Legalization
Foreign documents give the same evidential value as domestic public documents only if they hold the mandatory legalization form on the original documents.
Therefore, the legalization must already be on the documents when the application is submitted! Documents without the required legalization cannot be considered.
There are three types of legalization:
- Full diplomatic legalization
- Legalization by “Apostille”
- Exemption from any legalization
1. Full diplomatic legalization
This mode of legalization means that original documents first have to pass the internal legalization procedure within the country in which they have been issued and the last authority definitely has to be the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the respective country. Afterwards the documents must additionally be legalized (over-legalized) diplomatically by the Austrian diplomatic representation (embassy, consulate, honorary consulate) in the respective country.
| A | B | C |
| Algeria | Bangladesh | Cambodia |
| Angola | Benin | Cameroon |
| Bhutan | Central African Republic | |
| Burkina Faso | Côte d'Ivoire | |
| Cuba | ||
| D | E | G |
| Djibouti | Egypt | Gabon |
| Eritrea | Gambia | |
| Ethiopia | Ghana | |
| Guinea | ||
| Guinea-Bissau | ||
| H | I | J |
| Haiti | Iran, Islamic Republic of | Jordan |
| Holy See | ||
| K | L | M |
| Kenya | Laos, People's Democratic Republic of | Madagascar |
| Kiribati | Lebanon | Malaysia |
| Kosovo | Libyan Arab Jamahiriya / State of Libya | Maldives |
| Kuwait | Mali | |
| Kyrgyzstan | Military Order of Malta, Sovereign | |
| Mauritania | ||
| Micronesia, Federated States of | ||
| Mongolia | ||
| Mozambique | ||
| N | P | Q |
| Nauru | Pakistan | Qatar |
| Nepal | Palestinian Autonomous Territories | |
| Niger | Papua New Guinea | |
| Nigeria | ||
| S | T | U |
| Senegal | Taiwan | Uganda |
| Sierra Leone | Tajikistan | United Arab Emirates |
| Solomon Islands | Tanzania, United Republic of | Uzbekistan |
| Sri Lanka | Thailand | |
| Syria, Arab Republic of | Timor-Leste (East Timor) | |
| Togo | ||
| Tunisia | ||
| Turkmenistan | ||
| Tuvalu | ||
| V | Y | Z |
| Vietnam | Yemen | Zambia |
| Zimbabwe |
2. Apostille
Documents from countries which are Contracting States to the “Hague Legalization Convention" do not need the full diplomatic legalization. The legalization with a so called Apostille is sufficient.
| A | B | C |
| Albania | Bahamas | Canada |
| Andorra | Bahrain | Cape Verde |
| Angola | Barbados | Chile |
| Antigua and Barbuda | Belarus | China - including the administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao |
| Argentina | Belize | Colombia |
| Armenia | Bolivia | Costa Rica |
| Australia | Botswana | Cyprus |
| Azerbaijan | Brazil | |
| Brunei Darussalam | ||
| D | E | F |
| Denmark | Ecuador | Fiji |
| Dominica | El Salvador | |
| Dominican Republic | Estonia | |
| Eswatini | ||
| G | H | I |
| Georgia | Honduras | Iceland |
| Greece | India | |
| Grenada | Indonesia | |
| Guatemala | Ireland | |
| Guyana | Israel | |
| J | K | L |
| Jamaica | Kazakhstan | Latvia |
| Japan | Korea, Republic of | Lesotho |
| Liberia | ||
| Lithuania | ||
| Luxembourg | ||
| M | N | O |
| Malawi | Namibia | Oman |
| Malta | New Zealand | |
| Marshall Islands | Nicaragua | |
| Mauritius | Niue | |
| Mexico | ||
| Moldova | ||
| Monaco | ||
| Morocco |
| P | R | S |
| Palau | Russian Federation | Samoa |
| Panama | Rwanda | San Marino |
| Paraguay | São Tomé and Principe | |
| Peru | Saudi Arabia | |
| Philippines | Seychelles | |
| Portugal | Singapore | |
| South Africa | ||
| Spain | ||
| Saint Kitts and Nevis | ||
| Saint Lucia | ||
| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | ||
| Suriname | ||
| Switzerland | ||
| T | U | V |
| Tonga | Ukraine | Vanuatu |
| Trinidad and Tobago | United Kingdom (UK) | Venezuela |
| Turkey | United States of America (USA) | |
| Uruguay |
3. Exempted from legalization
Documents from countries with which Austria has concluded a bilateral agreement concerning exemption from legalization are exempted from all kind of legalization procedure.
| B | C | F |
| Belgium | Croatia | Finland |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | Czech Republic | France |
| Bulgaria | ||
| G | H | I |
| Germany | Hungary | Italy |
| L | M | N |
| Liechtenstein | Montenegro | Netherlands |
| North Macedonia | ||
| Norway | ||
| P | R | S |
| Poland | Romania | Serbia |
| Slovakia | ||
| Slovenia | ||
| Sweden |
Additional information about the legalization for applicants with a status refugee or asylum seeking in Austria
Applicants who have the status refugee or seeking asylum in Austria can be exempted from the legalization due to the political circumstances. This means the above mentioned documents can be handed in without additional legalization of for example the Austrian Embassy or an Apostille. This only applies if the documents were issued in the country the applicant has fled from.
To prove that status, a copy of the convention pass or the asylum card (f.e. white card, grey card) has to be handed in with the application.
