Switzerland acceeded to the Hague Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents in 1973. Therefore, no diplomatic authentication or consular legalization of public documents from Switzerland is required for successful legal communication with other member states of the Convention. The documents only need to be attested by an apostille certificate with an "apostille" stamp on it by the issuing state's authorities in order to be valid in the state of destination.
The apostille is a stamp of rectangular shape. It should be filled in in the official language of the issuing authority. The heading "Apostille (Convention de la Haye du 5 octobre 1961)" written in French is a necessary requirement for the apostille's validity.
Responsible for issuing the apostille is the Registry Office of the canton in which these documents were issued. For documents issued by the Swiss federal authorities, apostillization is executed by the federal executive authorities.
The apostille can be exclusively issued for the original document in Switzerland.
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)
- Trade register excerpts
- Court decisions
- Notarially certified copies of documents
- Notarially certified translations
- Further notarial documents (authorizations, last will, declarations)
- Commercial documents legalized by a state registration body (articles of incorporation, registration certificates, tax registrations etc.)
Requirements for the documents:
The apostille can be exclusively issued for the original document. Therefore, the latter must be presented in good condition, with all stamps and signatures clear and readable. Furthermore, it should not contain alien markings or labels.
Additional services
In addition to the legalization of your public documents, we can provide you with high-quality translations.
Should you require company information for use in court, it needs to be legalized as well. We are therefore offering extracts from the commercial register of Switzerland including apostillization and translation.
On average, processing the documents takes up to 14 days.
Courier services are charged and invoiced separately according to the courier service’s rates.
You can pay for our services by PayPal, bank transfer or credit card.
| Service | Price incl. German VAT 19% | Price excl. VAT |
|---|---|---|
| Price for an apostille for a document from Switzerland without international shipping | from 119,00 € | from 100,00 € |
