Legalisation

Since 1 January 2010 the notaries have been issuing apostilles to public documents in Estonia.

The contact data of Estonian notaries

Information about certification of public documents by Apostille can be found on the website of Chamber of Notaries of the Republic of Estonia.

A public document of Estonia destined for use in a country which has not acceded to the Convention abolishing the requirement of legalisation for foreign public documents and also in a country that Estonia has not concluded a legal aid agreement with should be legalised in the consular department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or in a Foreign Mission of the Republic of Estonia and thereafter in the Foreign Mission and/or the Foreign Ministry of the foreign country where the document is destined for use.

A foreign public document that is to be used in Estonia must be legalised at the foreign ministry and/or foreign mission of the foreign country or territory where the document is issued and then at the foreign mission of the Republic of Estonia or at the consular department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Foreign documents issued in certain country or territory require additional legalisation in a foreign mission before they can be submitted to the consular department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The list below is not exhaustive and subject to change.

• Bangladesh – Embassy of Bangladesh in Copenhagen
• Nigeria – Nigerian Embassy
• Iraq – Embassy of Iraq in Helsinki
• Cameroon – Cameroon Embassy
• Taiwan – Taipei Mission in Riga
• Côte d’Ivoire – Embassy of Côte d’Ivoire in Copenhagen
• Vietnam – Embassy of Vietnam in Helsinki
• Kuwait – Embassy of Kuwait in Berlin
• Gambia - Gambia High Commission in London

Information about legalisation procedures of foreign countries can be obtained from the appropriate Foreign Representations. 

Legalisation can be performed only in case of an original document, a notarised copy or a certified copy of an original, a print out or an extract of original document, which contains the signature, first name and surname as well as the position of the person who signed it, and also the original seal of the authority that has issued the document.

Consular reception of the MFA remains closed. Please send the documents for legalisation by post.

Documents can be submitted for legalisation by post. The filled out application together with the original documents should be sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Consular Department, Islandi väljak 1, 15049 Tallinn.

Document legalisation requires the payment of the state fee. State fee is paid for the review of the application of legalising a document. State fee can be paid by bank transfer.The amount of state fee per each document is 30 EUR.

Requisite information of the payment of state fee is as follows:

Receiver: Ministry of Finances
Bank account number:

- SEB Pank р/с EE891010220034796011
SWIFT/BIC: EEUHEE2X

- Swedbank р/с EE932200221023778606
SWIFT/BIC: HABAEE2X

- Luminor Bank AS p/c EE701700017001577198              
  SWIFT/BIC: RIKOEE22

- LHV Pank p/c EE777700771003813400             
  SWIFT: LHVBEE22

Reference number: 2900073643

If it is not possible to enter the reference number on the payment order of a foreign country, the reference number must be entered in the clarification field.

Clarification of the payment: document legalisation, applicant's name.

A public document is not legalised if:

• the public document is forged;
• the original document issued abroad is not legalised under customary international law;
• the content of the public document is not true;
• the public document is valid in accordance with an international agreement without any other proof;
• the circumstances indicate an incompetent alteration of the original content of the public document;
• the public document is corrupted;
• the public document with a specified term is invalid;
• there is reason to believe that the person who certified the public document did not have the competence to certify the public document;
• the public document is legalised for use in another country;
• the public document has been legalised by another Estonian consular officer.

A document is legalised within five working days from the date of acceptance of the document or from the date of receipt of the signature specimen.

The precondition for processing the legalisation application is the receipt of the state fee on the abovementioned Ministry of Finances’ account.

Legalised documents shall be delivered to the applicant by registered mail to the Estonian address noted in the application.

Inquiries may be sent in written form to the following address: Islandi väljak 1, 15049 Tallinn; via fax: 6 377 454 or via e-mail: [email protected].