powers of Attorney
- Criminal Record Check Certificates
- Citizenship and Immigration Documents
- Corporate Documents
- Medical Reports
- Contract Papers or Agreement; etc
Certification of Official Documents for Local Usage
Under Nigerian law, a document can be certified locally by applying and obtaining the Certified True Copy (CTC) from the authority that issued it. Usually, documents that need to be used within Nigeria do not require either authentication or legalization, as legalization is only required for documents to be tendered outside Nigeria. Certification of documents in Nigeria for local usage can only be carried out by making an application to the issuing authority, either personally or through a solicitor, requesting for the CTC of such a document. The applicant shall pay the requisite fee for such certification.
CONCLUTION
Authentication and documents are usually done at the Ministry of Foreign while legalization is done at the various embassies. Before any of the above processes, such documents need to be notarized by a Notary Public in Nigeria. A school certificate or academic record cannot be authenticated unless attestation has been done in respect of it with the Federal Ministry of Education.