Schmidt & Schmidt offers the legalization of documents from Rwanda.
Rwanda has not joined the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents. Therefore, documents from Rwanda cannot be legalized by apostille, they will only be recognized abroad after consular legalization, meaning their authenticity must be confirmed separately.
By consular legalization the signature and the seal of foreign documents are authenticated. Responsible is the respective embassy of the country in which the document shall be used.
The following documents can be legalized:
- Extracts from the commercial register
- Certificates of civil status (certificates of birth, death, marriage and divorce)
- Education documents (school reports, certificates, diplomas)
- Judicial decisions
- Notarially certified copies of documents
- Notarially certified translations
- Further notarial documents (authorizations, last will, declarations)
Legalization of foreign documents for use in Rwanda
Foreign documents must be legalized before they can be used in Rwanda. The representations and embassies of Rwanda all over the world are in charge of this process.
Legalization of documents from Rwanda for use abroad
A pre-authentification by the rwandan Ministry of Justice and Foreign Affairs is required for the final legalization. It is highly recommended to personally obtain the pre-authentification.
Additionally, a translation to your country's official language may sometimes be required, produced by a sworn translator.
Usually, processing the documents takes us 14 days.
